Former childrens laureate Michael Morpurgo to speak to packed audience

The University is to welcome the popular and award-winning children’s writer Michael Morpurgo as he delivers its 2017 Annual Creative Writing Lecture this week to a packed house.

The free public lecture on 4 May, which now has a long waiting list for tickets, was fully booked within a day of opening for registration. The much-loved author, whose books have featured on school reading lists for many years, will speak to an audience of eager students, staff, schoolchildren and members of the public.

Multi-award-winning author Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain’s most loved writers best known for his children’s novels, including Toro! Toro! (2001); War Horse(1982), which became an internationally celebrated film and theatre play; plus his latest book, The Fox and the Ghost King (2016), all about Leicester, Richard III and a certain footballing success. He is a former children’s laureate and renowned storyteller.

The Annual Creative Writing Lecture is presented by Literary Leicester and the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester. It is made possible through a kind donation from Santander Universities UK.

Dr Harry Whitehead, Associate Professor of Creative Writing, said: “The lecture continues to be hugely popular. Over 250 attended Robert MacFarlane’s talk in 2016, and we’ve a full house once more this year. We are so proud to play a central role in the university’s and the city of Leicester’s thriving literary scene.”

Please note that tickets are no longer available for this lecture.