Clive Murphy - Brick Lane Books - Novels - Oral History

Clive Murphy was born in Liverpool in 1935. He was educated and brought up in Ireland where he qualified as a solicitor. In 1958 he emigrated to London. His 'Summer Overtures' was joint winner of Adam International Review's First Novel Award in 1972. 'Freedom for Mr. Mildew' & 'Nigel Someone' appeared to critical acclaim in one volume in 1975. A series of nine recorded autobiographies, as listed on this website, followed.

Of Clive Murphy's Oral Histories
Patrick Garland wrote:
"Marvellous work, full of vitality, humour, courage and street sadness."

And Ronald Blythe wrote:
"They are a marriage of art and artlessness, and a marriage that works. Their collective impact is extraordinary.... As mid-wife rather than ghost Clive Murphy, has delivered an eloquent child whose chatter has a way of slipping into revelation."

Since 1999, Clive Murphy has published five books of comic, often ribald, verse. The fifth, 'Sodomy Is Not Enough!', published March 2008, includes
'The Ugly Snail'