A WRITER and illustrator from Keighley has launched his latest book – and a new website.

YA MUM and Other Stories from the Backstreets of Britain is a new collection of 21 illustrated black comedy short stories, from Ben Tallon.

Although now Manchester-based, Ben has taken his home town as the setting for a number of the stories.

The tales are inspired by a range of British street ‘artefacts’, from traffic cones to cigarette butts, beer cans and even mattresses.

Shaun Ryder, the Happy Mondays and Black Grape frontman, has described the project as “proper moody and horrible stuff” and has provided exclusive dialogue for the book’s trailer.

Ben says: “I’ve always been drawn to the disregarded and overlooked.

“I’m the weirdo bent over photographing a shoe in the street while everyone else stares up at the shiny tourist attraction!

“These horrible artefacts are an inescapable part of British culture. I wanted to tell their story.”

Ben produced his debut book, Champagne and Wax Crayons, in 2015.

It won high praise, and not just in the UK – the following year it was translated and published in Japan.

Acclaimed as an illustrator, Ben began to develop the writing side of his work and moved into fiction with his recent black-comedy Isolation Watch: Falling Apart in the Pandemic.

He has also lectured on subjects including creativity, mental health and forging a path in the arts. In 2016, he received a coveted Creative Agency of the Year accolade at the Dot London Small Business Awards.

YA MUM and Other Stories from the Backstreets of Britain is released on Thursday October 22 in limited-edition paperback, e-book and audio book formats.

For more information and to pre-order copies, visit Ben’s new website at bentallonwriter.com.