Q&A Michael Morpurgo
which is why we have to try to get them reading much more than they are. The chil- dren’s book world has never been richer, but we’re not reaching the millions of children who do not have a book in their house. From my point of view, the London Book Fair is an opportunit to focus on the importance of books for young people.
Did you always want to write books for kids? Not at all. I was a primary school teacher and I discovered that I loved telling the chil- dren stories and found, to my amazement, that they listened. So I just kept practising. The headteacher listened in and she knew someone who worked in a publishing house. By accident, I became a writer.
After writing more than 140 books, how do you come up with ideas for new ones? Well, it’s easier now than it was when I started and that is because I’ve lived a long life—I’m 73, a lot has happened. It feeds the well of ideas that I have inside me and so far I’ve never run out. You have to look hard and talk to people and listen to their answers. Keep your eyes open, keep your ears open, keep your heart open.
Going toe Toto
Caroline Carpenter meets Michael Morpurgo, ahead of his Author of the Day slot tomorrow, to discuss the importance of libraries, his decades of charit work and the travails of Leicester Cit
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caroline carpenter Are you looking forward to being Author of the Day at the London Book Fair tomorrow? michael morpurgo Yes, it’s an honour to be chosen for it, but I’m not quite sure what my function will be other than to support what we’re all doing, which is trying to get kids reading. It’s a good place for everyone concerned with books to unite. We’re all in this together.
You said you want to get more children reading, why do you think that’s important? Books encourage children to empathise,
Has children’s publishing changed since you started writing? Yes, I think it has changed. What needs mentioning is that there are not enough books by new authors. We know it’s the greatest risk of all to publish new writers and that’s something the publishing world needs to think about, because that’s where your next Philip Pullman or J K Rowling will come from. The children’s publishing world is a huge contribution to our national culture and our international reputation. It’s something to be really proud of. It’ll be good to be in the middle of the buzz of that world coming together for a few days in London.
Do you think more needs to be done to promote diversity in children’s books? Certainly diversit is really important because we have a societ that needs diver- sit, it’s completely logical. I think schools now up and down the country are massively encouraging interest in minorit communi- ties, cultures and religions. Maybe we need to encourage more people from diverse backgrounds in the first place to grow up to be writers. That’s done by great teaching at school and by having libraries, particularly in the areas of the country where there is deprivation.
You have spoken out about the importance of libraries. A lot of libraries in the UK are
15th March 2017
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