The University of Warwick has awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters to acclaimed Alderley Edge author Alan Garner which he received at a degree ceremony on Thursday, 20th January.
The honorary degree follows a year of celebrations for the prize winning author as 10th October 2010 marked the 50th anniversary of his first published novel The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. The classic has never been out of print and has been enjoyed by several generations of children.
Alan Garner told me "I am delighted and proud that my work has been judged to be worthy of an honorary doctorate by the University of Warwick and pleased to be a part of such a fine and exciting university."
Alan Garner's writing has been greatly influenced by this area and many of his works, including The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath, and more recently Thursbitch draw on the legends and geography of Alderley Edge. His inspiration has come from Alderley Edge's history, mythology and archaeology and from his own local explorations.
His first three books - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath and Elidor – were fantasy, and marketed for children. However he has also written acclaimed novels that are aimed at adults such as Thursbitch in 2003.
His fourth book, The Owl Service, written in 1968 won both the Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal and established him as one of the UK's leading writers.The Owl Service was also made into an 8 episode TV series which was televised in the winter of 1969-1970 and Alan Garner himself wrote the scripts. In 2001, he was awarded the OBE for services to children's literature.
If you visit the University of Warwick website you can listen to an interview Alan Garner gave just before receiving his honorary degree last week.
