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Sue Townsend exhibition pays tribute to Adrian Mole creator Sue Townsend exhibition pays tribute to Adrian Mole creator
(about 1 hour later)
From the early, unpublished manuscripts she wrote while her children were asleep to the handwritten pages in which Adrian Mole made his first appearance, an exhibition devoted to the life of the late Sue Townsend is set to open at the University of Leicester on Friday.From the early, unpublished manuscripts she wrote while her children were asleep to the handwritten pages in which Adrian Mole made his first appearance, an exhibition devoted to the life of the late Sue Townsend is set to open at the University of Leicester on Friday.
Townsend, who died in April, aged 68, donated her literary and personal archive to the university, where she was an honorary fellow, in 2005. Spanning her literary career, the exhibition will start with what the university's special collections manager Dr Simon Dixon believes is the writer's first ever published article: it is "a piece written about child literacy for a community newspaper distributed on the estate in Leicester she lived on during the 1970s titled 'OOYAH, GERROFF THE COMICS!'," said the academic.Townsend, who died in April, aged 68, donated her literary and personal archive to the university, where she was an honorary fellow, in 2005. Spanning her literary career, the exhibition will start with what the university's special collections manager Dr Simon Dixon believes is the writer's first ever published article: it is "a piece written about child literacy for a community newspaper distributed on the estate in Leicester she lived on during the 1970s titled 'OOYAH, GERROFF THE COMICS!'," said the academic.
Previously unpublished Adrian Mole material will also be displayed, said Dixon, as well as handwritten pages from the original Adrian Mole manuscript, Caroline Holden's rough artwork for the book covers, and details of Townsend's involvement in the new musical version of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾, which opens at Curve theatre, Leicester next year. Previously unpublished Adrian Mole material will also be displayed, said Dixon, as well as handwritten pages from the original Adrian Mole manuscript, Caroline Holden's rough artwork for the book covers, and details of Townsend's involvement in the new musical version of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾, which opens at Curve theatre, Leicester, next year.
"Sue was one of the most important British writers of the last 35 years, and the bestselling author of the Thatcher era. Adrian Mole was made in Leicester, but his diaries have been translated into nearly every language you can name and are read by millions of people across the world. The archive holds the stories behind the Mole diaries and Sue's other books, and that's what we've tried to show in the exhibition," said Dixon. Townsend wrote in secret for years, the idea for Adrian Mole first coming to her in 1975. Adrian, the nation's most beloved awkward teenager, first appeared as Nigel Mole aged 14¾ in a literary arts magazine in Leicester in 1980. His story was later broadcast as a radio drama on BBC Radio 4 in 1982. Its success led to its publication as a novel, but with the character renamed Adrian, to avoid confusion with fellow fictional schoolboy Nigel Molesworth.
Townsend wrote in secret for years, the idea for Adrian Mole first coming to her in 1975, the university said. Adrian, the nation's most beloved awkward teenager, first appeared in a literary arts magazine in Leicester in 1980,. His story was later broadcast as a radio drama on BBC Radio 4 in 1982, the character then called Nigel. Its success led to its publication as a novel, but with the character renamed Adrian, to avoid confusion with fellow fictional schoolboy Nigel Molesworth. The importance of Leicester to Townsend emerges clearly from the archive, said Dixon.
"It is an extraordinary collection, covering her entire writing career from the early unpublished manuscripts that she wrote in secret while her family were asleep, to her final published work The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year," said Dixon. "She's held in great affection at the university, and we were deeply saddened by her death earlier in the year." "We have the very first extracts on display and a page of unpublished manuscript. The magazine diaries are interesting as Sue is very clearly writing for a local Leicester audience, referring to places in Leicester and the famous Daniel Lambert (1770-1809), who weighed 50 stone."
As well as her Adrian Mole books, the exhibition will highlight the author's many plays, and her six other novels, with photographs, work from her time as writer-in-residence at Leicester's Phoenix theatre, and early published articles from the Eyres Monsell and Saffron Community News also on display. Dixon said he hoped the exhibition would prompt visitors "to discover Townsend's lesser-known books and plays for the first time", as well as to reread the Adrian Mole stories. But the exhibition would also demonstrate Townsend's international stature, he said. "Sue was one of the most important British writers of the last 35 years, and the bestselling author of the Thatcher era. Adrian Mole was made in Leicester, but his diaries have been translated into nearly every language you can name and are read by millions of people across the world."
He added that the archive was "an extraordinary collection, covering her entire writing career from the early unpublished manuscripts that she wrote in secret while her family were asleep, to her final published work The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year".
As well as her Adrian Mole books, the exhibition will highlight the author's many plays and her six other novels, with photographs, work from her time as writer-in-residence at Leicester's Phoenix theatre, and early published articles from the Eyres Monsell and Saffron Community News also on display. Dixon said he hoped the exhibition would prompt visitors "to discover Townsend's lesser-known books and plays for the first time", as well as to reread the Adrian Mole stories.
The free exhibition will run in the university's David Wilson library until 4 January.The free exhibition will run in the university's David Wilson library until 4 January.