Tom de Freston

Tom de Freston is an artist and writer based in Oxford. 

With his wife, he created Julia and the Shark and Leila and the Blue Fox. Julia and the Shark won Waterstones Gift of the Year and The Janis Baltvilks Award and was shortlisted for the Barnes and Noble book of the year,  the Kirkus Prize and the Waterstones book of the year. Leila and the Blue Fox was winner of the Wainwright Prize and the Penzberger Urmel award. Their third book for children, A Raven’s Gift, is forthcoming in October 2026. He illustrated Liz Hyder’s The Twelve, which won the children’s category in the Nero prize, their next collaboration, The Teller of Tall Tales, is forthcoming in November 2026. He was commissioned to illustrate the 25th anniversary edition of David Almond’s Skellig and Michael Morpurgo’s retelling of Black Beauty. His debut graphic novel for adults is forthcoming with Granta in 2027. 

His art is represented by Varvara Roza of Varvara Roza Gallery and his writing and illustration for adults by Harriet Moore (Aitken Alexander). He has published two works of narrative nonfiction with Granta, Wreck and Strange Bodies, both of which combine memoir, art criticism and an intimate view into his studio practice. A feature length documentary by Mark Jones, on Tom’s collaboration with the blind Syrian writer Professor Ali Souleman, is having its world premier at Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival in March 2026. This project was the subject of his first monograph with ANOMIE, I SAW THIS. A second monograph with Anomie, Poiesis, is forthcoming in Spring 2026, following on from his most recent solo shows at Varvara Roza Gallery and the Museum of Classical Archeology, Cambridge University.    His collaborative multimedia projects have been subject of major grants and support from AHRC, ACE, Oxford University, Waseda University in Tokyo, Kings College London, University of Queensland, Battersea Arts Centre, the Bodleian Library, the National Trust and the Ashmolean Museum. His work has featured in the Guardian, Vogue, TLS and Elephant. He has been the recipient of various prestigious Fellowship and Residencies, including a Leverhulme Funded Residency at Cambridge University, the Levy Plumb Award (Christ’s College) and the inaugural Creative Fellowship at Birmingham University. Essays on his work have been written by, amongst others, Sir Nicolas Serota, Sir Trevor Nunn, Richard Cork and Professor Lydia Goehr. 

Tom is represented by Paul Black — For enquiries, please contact Paul via email.