Michael Morpurgo#Works

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 (daughter of the writer and poet Émile Cammaerts).{{cite web|url=http://michaelmorpurgo.org/loveetc.html|title=The author Michael Morpurgo; Jean Webb|publisher=Michaelmorpurgo.org|date=23 May 2006|access-date=6 November 2012}} Both RADA graduates, his parents had met when they were acting in the same repertory company in 1938.{{Cite book|title=Michael Morpurgo: War Child to War Horse|last=Fergusson|first=Maggie|publisher=HarperCollins UK|year=2012|isbn=9780007387298}} His father came from a working-class family, while his mother's family included actors, an opera singer, writers, and poets. 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. Morpurgo's brother Pieter was born in 1942. When Morpurgo was born the following year, his father was stationed in Baghdad.

While Van Bridge was away at war, Kippe Cammaerts met Jack Morpurgo (subsequently professor of American Literature at the University of Leeds[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/1370520/Professor-Jack-Morpurgo.html The Daily Telegraph, Obituary, Published 16 October 2000]). When Van Bridge returned to England in 1946, Cammaerts obtained a divorce from him and married Jack Morpurgo in 1947. Although they were not formally adopted, Morpurgo and his brother took on their step-father's name.{{Cite web|url=https://fivebooks.com/best-books/michael-morpurgo-on-his-novels/|title=Michael Morpurgo on His Novels|website=Five Books|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.best-books-for-kids.com/michael-morpurgo.html|title=Michael Morpurgo. Author of Fantastic Books For 10–14 Year Olds|website=www.best-books-for-kids.com|access-date=2020-01-05}} Morpurgo's older brother, Pieter Morpurgo, later became a BBC television producer and director.{{Cite web|url=http://www.guildfordas.org/public/archive/speakers/pieter-morpurgo.html|title=Guildford Astronomical Society – Pieter Morpurgo|website=www.guildfordas.org|access-date=2020-01-05}} He has two younger half siblings, Mark and Kay Morpurgo. Their mother was frail, having suffered a breakdown when she was 19, and grieved the loss of her brother Pieter, who was killed in the war in 1941, for the rest of her life.

Morpurgo and his brother were evacuated to Northumberland when they were very young. After they returned to London, the family lived in Philbeach Gardens, Earl's Court, where the children played on nearby bombsites.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/childrens-books/2011/mar/02/michael-morpurgo-interview-children|title=Michael Morpurgo answers your questions|date=2011-03-02|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/may-the-horse-be-with-you-fvgr8jpnq7d|title=May the horse be with you|last=Morpurgo|first=Michael|date=2016-02-21|work=The Sunday Times|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en|issn=0956-1382}} 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,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/06/michael-morpurgo-bradwell-sea-essex-village-home|title=Michael Morpurgo on Bradwell-on-Sea: 'The exhilaration of infinite beauty'|last=Morpurgo|first=Michael|date=2018-10-06|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} having been sent to a boarding school in Sussex when he was seven years old. The school was very strict and the boys were beaten frequently. During this period Morpurgo developed a stutter.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cnc6|title=BBC Radio 4 – Profile, Michael Morpurgo|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-01-05}} His unhappy experiences at boarding school would later inform his novel The Butterfly Lion. After six years at The Abbey School in Ashurst Wood, 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.{{cite web|title=How a horse changed my life|url=http://www.saga.co.uk/saga-magazine/2012/january/how-a-horse-changed-my-life-michael-morpurgo-199.aspx|publisher=saga.co.uk|access-date=18 May 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130707060349/http://www.saga.co.uk/saga-magazine/2012/january/how-a-horse-changed-my-life-michael-morpurgo-199.aspx|archive-date=7 July 2013|url-status=dead}} 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 CBC 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!"{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/12/war-horse-michael-morpurgo|title=Mark Lawson talks to the writer of War Horse Michael Morpurgo about abandoning the army, his absent father – and making his acting debut|last=Lawson|first=Mark|date=2009-03-12|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} They met in person nine years later.

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."{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c6aad900-206e-11e8-a895-1ba1f72c2c11|title='War Horse' writer Michael Morpurgo on Brexit and the art of grief|last=Gapper|first=John|date=2018-03-09|website=Financial Times|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-01-05}} His stepfather decided he should join the army and Morpurgo attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He quickly realised that a soldier's life was not for him and left after nine months.{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/student/career-planning/getting-job/my-first-job-michael-morpurgo-recent-childrens-laureate-recalls-his-days-as-a-soldier-518531.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/http://www.independent.co.uk/student/career-planning/getting-job/my-first-job-michael-morpurgo-recent-childrens-laureate-recalls-his-days-as-a-soldier-518531.html |archive-date=14 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=My First Job: Michael Morpurgo, recent Children's Laureate, recalls|date=2005-12-08|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}} He said later that reading the poems of the First World War poets when he was a young soldier were "part of the reason I left the army and became a teacher and then a writer of many books about war in which a longing for peace and reconciliation is always evident."{{cite news |last1=Morpurgo |first1=Michael |title=Michael Morpurgo: 'The war poets were the reason I left the army and became a writer': The books of my life |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/nov/18/michael-morpurgo-war-poets-reason-i-left-the-army-became-writer |access-date=5 April 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=18 November 2022}}

Morpurgo later went to study at King's College London, reading English, French, and Philosophy,{{Cite web|url=https://www.warhorseonstage.com/staff/michael-morpurgo/|title=Michael Morpurgo|website=War Horse|access-date=2020-01-05}} and graduated with a third class degree.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ymf57 "Richard Dimbleby Lecture"], BBC One. 15 February 2011, retrieved 17 April 2011. He then joined the teaching profession with a job at Wickhambreaux Primary School in Canterbury, Kent.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/michael-morpurgo-knighted-180115/|title=Michael Morpurgo knighted|date=2018-03-20|website=Kent Online|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}} He also, in 1968, briefly taught at St. Faith's School in Cambridge.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sevenstories.org.uk/app_pages/collections/loupefancybox.aspx?url=%2Fapp_pages%2Fcollections%2Fimage.aspx%3Fid%3D2982&title=Letter%20of%20recommendation%20from%20the%20headmaster%20at%20a%20school%20at%20which%20Michael%20Morpurgo%20taught%20in%201970&description=Letter%20of%20recommendation%20for%20Michael%20Morpurgo%20from%20M.%20P.%20MacInnes%2C%20headmaster%20at%20St.%20Faith%E2%80%99s%2C%20Cambridge%2C%201970%3Cbr%3E%28MMo%2F11%2F03%2F02%29%3C%2Fbr%3E%C2%A9%20M.%20P.%20Macinnes%2C%20c.%201970%20%28presumed%29&tooltip=%E2%80%98Mr%20Morpurgo%20is%20above%20all%20an%20individualist%E2%80%99%20%E2%80%93%20this%20reference%20suggests%20Michael%20might%20not%20have%20always%20played%20by%20the%20rules%20as%20a%20teacher%2C%20something%20he%20explores%20in%20his%20short%20story%2C%20%E2%80%98Littlehampton%2012%20%E2%80%93%20Wickhamstead%200%E2%80%99%20%28featured%20in%20%27War%20Child%20to%20War%20Horse%27%2C%20HarperCollins%2C%202012%29 |title=St Faith's Headmaster letter of recommendation |access-date=2 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827142359/https://www.sevenstories.org.uk/app_pages/collections/loupefancybox.aspx?url=%2Fapp_pages%2Fcollections%2Fimage.aspx%3Fid%3D2982&title=Letter%20of%20recommendation%20from%20the%20headmaster%20at%20a%20school%20at%20which%20Michael%20Morpurgo%20taught%20in%201970&description=Letter%20of%20recommendation%20for%20Michael%20Morpurgo%20from%20M.%20P.%20MacInnes%2C%20headmaster%20at%20St.%20Faith%E2%80%99s%2C%20Cambridge%2C%201970%3Cbr%3E%28MMo%2F11%2F03%2F02%29%3C%2Fbr%3E%C2%A9%20M.%20P.%20Macinnes%2C%20c.%201970%20%28presumed%29&tooltip=%E2%80%98Mr%20Morpurgo%20is%20above%20all%20an%20individualist%E2%80%99%20%E2%80%93%20this%20reference%20suggests%20Michael%20might%20not%20have%20always%20played%20by%20the%20rules%20as%20a%20teacher%2C%20something%20he%20explores%20in%20his%20short%20story%2C%20%E2%80%98Littlehampton%2012%20%E2%80%93%20Wickhamstead%200%E2%80%99%20%28featured%20in%20%27War%20Child%20to%20War%20Horse%27%2C%20HarperCollins%2C%202012%29 |archive-date=27 August 2018 |url-status=dead }}

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."{{Cite book|title=War Horse|last=Morpurgo|first=Michael|publisher=Scholastic Inc.|year=2010|isbn=9780545311854|chapter=An Interview with Michael Morpurgo|page=167}}

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.[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/12/michael.morpurgo "Michael Morpurgo,"] The Guardian (US). 22 July 2008, retrieved 17 April 2011. 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.

Morpurgo is the author of dozens of books, including the notable titles:

{{div col}}

• Friend or Foe (1977)
• All Around the Year (with Ted Hughes) (1979)
• The Nine Lives of Montezuma (1980)
• War Horse (1982)
• Little Foxes (1984)
• Why the Whales Came (1985)
• King of the Cloud Forests (1987)
• Mossop's Last Chance (with Shoo Rayner) (1988)
• My Friend Walter (1988)
• Waiting for Anya (1990)
• The Wreck of the Zanzibar (1995)
• The Butterfly Lion (1996)
• Farm Boy (1997)
• Kensuke's Kingdom (1999)
• Billy the Kid (2000)
• The Sleeping Sword (2002){{cite news |last1=Kellaway |first1=Kate |author1-link=Kate Kellaway |title=Sword's lore |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/mar/24/booksforchildrenandteenagers.michaelmorpurgo |access-date=27 July 2023 |work=The Observer |date=24 March 2002}}
• Private Peaceful (2003)
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2004)London: Walker Books. {{ISBN|978-0-7445-8646-6}}
• The Orchard Book of Aesop's Fables (2004), illustrated by Emma Chichester ClarkLondon: Orchard Books. {{ISBN|978-1-84362-271-0}}
• War: Stories of Conflict (compiler) (2005)War: Stories of Conflict (2005). HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-1-4050-4744-9}}
• Meeting Cezanne (2005)
• The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips (2005)
• Alone on a Wide Wide Sea (2006)
• Beowulf (2006), illustrated by Michael Foreman
• Born to Run (2007)
• Running Wild (2009)Newberry, Linda. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/07/running-wild-michael-morpurgo-review "Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo,"] The Guardian (UK). 7 November 2009, 17 April 2011.
• The Kites Are Flying! (2009)[http://www.walker.co.uk/The-Kites-Are-Flying-9781406317985.aspx "The Kites Are Flying!"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807101316/http://www.walker.co.uk/The-Kites-Are-Flying-9781406317985.aspx|date=7 August 2009}} Walker Books, retrieved 17 April 2011.
• Not Bad for a Bad Lad (2010){{cite book|author=Michael Morpurgo|title=Not Bad for a Bad Lad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0S4kQwAACAAJ|date=May 2010|publisher=Templar Publishing|isbn=978-1-84877-308-0}}
• An Elephant in the Garden (2010)HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-00-787563-4}}
• Shadow (2010){{cite book|author=Michael Morpurgo|title=Shadow|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bZgRwAACAAJ|year=2010|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Limited|isbn=978-0-00-733960-0}}
• Little Manfred (2011)HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-00-733966-2}}
• The Pied Piper of Hamelin (2011)Walker Books. {{ISBN|978-1-4063-1511-0}}
• Sparrow: The True Story of Joan of Arc (2012)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-00-746595-8}}
• Outlaw: The Story of Robin Hood (2012)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-00-746592-7}}
• Homecoming (2012)London: Walker Books. {{ISBN|978-1-4063-3202-5}}
• Where My Wellies Take Me (with Clare Morpurgo) (2012)London: Templar Publishing. {{ISBN|9781848775442}}
• A Medal for Leroy (2012)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-00-748751-6}}
• Beauty and the Beast (2013)
• The Castle in the Field – Little Gems (2013)Edinburgh: Barrington Stoke. {{ISBN|978-1-7811-2287-7}}
• Pinocchio By Pinocchio (2013)
• The Goose is Getting Fat (2013)London: Egmont. {{ISBN|978-1-4052-6896-7}}
• All I Said Was (2014)Edinburgh: Barrington Stoke. {{ISBN|978-1-78112-348-5}}
• Half a Man (2014)London: Walker Books. {{ISBN|978-1-4063-5133-0}}
• Listen to the Moon (2014)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-00-733963-1}}
• Mini Kid (2014)Edinburgh: Barrington Stoke. {{ISBN|978-1-78112-352-2}}
• Such Stuff: A Story-Maker's Inspiration (2016)London: Walker Books. {{ISBN|978-1-4063-6457-6}}
• The Fox and the Ghost King (The Timeless Tale of an Impossible Dream) (2016)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-00-796026-2}}
• An Eagle in the Snow (2016){{cite web|title=An Eagle in the Snow by Michael Morpurgo – Paperback {{!}} HarperCollins|url=https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008134174/an-eagle-in-the-snow|website=HarperCollins UK|access-date=11 June 2017}}
• Greatest Magical Stories (2017)Oxford: OUP. {{ISBN|978-0-19-276403-4}}
• Lucky Button (2017)London: Walker Books. {{ISBN|978-1 4063-7168-0}}
• Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz (2017)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-00 813459-4}}
• Flamingo Boy (2018)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-00-813463-1}}
• In the Mouth of the Wolf (2018)London: Egmont. {{ISBN|978-1-4052-8526-1}}
• The Day the World Stopped Turning (2019)New York: Feiwel Friends. {{ISBN|9781250107077}}
• Grandpa Christmas (2020)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-1-4052-9497-3}}
• A Song of Gladness (2021)London: Pan Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-1-5290-6331-8}}
• The Puffin Keeper (2021)London: Penguin Random House. {{ISBN|978-0-2414-5450-3}}
• When Fishes Flew: The Story of Elena's War (2021)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-0083-5218-9}}
• Carnival of the Animals (2021)London: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-0084-5982-6}}
• Flying Scotsman and the Best Birthday Ever (2022)London: Thames & Hudson. {{ISBN|978-0-50-065294-7}}
• Cobweb (2024){{cite news |last1=Bearn |first1=Emily |title=Schools don't teach history properly – thank goodness for Michael Morpurgo |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/childrens-books/review-cobweb-michael-morpurgo/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=11 September 2024}} {{ISBN|978-0-00-835216-5}}

{{div col end}}

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 When 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kent-life.co.uk/people/making-of-a-ballet-1-1639423|title=Making of a ballet|website=Kent Life|date=20 July 2010|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.londontheatredirect.com/news/the-national-theatres-war-horse-facts-and-figures|title=The National Theatre's War Horse: Facts And Figures|date=2013-08-05|website=www.londontheatredirect.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}} 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.[http://westend.broadwayworld.com/article/WAR_HORSE_Opens_In_The_West_End_32809_20081218 "'War Horse' Opens In The West End 3/28/09"] broadwayworld.com, 8 December 2008 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/war-horse-close-end-2016/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/war-horse-close-end-2016/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=War Horse to close after ailing ticket sales|last=Singh|first=Anita|date=2016-05-18|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}} It was the most successful production of the National Theatre ever.

On 15 March 2011, the show premiered on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/146000-Seth-Numrich-to-Lead-War-Horse-on-Broadway-35-Member-Cast-Announced |title=Seth Numrich to Lead 'War Horse' on Broadway; 35-Member Cast Announced |last=Hetrick |first=Adam |date=20 December 2010 |magazine=Playbill |access-date=27 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223210433/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/146000-Seth-Numrich-to-Lead-War-Horse-on-Broadway-35-Member-Cast-Announced |archive-date=23 February 2011}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/hong-kong/article/WAR-HORSE-Gallops-Into-Hong-KongThe-Only-Asian-Stop-in-Its-First-International-Tour-20190417|title=WAR HORSE Gallops into Hong Kong—The Only Asian Stop in Its First International Tour|last=Oliveros|first=Oliver|website=BroadwayWorld.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/12/theater/war-horse-closes-in-britain-but-its-influence-gallops-on.html|title='War Horse' Closes in Britain, but Its Influence Gallops On|last=Trueman|first=Matt|date=2016-03-11|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jun/18/steven-spielberg-cast-war-horse|title=Steven Spielberg unveils cast for War Horse adaptation|last=Child|first=Ben|date=2010-06-18|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} The film was nominated numerous awards, including six Academy Awards and five BAFTA Awards.{{Citation|title=War Horse – IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568911/awards|access-date=2020-01-05}}

Waiting for Anya was adapted as a film of the same title released in 2020.{{cite web |last1=Minow |first1=Nell |title=Waiting for Anya movie review (2020) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/waiting-for-anya-movie-review-2020 |website=RogerEbert.com |access-date=13 February 2020 |language=en |date=7 February 2020}} Kensuke's Kingdom, following a fictionalised version of Morpurgo himself stranded on a desert island as a child, was adapted as a film of the same title first released in 2023 and widely released in 2024, with Aaron MacGregor voicing a young Michael, and Sally Hawkins and Cillian Murphy voicing his parents.

Morpurgo has thirty books on the HarperCollins list and has sold more than 35 million books worldwide.{{Cite web |title=HarperCollins Childrens signs multi-book deal with Michael Morpurgo |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/harpercollins-signs-multi-book-deal-michael-morpurgo-942081 |access-date=2023-02-06 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}}

Reading Matters website calls Morpurgo's 1999 Kensuke's Kingdom "A quietly told story, but plenty of drama and emotion."{{cite web|url=http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/book.php?id=57|title=Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo: book review|access-date=28 February 2013}}

The Guardian described Private Peaceful, Morpurgo's 2003 novel for older children, as a "humanising and humane work".{{cite news|last1=Samuels|first1=Diane|title=The lost generation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/oct/18/booksforchildrenandteenagers.michaelmorpurgo|access-date=23 April 2017|work=The Guardian|date=18 October 2003}}

Morpurgo and Ted Hughes, then Poet Laureate, originated the idea of the Children's Laureate role,UK Children's Laureate, [http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/About-the-award about the award] and Morpurgo later became the third person to fill the two-year position, from 2003 to 2005.Lyall, Sarah. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/books/michael-morpurgo-author-of-war-horse-an-unlikely-hit.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=undaunted%20authro%20fo%20war%20horse&st=cse "Undaunted Author of ‘War Horse’ Reflects on Unlikely Hit"]. The New York Times. 11 April 2011; retrieved 17 April 2011.

;Shortlisted

• 1991 Carnegie Medal: Waiting for Anya
• 1995 Carnegie Medal: Arthur, High King of Britain
• 1996 Carnegie Medal: The Wreck of the Zanzibar
• 2002 W. H. Smith Award for Children's Literature: Out of the Ashes
• 2003 Blue Peter Book Award: The Book I Couldn't Put Down: Cool!
• 2003 Carnegie Medal: Private Peaceful
• 2004 Whitbread Children's Book Award: Private Peaceful
• 2009 Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable title for Older Readers: The Mozart Question
• 2012 Bippo award for books
• 2010 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German youth literature prize): Warten auf Anya (Waiting for Anya)
• 2014 Costa Children's Book Award: Listen to the Moon

;Awarded

• 1993 Prix Sorcières (France): King of the Cloud Forests
• 1995 Whitbread Children's Book Award: The Wreck of the Zanzibar
• 1996 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Gold Award): The Butterfly Lion
• 1999 Prix Sorcières (France): Wombat Goes Walkabout
• 2000 Red House Children's Book Award: Kensuke's Kingdom{{cite web|title=Michael Morpurgo wins Children's Book Award for fourth time|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40222762|website=BBC News|access-date=11 June 2017|date=11 June 2017}}
• 2001 Prix Sorcières (France): Kensuke's Kingdom
• 2002 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Bronze Award): The Last Wolf
• 2004 Red House Children's Book Award: Private Peaceful
• 2005 Blue Peter Book of the Year Award: Private Peaceful
• 2005 Hampshire Book Award: Private Peaceful
• 2008 California Young Reader Medal: Private Peaceful[https://web.archive.org/web/20081231124229/http://californiayoungreadermedal.org/index.htm California Young Reader Medal: 2008 Young Adult winner]
• 2011 Red House Children's Book Award: Shadow
• 2017 Red House Children's Book Award: An Eagle in the Snow
• 2021 Chen Bochui Children's Literature Award (China) – best author

In 1963, aged 19, Morpurgo married Clare Lane, eldest daughter of Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tjrgz "Penguin, Puffin and the Paperback Revolution"]. BBC Four. 2 September 2010; retrieved 17 April 2011{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/9307630/Michael-Morpurgo-plans-to-make-up-for-shotgun-wedding.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/9307630/Michael-Morpurgo-plans-to-make-up-for-shotgun-wedding.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Michael Morpurgo plans to make up for shotgun wedding|last=Singh|first=Anita|journal=Daily Telegraph|date=2012-06-02|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}} They had met the previous year on holiday in Corfu through Morpurgo's stepfather, who was an editor at Penguin at the time.{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/penguin-books-turn-80-founders-daughter-reveals-sir-allen-lanes-defining-cultural-moment-a6685166.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/penguin-books-turn-80-founders-daughter-reveals-sir-allen-lanes-defining-cultural-moment-a6685166.html |archive-date=14 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|last=Smallman|first=Etan|title=Penguin Books' defining cultural moment|date=2015-10-07|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}} Lane was pregnant with their first child and Morpurgo has referred to it as a shotgun wedding. Their three children are all named after Shakespearian characters.

His mother died in London in 1993."MORPURGO Catherine Noel Kippe of 12 Laurence Mews Askew Road London died 16 February 1993" in Probate Calendar (England and Wales) (1993), Grid K14

Morpurgo was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2017 and received radiotherapy.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44310240|title=War Horse author reveals cancer battle|date=2018-05-30|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-GB}} He has since recovered.

{{Main|Farms for City Children}}

In 1976, Morpurgo and his wife Clare established the charity Farms for City Children,{{EW charity|325120|Farms for City Children}} with the primary aim of providing children from inner city areas with experience of the countryside.{{YouTube|Ktl3_VFg6qo|AdventureBox Books Interview on Farms for Children}} The programme involves the children spending a week at a countryside farm, during which they take part in purposeful farmyard work.[http://www.farmsforcitychildren.co.uk Farms for City Children webpage], farms4citychildren.co.uk; accessed 14 October 2015. The charity's first president was the couple's close friend and neighbour, Ted Hughes.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/11/once-upon-life-michael-morpurgo-farms-city-children|title=Once upon a life: Michael Morpurgo|last=Morpurgo|first=Michael|date=2010-07-10|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}

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, and Gloucestershire. Morpurgo has referred to the charity as his greatest achievement in life.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c6d4e7a6-133e-11e7-b0c1-37e417ee6c76|title=A Q&A with writer Michael Morpurgo|newspaper=Financial Times|date=2017-03-31|access-date=2020-01-05|last1=Lacey|first1=Hester}}

In a January 2014 article, Morpurgo stated "as we begin to mark the century 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."[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/01/first-world-war-centenary-michael-morpurgo First world war centenary is a year to honour the dead but not to glorify] The Guardian, 1 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.

In August 2014, Morpurgo was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |title=Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=26 August 2014}}

Prior to the 2015 general election, Morpurgo endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the Green Party's Caroline Lucas.{{cite news | url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/24/celebrities-sign-statement-support-caroline-lucas-not-green-party | title= Celebrities sign statement of support for Caroline Lucas – but not the Greens | work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Jessica | last=Elgot | date=24 April 2015 | access-date=22 July 2015}}

In 2016, he condemned government plans to extend grammar schools as divisive and "quite deeply stupid".{{cite news | url= https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/13/grammar-school-plans-divisive-stupid-michael-morpurgo-war-horse | title= Grammar school plans are divisive and stupid, says Michael Morpurgo | access-date=16 September 2016}}

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,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36165924/michael-morpurgo-history-tells-me-what-i-need-to-know-about-europe|title=Michael Morpurgo: 'History tells me what I need to know about Europe'|date=29 April 2016|website=BBC News|access-date=2017-08-28}} and reinforced this with a ten-minute BBC Radio 4 A Point of View interview on 5 August 2018.

Morpurgo and his wife Clare were each appointed Members 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.{{London Gazette |issue=55513 |date=12 June 1999 |page=20 |supp=y}}{{London Gazette |issue=58014 |date=17 June 2016 |page=12 |supp=y}}{{London Gazette |issue=62150 |date=30 December 2017 |page=N2 |supp=y}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42504660|title=Honours for Gibb, Starr and Bussell|date=2017-12-30|access-date=2020-01-05|language=en-GB}}

In 2012, Morpurgo was made an Honorary Graduate of the University of Suffolk.[https://www.uos.ac.uk/people/michael-morpurgo "Michael Morpurgo"], University of Suffolk, accessed 9 June 2024

Morpurgo was awarded an honorary doctorate at Bishop Grosseteste University on 17 July 2013.[http://www.bishopg.ac.uk/war-horse-author-to-receive-bgu-honour/ "War Horse author to receive BGU honour"] {{Dead link|date=February 2022}} He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the University of Chichester in 2014.{{Cite web |title=Honorary Awards |url=https://www.chi.ac.uk/alumni/honorary-awards/ |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=University of Chichester |language=en-GB}}

He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) by Newcastle University on 12 July 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/archive/2017/07/honorarydegrees/|title = Achievements of leading figures celebrated with honorary degrees| date=14 July 2017 }}

Morpurgo was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Devon on 10 April 2015.{{London Gazette |issue=61201 |date=16 April 2015 |page=7110}}

Morpurgo is also President of BookTrust, the UK's largest children's reading charity.{{Cite web |title=Our President {{!}} BookTrust |url=https://www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/governance/our-president/ |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=www.booktrust.org.uk}}

On 9 November 2023 Morpurgo was awarded an honorary doctorate at University of Plymouth,{{Cite web |date=2023-11-09 |title=War Horse author and charity founder awarded honorary doctorate |url=https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/war-horse-author-and-charity-founder-awarded-honorary-doctorate |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=University of Plymouth |language=en}} after writing almost all of his 150 books in the county of Devon.

• The Invention of Childhood (2006) (with Hugh Cunningham), BBC Radio 4[http://www.open2.net/theinventionofchildhood/meetthepresenter.html BBC/OU Open2.net – The Invention of Childhood – Meet the presenter]. Open2.net (21 August 2006). Retrieved 6 April 2011.
• Set Our Children Free: the 2011 Richard Dimbleby Lecture. BBC One, 15 February 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/02_february/15/dimbleby.shtml|title=Former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo OBE calls for recognition of children's rights in BBC One's Richard Dimbleby Lecture|publisher=BBC|work=Press Office|date=15 February 2011|access-date=15 February 2011}}
• "Alone on a Wide Wide Sea": BBC Radio 2, 7–10 August 2017

• {{Cite book |last=Carey |first=Joanna |year=1999 |title=Interview with Michael Morpurgo |isbn=9780749738662}}
• {{Cite book |last=Fergusson |first=Maggie |title=Michael Morpurgo: War Child to War Horse |year=2012 |isbn=9780007387267 |ref=none |author-link=Maggie Fergusson}}
• {{Cite book |last=Fox |first=Geoff |year=2004 |title=Dear Mr Morpingo: Inside the World of Michael Morpurgo |publisher=Wizard |isbn=9781840466072}}
• {{Cite book |last=McCarthy |first=Shaun |year=2005 |title=Michael Morpurgo |isbn=9780431179957}}

{{Reflist|refs=

[http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/previous-laureates/michael-morpurgo/ "Michael Morpurgo"]. Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). Booktrust. Retrieved 28 September 2013.

}}

• Morpurgo, Michael et al. La Revue Des Livres Pour Enfants Number 250, December 2009: "Michael Morpurgo" pp 79–124. {{in lang|fr}}
• {{cite news | last =Franks | first =Alan | title =Courses for horses | newspaper =The Times | date =22 September 2007 | url =http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article2483974.ece | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110615122409/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article2483974.ece | url-status =dead | archive-date =15 June 2011 | access-date =23 September 2007 }}

{{Portal|Children's literature |Poetry}}

• {{official website|www.michaelmorpurgo.com }}
• {{official website|www.michaelmorpurgo.org }} (old version)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081204064350/http://www.egmont.co.uk/contributor.asp?contid=104 Michael Morpurgo] at publisher Egmont Books
• {{british council|michael-morpurgo}}
• {{LCAuth|n83017937|Michael Morpurgo|81|ue}}
• [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/11/once-upon-life-michael-morpurgo-farms-city-children The Observer: "Once upon a life: Michael Morpurgo"]
• {{IMDb name|606190}}
• {{ISFDB name}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-culture}}

{{succession box

|title=Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom

|before=Anne Fine

|after=Jacqueline Wilson

|years=2003–2005}}

{{s-end}}

{{Michael Morpurgo}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morpurgo, Michael}}

Category:1943 births

Category:20th-century English male writers

Category:20th-century English novelists

Category:21st-century English male writers

Category:21st-century British novelists

Category:Alumni of King's College London

Category:Associates of King's College London

Category:British Children's Laureate

Category:British people of Belgian descent

Category:Deputy lieutenants of Devon

Category:English children's writers

Category:English historical novelists

Category:English male novelists

Category:English male poets

Category:Fellows of King's College London

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature

Category:Knights Bachelor

Category:Living people

Category:New Statesman people

Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Category:People educated at The King's School, Canterbury

Category:Writers from St Albans