Internationally acclaimed author delights crowds with signing event

ONE of the nation’s best-known authors recently paid a visit to the area where he delighted fans with a special signing event.

Bestselling children’s author Sir Michael Morpurgo has captured the imagination of people of all ages for more than fifty years. Since his first release in 1974, the author has taken readers across the world in over 150 books, many of which seek to teach important life lessons.

However, despite transporting readers across the globe, it was the author himself who took a trip recently, visiting Okehampton to delight fans with a special signing session of his latest book.

On Saturday, October 31, Sir Michael and his wife Clare attended Fairplace Church in the town as part of an event organised by independent bookstore Dogberry and Finch. The occasion saw crowds of fans eager to pick up a copy of the author’s latest book Down Burrow Lane: Life and Love on the Farm, a memoir, and have them signed by Sir Michael himself.

During the event, attendees were even given the chance to hear the novelist, who was knighted in 2018 for his services to literature and charity, read from his own books, Michael Morpurgo’s Christmas Stories.

The event also served as an opportunity for some local students to meet the bestselling author and gain some valuable work experience, improving their CVs while participating in a memorable occasion.

Sir Michael is best known as a children’s novelist, however Down Burrow Lane: Life and Love on the Farm, is one of his few adult, non-fiction titles. The memoir chronicles his family’s move to Devon and their decision to set up the charity Farms for City Children.

Founded in 1976, the charity has provided more than 100,000 children with trips to the countryside. The charity invites children from city environments to visit one of its farms in Devon, Pembrokeshire and Gloucester to build self-confidence and self-worth as they work as a team on the site.. A visit full of fun too, and for many, the most memorable time of their young lives.

This year, Sir Michael and his wife Clare are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the charity which boasts patrons such as Princess Anne, and vice presidents Sir Quentin Blake, and Dame Joanna Lumley. The charity’s says that its immersive residentials ‘embed invaluable connections with nature, food and farming’ for children who may have otherwise not had the chance to explore nature.

Prior to the signing event, owner of Dogberry and Finch bookshop, Kate McCloskey, said: “We are thrilled to be hosting a book signing event this autumn for Down Burrow Lane. This long-awaited, tender, and inspiring memoir recounts Michael and Clare Morpurgo's 50 years living on a working farm deep in rural Devon, and the charity they started there in 1976 - Farms for City Children - which has to date transformed the lives of over 100,000 children.”