Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo was born in 1943 in St Albans and was educated at Kings Canterbury, Sandhurst and Kings College London. He taught for ten years in both state and private schools and is married with three children and six grandchildren. Michael still works frequently in schools as visiting author and speaks to librarians and teachers at conferences and other events.

His first book was published in 1975 and he has since published over 95 titles. His books have been translated into over twenty languages, many have been adapted for the theatre and five have been made into films. Michael has written his own screenplays and libretti for opera.

Together with his wife Clare he founded Farms for City Children, an educational charity, in 1976. The organisation now runs three farms welcoming over 3,000 children a year. In 1999 he was awarded an MBE for services to youth, and in 2006 he was awarded an OBE.

His books have won the Whitbread Award (THE WRECK OF THE ZANZIBAR), the Smarties Book Prize (THE BUTTERFLY LION), the Children's Book Award (KENSUKE'S KINGDOM) and Cercle D'Or Prix Sorciere (France) for KING OF THE CLOUD FORESTS, and several have been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

CONTACTS FOR MICHAEL MORPURGO

Please note that Michael will not be doing school visits for the foreseeable future. This is due to the fact that he would like to dedicate more time to his writing. For more information and advice on getting an author to visit your school you can visit www.readingzone.com for advice about author visits or www.classactagency.co.uk for a list of authors who do visits.

Michael Morpurgo's Film and Theatre Agent
Berlin Associates
marcb@berlinassociates.com

Letters and emails for Michael Morpurgo
If you require a response do please enclose an A4 self addressed, stamped envelope with your correspondence and send to:
Laura West
David Higham Associates, 5-8 Lower John Street, Golden Square, London W1R 4HA
laurawest@davidhigham.co.uk

Media and PR enquiries to:
Geraldine Stroud
HarperCollins Children's Books, 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
geraldine.stroud@harpercollins.co.uk

Jessica Grant
Egmont Books, 239 Kensington High Street, London W8 6SA
jgrant@euk.egmont.com

Philippa Perry
Philippa Perry Associates, 11 Stamford Brook Road, London W6 0XJ
pnlp@dircon.co.uk

At sunrise, young Michael spots a whale on the shores of the Thames and thinks he must be dreaming. But the creature is real and it has a message for him – one that only an open-minded child can deliver to the rest of the world. The whale warns that the earth’s days are numbered and that humans must put right the damage they are doing, but how can Michael fulfil his promise to tell others when neither his teacher nor his classmates will believe his story?

Within hours, the city and the wider world have learned of London’s remarkable visitor, and all eyes are on the whale’s struggle against the receding tide. Michael must now join his new friend in a race against time to reach the ocean, and hold fast to his promise in the race to save the world itself.