Tottenham's Trojan Horse? Book

'Tottenham's Trojan Horse?' is available at Housmans Bookshop and Big Cartel.

Dave Morris interviewed on BBC Radio London. Illustration from 'Tottenham's Trojan Horse'.

Tottenham's Trojan Horse? is based on one of the case studies in Mark Panton's doctoral thesis about stadium-led regeneration.

I helped Mark edit his thesis and during this process we had many conversations about a community in High Road West, Tottenham. Their homes and businesses may be demolished to clear space for a fans' walkway from White Hart Lane train station to the entrance of the new Tottenham Hotspur Football Club stadium and they have joined together to challenge the proposals.

Mark and I decided to create a book that would use his research to tell the story of how the fans' walkway proposals came about, show the impact on the people affected by it and what they are doing in response. The best way to do this, we felt, was to use a comic format, base it around dialogue from interviews and make it accessible to a general audience 14-years-old upwards.

The book was published in February 2018, there have been two print runs and copies have gone to people in 8 countries. It has won an award and has been featured in a number of articles and interviews.

Please visit tottenhamstrojanhorse.blogspot.com for more information including how to buy the book or read it for free. "Tottenham's Trojan Horse?" is not available on Amazon.

Non-fiction graphic novel "Tottenham's Trojan Horse? A Tale of Stadium-led Regeneration in North London"

About the book:

In 2010 Haringey Council in London granted planning permission to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club for a new stadium and other linked developments. In 2012 Haringey unveiled regeneration plans for the borough that included demolition of homes and businesses to make way for a proposed fan’s walkway from a relocated train station to the site of the new stadium. A process that was already challenging for the football club, the council and the local community now became tortuous. Those most affected by the proposals felt left out of the decision making and had to find a voice.

The floor of my workroom.

In the next week or so we'll have a draft of "Tottenham's Trojan Horse?" ready. All text will be in place and will have been edited several times but the drawings are either rough pencil sketches or photos that I'm using as placeholders. Before going any further we're going to show it to others for their input. This is to make sure the book will be factually correct and easy to understand. The story is taken from one of Dr Mark Panton's case studies in his doctoral thesis, rewritten so as to be accessible to academics and non-academics 14-years-old upwards.

A rough sketch of Boris Johnson.

We have started up a blog and a Facebook page to post further progress of the book but please contact me if you have any questions. The book will be published in early 2018.

Illustrated Character Sheets

I've been putting together some character sheets based on a couple of my stories. In case you haven't come across them before character sheets are a collection of illustrations of one character in different poses - a way of showing others that you can be consistent. They are great fun to do and I'm finding that it is a way of getting to know my characters a little better.

An art editor recommended that rough sketches be included on the sheets. To be honest this is something I wouldn't have thought of doing but now that they are on there I feel that they add depth. I put blobs of pure colour on for reference but I'm not sure that this is important for others so might take them off. Perhaps they are a little distracting.

More character sheets to come soon.

The main character in my graphic novel for 7-9 year olds.

The main character in one of my picture book stories.