Enjoy readings from acclaimed author Michael Morpurgo’s latest work, Cobweb (HarperCollins), a stunning tale of courage and kindness. Exploring humanity, animals and the heartbreak of war, the powerful, moving adventure is inspired by the extraordinary true story of the French Drummer Boy of Waterloo.
Our live online event is hosted by Katie Razzall, BBC News Culture and Media Editor, and forms the centrepiece of our Michael Morpurgo Celebration Day. Join us online for a unique opportunity to hear Michael read excerpts from Cobweb, and to ask him questions about his work, inspiration and love of animals and nature.
This year marks Michael’s eighth York Festival of Ideas appearance – and his first as Patron. If you are a teacher or home educator, we very much hope you’ll join us with your students as we celebrate the renowned author’s amazing power as a writer, communicator and advocate of the arts.
This event is for schools and home educators ONLY, not the general public. The event will be taking place live from Thin Ice Press: the York Centre for Print.
Michael Morpurgo OBE is one of Britain’s best loved writers for children with sales of over 35 million copies. He has written over 150 books and won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize and the Whitbread Award. In 2005, he won the Blue Peter Book Award for his novel Private Peaceful, which was also adapted into an acclaimed stage play. His subsequent book, The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, spent an astonishing 20 weeks in the bestseller charts. His many other loved works include The Butterfly Lion, Kensuke’s Kingdom, Why the Whales Came, The Mozart Question, Shadow, War Horse and Born to Run. Michael was Children’s Laureate from 2003 to 2005. The charity Farms for City Children, which he founded 50 years ago with his wife Clare, has now enabled over 60,000 children to spend a week living and working down on the farm. He was knighted in 2018 for services to literature and charity. Cobweb is published by Harper Collins.
Katie Razzall is BBC News Culture and Media Editor and presents The Media Show on BBC Radio 4. She moved to the BBC as Newsnight Special Correspondent in 2014 and was promoted to UK Editor in 2020. She previously spent 15 years at Channel 4 News, where she began as a producer, and then later became a reporter and presenter.