Michael Morpurgo

Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL, FKC (born Michael Andrew Bridge; 5 October 1943)[1] is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as War Horse (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelling",[2] for recurring themes such as the triumph of an outsider or survival, for characters' relationships with nature, and for vivid settings such as the Cornish coast or World War I. Morpurgo became the third Children's Laureate, from 2003 to 2005.[3]

Sir

Michael Morpurgo

OBE FRSL FKC
Morpurgo at a Paris book fair in March 2009
BornMichael Andrew Bridge
(1943-10-05) 5 October 1943
St Albans, Hertfordshire, England
OccupationAuthor
NationalityBritish
Alma materKing's College London
Notable worksWar Horse, Why the Whales Came, Private Peaceful
SpouseClare Morpurgo
Children3
Website
www.michaelmorpurgo.com

Early life

Morpurgo was born in 1943 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, as Michael Andrew Bridge, the second child of actor Tony Van Bridge and actress Kippe Cammaerts (born Catherine Noel Kippe Cammaerts, daughter of writer and poet Émile Cammaerts).[4] Both RADA graduates, his parents had met when they were acting in the same repertory company in 1938.[5] His father came from a working-class family, while Kippe came from a family of actors, an opera singer, writers and poets.[5] They were married in 1941 while Van Bridge, having been called up in 1939 and by then stationed in Scotland, was on leave from the army.[5] Morpurgo's brother Pieter was born in 1942. When Morpurgo was born the following year, his father was stationed in Baghdad.[1] While Van Bridge was away at war, Kippe Cammaerts met Jack Morpurgo (subsequently professor of American Literature at the University of Leeds from 1969–82[6]). When Van Bridge returned to England in 1946, he and Cammaerts obtained a divorce and Cammaerts married Jack Morpurgo the same year. Although they were not formally adopted, Morpurgo and his brother took on their step-father's name.[7][8] Morpurgo's older brother, Pieter Morpurgo,[1] later became a BBC television producer and director.[9] He has two younger siblings, Mark and Kay.[8] Morpurgo's mother was frail, having suffered a breakdown when she was 19, and grieving the loss of her brother Pieter, who was killed in the war in 1941, for the rest of her life.[5] Towards the end of her life she was an alcoholic.[10]

Morpurgo and his brother were evacuated to Northumberland when they were very young.[1] After returning to London, the family lived at Philbeach Gardens, Earl's Court, where the children played in the bombsites.[11][12] Morpurgo went to primary school at St Matthias, Earl's Court. The family later moved to Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex, where Morpurgo would live during the school holidays,[13] having been sent to boarding school in Sussex when he was seven years old. The school was very strict and the boys were beaten frequently, which led to Morpurgo developing a stutter.[10] His unhappy experiences at boarding school would later inform his novel The Butterfly Lion.[7] After six years at The Abbey school in Ashurst Wood,[1] Morpurgo then went to the King's School, an independent school in Canterbury, Kent, where he felt less homesick than at his previous school.

Morpurgo did not learn who his biological father was until he was 19 years old.[14] After the divorce from Michael's mother, Van Bridge had emigrated to Canada and was never talked about. Morpurgo never saw an image of his father until, while watching the 1962 CBBC version of Great Expectations on TV with his mother, she recognised Van Bridge in the role of Magwitch and said to Michael "That's your father!".[15] They met in person nine years later.[15]

Morpurgo's stepfather was not encouraging to his sons and was disappointed that they were not meeting his expectations for them of going into academia like him, calling Michael "a bear with very little brain."[10][16] His stepfather decided he should join the army and Morpurgo attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[14] He quickly realised that a soldier's life was not for him and left after nine months.[17]

Morpurgo later went to study at King's College London, reading English, French, and Philosophy,[18] and graduated with a third class degree.[19] He then joined the teaching profession[14] with a job at Wickhambreaux Primary School in Canterbury, Kent.[20] He also, from 1968, briefly taught at St. Faith's School in Cambridge.[21]

Personal life

Aged 19, Morpurgo married Clare, eldest daughter of Sir Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books, in 1963.[22][23] They had met the previous year on holiday in Corfu through Morpurgo's stepfather, who was an editor at Penguin at the time.[24] Clare was pregnant with their first child and Morpurgo has referred to it as a shotgun wedding.[23] Their three children, Sebastian, Horatio and Rosalind, are all named after Shakespearian characters.[10]

Morpurgo was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2017 and received radiotherapy.[25] He has since recovered.[10]

Farms for City Children
Main article: Farms for City Children

In 1976, Morpurgo and his wife Clare established the charity Farms for City Children,[26] with the primary aim of providing children from inner city areas with experience of the countryside.[27] The programme involves the children spending a week at a countryside farm, during which they take part in purposeful farmyard work.[28][16] The charity's first president was the couple's close friend and neighbour, Ted Hughes.[29]

About 85,000 children have taken part in the scheme since it was set up, and the charity now has three farms in Wales, Devon, Gloucestershire. Morpurgo has referred to the charity as his greatest achievement in life.[30]

Career

From teaching to writing novels

It was not until he was teaching in Kent that Morpurgo discovered his vocation in life, of which he later said "I could see there was magic in it for them, and realized there was magic in it for me."[31]

Morpurgo's writing career was inspired by Ted Hughes' Poetry in the Making, Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose and Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.[2] Hughes and another poet, Seán Rafferty, were influential in his career, with Hughes becoming a friend, mentor and neighbour. Morpurgo credits Hughes and Rafferty with giving him the confidence to write War Horse, his most successful work to date.[29]

Children's Laureate

Morpurgo and Hughes, then Poet Laureate, originated the idea of Children's Laureate role.[32] Morpurgo became the third person to fill the two-year position, from 2003 to 2005.[3][33]


  • It Never Rained: Five Stories (1974)
  • Living Poets (compiler with Clifford Simmons) (1974)
  • Long Way from Home (1975)
  • Thatcher Jones (1975)
  • The Story-Teller (compiler with Graham Barrett) (1976)
  • Friend or Foe (1977)
  • Do All You Dare (1978)
  • What Shall We Do with It? (1978)
  • All Around the Year (with Ted Hughes) (1979)
  • Love at First Sight (1979)
  • That's How (1979)
  • The Day I Took the Bull By the Horn (1979)
  • The Ghost-Fish (1979)
  • The Marble Crusher and Other Stories (1980)
  • The Nine Lives of Montezuma (1980)
  • Miss Wirtle's Revenge (1981)
  • The White Horse of Zennor: And Other Stories from below the Eagle's Nest (1982)
  • War Horse (1982)
  • Little Foxes (1984)
  • Why the Whales Came (1985)
  • Words of Songs (libretto, music by Phyllis Tate) (1985)
  • Tom's Sausage Lion (1986)
  • Conker (1987)
  • Jo-Jo, the Melon Donkey (1987)
  • King of the Cloud Forests (1988)
  • Mossop's Last Chance (with Shoo Rayner) (1988)
  • ''My Friend Walter (1988)
  • Albertine, Goose Queen (with Shoo Rayner) (1989)
  • Twist of Gold (1989)
  • Mr. Nobody's Eyes (1989)
  • Jigger's Day Off (with Shoo Rayner) (1990)
  • Waiting for Anya (1990)
  • And Pigs Might Fly! (with Shoo Rayner) (1991)
  • Colly's Barn (1991)
  • The Sandman and the Turtles (1991)
  • Martians at Mudpuddle Farm (with Shoo Rayner) (1992)
  • The King in the Forest (1993)
  • The War of Jenkins' Ear (1993)
  • Arthur, High King of Britain (1994)
  • Snakes and Ladders (1994)
  • The Dancing Bear (1994)
  • Blodin the Beast (1995)
  • Mum's the Word (with Shoo Rayner) (1995)
  • Stories from Mudpuddle Farm (with Shoo Rayner) (1995)
  • The Wreck of the Zanzibar (1995)
  • Robin of Sherwood (1996)
  • Sam's Duck (1996)
  • The Butterfly Lion (1996)
  • The Ghost of Grania O'Malley (1996)
  • The Extraordinary Witch House (1996)
  • Farm Boy (1997)
  • Cockadoodle-doo, Mr Sultana! (1998)
  • Escape from Shangri-La (1998)
  • Joan of Arc (1998)
  • Red Eyes at Night (1998)
  • Wartman (1998)
  • Kensuke's Kingdom (1999)
  • The Rainbow Bear (1999)
  • Wombat Goes Walkabout (1999)
  • Billy the Kid (2000)
  • Black Queen (2000)
  • Dear Olly (2000)
  • From Hereabout Hill (2000)
  • The Silver Swan (2000)
  • Who's a Big Bully Then? (2000)
  • More Muck and Magic (2001)
  • Out of the Ashes (2001)
  • Toro! Toro! (2001)
  • Cool! (2002)
  • Mr. Skip (2002)
  • The Last Wolf (2002)
  • The Sleeping Sword (2002)
  • Gentle Giant (2003)
  • Private Peaceful (2003)
  • Dolphin Boy (2004)
  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2004)[34]
  • The Orchard Book of Aesop's Fables (2004), illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark[35]
  • I Believe in Unicorns (2005)
  • The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips (2005)
  • War: Stories of Conflict (compiler) (2005)[36]
  • Albatross (2006)
  • It's a Dog's Life (2006)
  • Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea (2006)
  • Beowulf (2006), illustrated by Michael Foreman
  • Born to Run (2007)
  • The Mozart Question (2007)
  • Hansel and Gretel (2008)
  • This Morning I Met a Whale (2008)
  • Kaspar: Prince of Cats (2008)
  • The Voices of Children (2008) (play)
  • The Birthday Book (editor, with Quentin Blake) (2008)
  • Running Wild (2009)[37]
  • The Kites Are Flying! (2009)[38]
  • An Elephant in the Garden (2010)
  • Not Bad for a Bad Lad (2010)[39]
  • Shadow (2010)[40]
  • Little Manfred (2011)[41]
  • The Pied Piper of Hamelin (2011)[42]
  • Sparrow: The True Story of Joan of Arc (2012)[43]
  • Outlaw: The Story of Robin Hood (2012)[44]
  • Homecoming (2012)[45]
  • Where My Wellies Take Me (with Clare Morpurgo) (2012)[46]
  • A Medal For Leroy (2012)[47]
  • Beauty And The Beast (2013)[47]
  • Pinocchio By Pinocchio (2013)[47]
  • The Goose is Getting Fat (2013)[48]
  • All I Said Was (2014)[49]
  • Half a Man (2014)[50]
  • Listen to the Moon (2014)[51]
  • Mini Kid (2014)[52]
  • Such Stuff: A Story-Maker's Inspiration (2016)[53]
  • The Fox and the Ghost King (The Timeless Tale Of An Impossible Dream) (2016)[54]
  • An Eagle in the Snow (2016)[55]
  • Flamingo Boy (2018)[56]
  • In The Mouth of the Wolf (2018)[57]
  • The Day the World Stopped Turning (2019)[58]
  • Boy Giant: Son of Gulliver

Adaptations

Gentle Giant was presented as an opera by composer Stephen McNeff and librettist Mike Kenny at the Royal Opera House in 2006. Film versions have been made of Friend or Foe (1981), Private Peaceful (2012) and Why the Whales Came (1989), the latter also being adapted to a stage play. My Friend Walter (1988) 'Purple Penguins' (2000) and Out of the Ashes (2001) have been adapted for television.

Composer Stephen Barlow created a musical adaptation of Rainbow Bear, narrated by his wife Joanna Lumley. This was subsequently presented as a ballet by the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain in August 2010.[59]

War Horse has been adapted as a radio broadcast and as a stage play by Nick Stafford, premiering at the National Theatre, London, on 17 October 2007. The horses were played by life-sized horse puppets designed and built by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa. It won two Olivier Awards in 2007.[60] Initially intended to run for 16 weeks, due to popular demand the show transferred to the New London Theatre in the West End on 28 March 2009.[61] It closed in the West End after eight years, having been seen by 2.7 million people in London and seven million worldwide at the time.[62] It was the most successful production of the National Theatre ever.[10]

On 15 March 2011, the show premiered on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.[63] The play's Broadway production won five Tony Awards, including Best Play. It went on several UK tours and was also staged in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, and The Netherlands.[64][65] It was seen by seven million people outside the UK.

In 2011, War Horse was adapted by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis as a British film directed by Steven Spielberg.[66] The film was nominated numerous awards, including six Academy Awards and five BAFTA Awards.[67]

Waiting for Anya was adapted as a film of the same title released in 2020.[68]

Reception and impact

Reading Matters website calls Morpurgo's 1999 Kensuke's Kingdom "A quietly told story, but plenty of drama and emotion."[69] The Guardian describes Private Peaceful, his 2003 novel for older children, as a "humanising and humane work".[70]

Literary awards and prizes
Shortlisted
Awarded

Political views

In a January 2014 article, Morpurgo stated "as we begin to mark the centenary of the first world war, we should honour those who died, most certainly, and gratefully too, but we should never glorify... Come each November over the next four years, let the red poppy and the white poppy be worn together to honour those who died, to keep our faith with them, to make of this world a place where freedom and peace can reign together."[73]

In August 2014, Morpurgo was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[74]

Prior to the 2015 general election, he was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the Green Party's Caroline Lucas.[75]

In 2016, he condemned government plans to extend grammar schools as divisive and “quite deeply stupid”.[76]

In the run-up to the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, Morpurgo expressed his support for the European Union in an interview with the BBC,[77] and reinforced this with a ten-minute BBC Radio 4 'Point of View' on 5 August 2018.

Honours and appointments

Morpurgo and his wife Clare were both appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours for services to young people. He was advanced to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2006 Birthday Honours for services to literature and was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to literature and charity.[78][79][80][81]

Morpurgo was awarded an honorary doctorate at Bishop Grosseteste University on 17 July 2013.[82] He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) by Newcastle University on 12 July 2017.[83]

Morpurgo was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Devon on 10 April 2015.[84]

Radio and television broadcasts

Biographies
  • Carey, Joanna (1999). Interview with Michael Morpurgo. ISBN 978-0-7497-3866-2
  • Fergusson, Maggie (2012). Michael Morpurgo: War Child to War Horse. ISBN 9780007387267
  • Fox, Geoff (2004). Dear Mr Morpingo: Inside the World of Michael Morpurgo. ISBN 978-1-84046-607-2
  • McCarthy, Shaun (2005). Michael Morpurgo. ISBN 978-0-431-17995-7

References
  1. "Much ado about... me". www.michaelmorpurgo.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  2. "Michael Morpurgo," The Guardian (US). 22 July 2008, retrieved 17 April 2011.
  3. "Michael Morpurgo". Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). Booktrust. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  4. "The author Michael Morpurgo; Jean Webb". Michaelmorpurgo.org. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  5. Fergusson, Maggie (2012). Michael Morpurgo: War Child to War Horse. HarperCollins UK. ISBN 9780007387298.
  6. The Daily Telegraph, Obituary, Published 16 October 2000
  7. "Michael Morpurgo on His Novels". Five Books. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  8. "Michael Morpurgo. Author Of Fantastic Books For 10-14 Year Olds". www.best-books-for-kids.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  9. "Guildford Astronomical Society - Pieter Morpurgo". www.guildfordas.org. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  10. "BBC Radio 4 - Profile, Michael Morpurgo". BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  11. "Michael Morpurgo answers your questions". The Guardian. 2 March 2011. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  12. Morpurgo, Michael (21 February 2016). "May the horse be with you". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  13. Morpurgo, Michael (6 October 2018). "Michael Morpurgo on Bradwell-on-Sea: 'The exhilaration of infinite beauty'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  14. "How a horse changed my life". Www.saga.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  15. Lawson, Mark (12 March 2009). "Mark Lawson talks to the writer of War Horse Michael Morpurgo about abandoning the army, his absent father - and making his acting debut". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  16. Gapper, John (9 March 2018). "'War Horse' writer Michael Morpurgo on Brexit and the art of grief". Financial Times. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  17. "My First Job: Michael Morpurgo, recent Children's Laureate, recalls". The Independent. 8 December 2005. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  18. "Michael Morpurgo". War Horse. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  19. "Richard Dimbleby Lecture", BBC One. 15 February 2011, retrieved 17 April 2011.
  20. "Michael Morpurgo knighted". Kent Online. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  21. "St Faith's Headmaster letter of recommendation". Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  22. "Penguin, Puffin and the Paperback Revolution". BBC Four. 2 September 2010; retrieved 17 April 2011
  23. Singh, Anita (2 June 2012). "Michael Morpurgo plans to make up for shotgun wedding". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  24. Smallman, Etan (7 October 2015). "Penguin Books' defining cultural moment". The Independent. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
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  26. Charity Commission. Farms for City Children, registered charity no. 325120.
  27. AdventureBox Books Interview on Farms for Children on YouTube
  28. Farms for City Children webpage, farms4citychildren.co.uk; accessed 14 October 2015.
  29. Morpurgo, Michael (10 July 2010). "Once upon a life: Michael Morpurgo". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  30. "A Q&A with writer Michael Morpurgo". www.ft.com. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  31. Morpurgo, Michael (2010). "An Interview with Michael Morpurgo". War Horse. Scholastic Inc. p. 167. ISBN 9780545311854.
  32. UK Children's Laureate, about the award
  33. Lyall, Sarah. "Undaunted Author of ‘War Horse’ Reflects on Unlikely Hit". The New York Times. 11 April 2011; retrieved 17 April 2011.
  34. London: Walker Books. ISBN 978-0-7445-8646-6
  35. London: Orchard Books. ISBN 978-1-84362-271-0
  36. War: Stories of Conflict (2005). HarperCollins. ISBN 978-1-4050-4744-9
  37. Newberry, Linda. "Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo," The Guardian (UK). 7 November 2009, 17 April 2011.
  38. "The Kites Are Flying!" Archived 7 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine Walker Books, retrieved 17 April 2011.
  39. Michael Morpurgo (May 2010). Not Bad for a Bad Lad. Templar Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84877-308-0. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
  40. Michael Morpurgo (1 October 2010). Shadow. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. ISBN 978-0-00-733960-0. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
  41. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-733966-2
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  49. Edinburgh: Barrington Stoke. ISBN 978-1-78112-348-5
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  51. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-733963-1
  52. Edinburgh: Barrington Stoke. ISBN 978-1-78112-352-2
  53. London: Walker Books. ISBN 978-1-4063-6457-6
  54. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-796026-2
  55. "An Eagle in the Snow by Michael Morpurgo - Paperback | HarperCollins". HarperCollins UK. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  56. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-813463-1
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  58. New York: Feiwel Friends. ISBN 9781250107077
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  61. "'War Horse' Opens In The West End 3/28/09" broadwayworld.com, 8 December 2008
  62. Singh, Anita (18 May 2016). "War Horse to close after ailing ticket sales". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  63. Hetrick, Adam (20 December 2010). "Seth Numrich to Lead 'War Horse' on Broadway; 35-Member Cast Announced". Playbill. Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  64. Oliveros, Oliver. "WAR HORSE Gallops Into Hong Kong--The Only Asian Stop in Its First International Tour". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  65. Trueman, Matt (11 March 2016). "'War Horse' Closes in Britain, but Its Influence Gallops On". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  66. Child, Ben (18 June 2010). "Steven Spielberg unveils cast for War Horse adaptation". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  67. War Horse - IMDb, retrieved 5 January 2020
  68. Minow, Nell (7 February 2020). "Waiting for Anya movie review (2020)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  69. "Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo: book review". Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  70. Samuels, Diane (18 October 2003). "The lost generation". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  71. "Michael Morpurgo wins Children's Book Award for fourth time". BBC News. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  72. California Young Reader Medal: 2008 Young Adult winner
  73. First world war centenary is a year to honour the dead but not to glorify The Guardian, 1 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  74. "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories | Politics". theguardian.com. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  75. Elgot, Jessica (24 April 2015). "Celebrities sign statement of support for Caroline Lucas – but not the Greens". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  76. "Grammar school plans are divisive and stupid, says Michael Morpurgo". Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  77. "Michael Morpurgo: 'History tells me what I need to know about Europe'". BBC News. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  78. "No. 55513". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 1999. p. 20.
  79. "No. 58014". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2016. p. 12.
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  84. "No. 61201". The London Gazette. 16 April 2015. p. 7110.
  85. BBC/OU Open2.net – The Invention of Childhood – Meet the presenter. Open2.net (21 August 2006). Retrieved 6 April 2011.
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Further reading
  • Morpurgo, Michael et al. La Revue Des Livres Pour Enfants Number 250, December 2009: "Michael Morpurgo" pp 79–124. (in French)
  • Franks, Alan (22 September 2007). "Courses for horses". The Times. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
Cultural offices
Preceded by
Anne Fine		 Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom
2003–2005		 Succeeded by
Jacqueline Wilson
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