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Michael-morpurgo
Michael Morpurgo
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Philip Lymbery

Farms for City Children: The Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture

Michael Morpurgo Interviewed by Philip Lymbery

Saturday, 25 March 2023

4:00pm

1 hour

Sheldonian Theatre

£7 - £12.50

Former Children’s Laureate Sir Michael Morpurgo talks about his charity, Farms for City Children, and about encouraging children to develop a relationship with the natural world, his passion for animal welfare, and the importance of humane and sustainable farming. The event is the festival’s third annual hosting of Compassion in World Farming’s Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture, named in honour of the charity’s founder, a British farmer, who became horrified at the development of factory farming.
 
Morpurgo is one of the UK’s best-loved writers for children. Many of his best-known works have a relationship with the natural and animal world at their heart, including The Butterfly Lion, Running Wild, and Born to Run. Morpurgo often calls Farms for City Children, the charity he founded with his wife Clare over 40 years ago, his best story ever. The three farms in the countryside have been visited by 100,000 children from cities. They promote a vision of a world where all children and young people benefit from being connected to food, farming and the natural world. His latest series of farm stories, such as Barney the Horse and Other Tales from the Farm, are inspired by the farms.

Morpurgo’s books have sold more than 35 million copies. He has written more than 150 books, has served as Children’s Laureate, and has won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, the Writers Guild Award, the Whitbread Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award.  He will speak for 20 minutes before a short discussion with chief executive of Compassion in World Farming Philip Lymbery. Morpurgo is among a list of ‘visionaries’ who support Compassion in World Farming’s vision for sustainable and humane farming methods.

The first Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture was given by John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods Market, in 2007. Subsequent lectures have been given by others including by Lester Brown, founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute and author of over 50 books, and Rajendra Pachauri during his chairmanship of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The festival has hosted lectures by the wildlife presenter Chris Packham and by the actress Joanna Lumley. 

This event is part of a series under the banner Pasture to Plate® that looks at the environmental and health benefits of raising food on pasture and getting it to the consumer quickly through a short supply chain.

Event in association with

The Feathers Hotel Woodstock festival hotel The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels Sponsor of the festival crime fiction programme Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller International Literary Properties Supporters of the festival green room The Dorchester Hotels Collection Festival London hotel partner Italian Embassy Supporter of Italian programme Republic of Panama Event generously supported by Republic of Panama Cervantes Institute, London Spanish Embassy Event generously supported by the Spanish Embassy Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Owen Mumford Supporter of programme of science and medicine and annual science and innovation award BBC World Service International radio partner Cultural Relations Platform Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme European Union Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom Netflix University of Oxford FT Weekend Title partner Marlene Hauser Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Jill Dunsmore David Isaac Carole and John Allen Lucian Hudson Pank Koria CEO of Project People Masumi and Jonathan Dobson Miles Young Emily Rose and James Marrow Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture George Warren Lady Hatch Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture John Roberts Trinity College Trinity College St Cross College St Cross College Lincoln College Lincoln College Worcester College Worcester College New College Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies British Academy Royal Academy of Arts Project People Institute of Hospitality Thje Menu Partners Foodbuy Jewish Book Week Partner of Jewish programme Bantam Doubleday Doubleday Transworld TORVA Books which change you, your mind, your world Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Oxford Brookes University Oxford University Images Oxford University Images The Sheldonian Theatre Critchleys Accountants to the festival CAV Oxford Felicity Bryan Associates Conference Oxford Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office Paul Bloomfield Ltd Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner The Oxford Times Regional media partner Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Schoolreaders The Litmus Partnership K T Bruce Photography K T Bruce Photography Ox in a Box OX magazine Siren Communications Siren Communications - corporate consultants Chêne Bleu Wines of Provence The Wild Geese James Currey Society Pusey House Confucius Institute Literature Ireland Flip through Flanders La Leccia
 

FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

The Feathers Hotel Woodstock festival hotel The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels Sponsor of the festival crime fiction programme Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller International Literary Properties Supporters of the festival green room The Dorchester Hotels Collection Festival London hotel partner Italian Embassy Supporter of Italian programme Republic of Panama Event generously supported by Republic of Panama Cervantes Institute, London Spanish Embassy Event generously supported by the Spanish Embassy Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Owen Mumford Supporter of programme of science and medicine and annual science and innovation award BBC World Service International radio partner Cultural Relations Platform Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme European Union Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom Netflix University of Oxford FT Weekend Title partner Marlene Hauser Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Jill Dunsmore David Isaac Carole and John Allen Lucian Hudson Pank Koria CEO of Project People Masumi and Jonathan Dobson Miles Young Emily Rose and James Marrow Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture George Warren Lady Hatch Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture John Roberts Trinity College Trinity College St Cross College St Cross College Lincoln College Lincoln College Worcester College Worcester College New College Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies British Academy Royal Academy of Arts Project People Institute of Hospitality Thje Menu Partners Foodbuy Jewish Book Week Partner of Jewish programme Bantam Doubleday Doubleday Transworld TORVA Books which change you, your mind, your world Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Oxford Brookes University Oxford University Images Oxford University Images The Sheldonian Theatre Critchleys Accountants to the festival CAV Oxford Felicity Bryan Associates Conference Oxford Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office Paul Bloomfield Ltd Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner The Oxford Times Regional media partner Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Schoolreaders The Litmus Partnership K T Bruce Photography K T Bruce Photography Ox in a Box OX magazine Siren Communications Siren Communications - corporate consultants Chêne Bleu Wines of Provence The Wild Geese James Currey Society Pusey House Confucius Institute Literature Ireland Flip through Flanders La Leccia