Tom Murphy

Stramash colour bits , have put together a little book of black and white sketches type thing more to scratch my own itch but will print some up once I work out the best way to do it.

Mayfair Mini Book Fair YouTube video by London Poetry Books

FREE EVENT – Mayfair MINI Book Fair!
Sat 7 March • Mayfair Library
25 South Audley St, W1K 2PB
Books, talks, readings all day 11–5
Post‑Show + Open Mic 5:30–7:30
Bring friends, bring smiles — totally FREE and the park’s right next door.

youtu.be/bUInMimc5LM

Poster for Mayfair Mini Book Fair - Free Entry, Saturday 7th March, 11am-5pm. Mayfair LIbrary, 25 South Audley Street, London, W1K 2PB

REMINDER: tomorrow I'll be bringing a solo acoustic version of the @colossive.com Experience to the Mayfair Mini Book Fair

Come along - it's our first show of the year and it'll be fun! 40 indie publishers with readings and talks all day

Two very attractive black cats examine a gatefold CD sleeve containing THE CROYDON SPACEPORT TAPES by the British Experimental Rocket Group

You might have noticed that it's #BandcampFriday* - so there's no better time to pick up THE CROYDON SPACEPORT TAPES, either physical or digital, from the tireless sonic researchers over at @tcfsr.bsky.social

tcfsr.bandcamp.com/album/the-cr...

*BC waive their cut so every penny goes to the artist

A few more dates, including the Brian Boru Irish Club in Ashton-in-Makerfield, where my mammy and daddy passed more than a few happy evenings (despite a brick coming through the window one night)

generationirish.net#ticketbox

A few more dates, including the Brian Boru Irish Club in Ashton-in-Makerfield, where my mammy and daddy passed more than a few happy evenings (despite a brick coming through the window one night)

generationirish.net#ticketbox

Yeah, I've been reading and enjoying him since day one (and wrote a rave review of Patience for Broken Frontier when it came out), but I just couldn't connect with Monica.

I think I might also be a bit bugged by the overformatting mainstream publishers do to make comics 'respectable'

Further griping: maybe I just wasn't in the mood, but I struggled a bit with Monica.

It could be that his grotesques and flat-affect narration are a bit too familiar now: I couldn't get past the Clowes style to engage properly with the substance. Happen I'll try again in a little while.

A black and white photo of late-era Mark E Smith

I've got something described as a "one to one" with a manager today. To commemorate Mark E Smith's birthday, I might just cap every exchange with "He... is not... appreciated!"

New painting. The Crooked Billet in Penge. acrylic onboard. A4.

Available from darrenhaymanart.com

Talking of books... Don't forget, we'll be at the Mayfair Mini Book Fair at Mayfair Library from 11am on Saturday.

#bookfair #zinefair #mayfair

Happy #WorldBookDay! As is traditional, I'll be dressing up as 'me' from How Graffiti Saved My Dad's Life and Tom has gone off to work dressed as Norman 'Nails' McAvity, the first-ever Croydonaut, from Ad Astra Per Croydon.

(All our books and #zines are at colossive.com)

We have been quietly putting a few plans in place for PrideCAF 2026.

Next on our list is our application form. We are aiming to open applications this month and are really excited to see applications come in.

Watch this space for more info.

#PrideCAF2026 #comics #lgbtq #queer

Happy 'heavenly' birthday to Tom's dad John - one of the most loving, kind and gentle people you could ever wish to meet.

He was also the man who first came up with the word 'colossive' to describe anything that was 'awful big altogether' - so our teeny-tiny press is named in his honour. ❤️

Out of curiosity I just spent some time with the collected 'Sluice', my first year of daily comics on Patreon. There's some stinkers in there, but I'm pleasantly surprised by the majority of the 365 pages. Lots of ideas I'm still yet to fully explore.
drive.google.com/file/d/1xsJ5...

I send out a new Public Collectors newsletter every 2 or 3 months. If you'd like to get on my list before I send a new one out tomorrow, the sign up is below. I'll be announcing two new publications (in addition to one I already mentioned on here). www.publiccollectors.org/Newsletter.h...

RIP - I met him a few times through the TAPS screenwriting training scheme, and he was a fiercely committed mentor. And his other credits speak for themselves

Today is the 83rd anniversary of the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster so here's "Bethnal Green Tube Station" by Albert Turpin from the mid to late 1950s. Albert was Mayor of Bethnal Green in 1946 & I believe that this was his tribute to 173 poor souls who lost their lives that night. #LestWeForget

sure, you can name your layers, if you're a coward, or you can go through and click them off one by one to figure out where that stray mark is, like god intended

Happy #WomensHistoryMonth!

Hilda Gibbens died suddenly in 1953. There are no photographs of her. Nobody remembers what she looked or sounded like.

A Portrait of Hilda Gibbens tries to piece together what's left of her story. Buy the #zine for £4 at bit.ly/hildagibbens

“In the first week of March the wind blows hard, swaying the reeds and bushes and bending the big trees beyond the lake to its cold breath.”

The first page of ‘What to Look for in Spring”
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL Grant Watson

Speaking truth to power

Word for our friends at Rose Tinted Spectacular:

Spring Zine Fair at the Rose Hill Taven in Brighton on 26 April 12-5pm
Tables are already filled to waiting list, but if you majke or read zines it's always a fun afternoon out

(Bit cross that I didn’t take
the opportunity of a quick half of brewery-fresh Bishops Finger, though)

Enjoyed an evening of laughter and good food and drink to remember our friend (and my writing partner) Janet Ellis, who would have been 60 yesterday 🖤

Here’s a blog I wrote after we lost her: tom-writer.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-f...

FRANCIS SPUFFORD NONESUCH TOUR SPRING 2026 24 FEBRUARY - UEA, Norwich 26 FEBRUARY - Waterstones Piccadilly, London 28 FEBRUARY - Faversham Literary Festival 2 MARCH - Topping & Co Booksellers of Bath 4 MARCH - Village Books, Dulwich 5 MARCH - Topping & Co Booksellers of Edinburgh 6 MARCH - Topping & Co Booksellers of St Andrews 12 MARCH - Topping & Co Booksellers of Ely 13 MARCH - York Literature Festival 16 MARCH - Ketts Books, Wymondham 23 MARCH - Oxford Literary Festival 1 APRIL - West Kirby Bookshop 7 APRIL - Imperial War Museum 11 APRIL - Fishbourne Literary Festival

Really enjoyed listening to Francis Spufford talk about writing in general and Nonesuch in particular at @favlit.org yesterday

See him on tour if you can

32nd = Fact-Checking Day

FEBRUARY 2026 107.64 km • 17 Activities

Go me: my runniest month on record 🏃

One theory for the Fool’s disappearance is that he went off to find a better signal