Moran pens foreword for PMJ's 40th-anniversary edition of Adrian Mole

Penguin Michael Joseph is releasing a 40th-anniversary edition of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ with a new foreword from Caitlin Moran celebrating the wit and literary talents of Sue Townsend.

The new edition is out on 13th October and features a glossy cover and endpapers made of never-before-seen notes from the Townsend archive, which is housed at the University of Leicester.

Townsend introduced Adrian, then called Nigel, in a BBC Radio 4 play in 1982. His diaries have since gone on to sell more than 10 million copies in the UK alone, according to the publisher. 

Louise Moore, Penguin Michael Joseph m.d. and Townsend’s long-time publisher, said: “Sue Townsend was a brilliant, funny, multitalented woman. Comic fiction isn’t given the accolade it’s due. It’s a rare talent that few writers master. Sue was a comic great. That she managed to simultaneously weave into in all her novels a sharp, often prophetic, commentary on the socio-economic state of the country while still making us laugh puts her among only a handful of British writers. Sue deserves to be remembered as one of the UK’s truly great and groundbreaking authors. We are really thrilled, as Sue herself would be, that Caitlin—another brilliantly funnywoman—has contributed to this special 40th-anniversary edition.”

In 2017 when given the Bible and Complete Works of Shakespeare on her episode of "Desert Island Discs", Moran said: “I won’t need the Bible or Shakespeare. You can keep them because the book I’m taking is better than both of those. I’m taking The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾.”

Elizabeth Smith, communications director and associate publisher, said: “Caitlin was without a doubt our first choice for a foreword. With this edition we wanted to put Sue centrestage, to remind the world both what a talented author she was and just how important great comic writing is. Who better to help do this than Caitlin, who has said of Adrian Mole: ‘Every child in the country should receive a copy on their 13th birthday’. We couldn’t agree more and hope that this new edition will inspire new and old readers alike to enjoy the world of Adrian Mole and to pass copies on to the next generation of teenage readers in need of an antihero, or at least someone to make them feel better about spots, annoying parents, and their bedroom décor.”