Morpurgo joins Jonathan Bryan at launch of 'powerful' memoir

Michael Morpurgo has joined Jonathan Bryan at the launch of “powerful” memoir, Eye Can Write.

Bonnier Publishing imprint Lagom celebrated the launch of Bryan’s memoir at Waterstones Piccadilly on Thursday (11th July), with guests including children's author Morpurgo, who wrote the foreword for the book, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who delivered a short prayer.

Bryan is a longstanding fan of Morpurgo, to whom he was introduced last year. Bryan, aged 12, has severe cerebral palsy, a condition that renders him incapable of violentary movement or speech. He was unable to fully communicate with the outside world until he found a way of using his eyes to choose individual letters, and through this medium, he could share his thoughts.

His memoir, Eye Can Write, tells of his passion for life, sense of fun, hopes, fears, and what it’s like to be him.

Natalie Jerome, acquisitions director and publisher, Bonnier Publishing UK, said at the event: “Jonathan refused our offer of a ghostwriter to help him tell his story. He was determined and set about writing his book himself - one letter at a time - astonishing me and everyone else at Bonnier Publishing in the process.”