The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, a bestseller from the 1980s, turns 40 years old this year. The university plans to commemorate this milestone with an exhibition and a number of events.
The original drafts of Sue Townsend’s book, which was written and was born there, are kept at the University of Leicester.
The activities will examine Townsend’s life, career, and literary legacy, who passed away in 2014. On Friday, the show will open.
‘Razor-sharp’
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Author Bali Rai, English associate professor Emma Parker, and curator Sarah Wood will all speak on Townsend’s legacy at the launch event.
On Saturday, Dr. Parker will also lead a cycling tour of Leicester that will concentrate on key locations connected to Townsend.
The book is “cherished as a warm-hearted comedic tale about adolescence,” according to Dr. Parker.
She went on to say that Townsend’s writing “deserves greater approbation for its razor-sharp satire of Thatcherism and astute working-class, feminist assessment of the changing landscape of the 1980s,” but also for its sharp critique of Thatcherism.
The private diary of Sue Townsend
Townsend was born in 1946 in Leicester. She didn’t start reading until she was eight years old, dropped out of school at 15, had three kids by the time she was in her mid-20s, and wrote for 20 years in secret.
She became a professional playwright and novelist after joining a writers’ group at The Phoenix Theatre in Leicester. Her first play, Womberang, won a Thames Television award.
Townsend became one of the nation’s most well-known writers after The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged Thirteen and a Half was first published in 1982.
The 1980s alone saw the sale of 20 million copies of Sue’s books, which were also translated into 48 different languages. Up to January 14th, the show will be on view in the David Wilson library’s Exhibition Zone.
To commemorate the book’s 40th birthday, a new edition of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged Thirteen and a Half, with a foreword by author and journalist Caitlin Moran, will be released in October.
Townsend received an honorary degree from the college in 1991, and in 2008, he was named a Distinguished Honorary Fellow.
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