headline: Leicester Adrian Mole show celebrates book's 40th birthday
text: A university is planning to stage an exhibition and a series of events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of 1980s bestseller The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾.
  University of Leicester holds the original manuscripts to the novel, which was written by Sue Townsend, who was born in the city.
  will look at the life, work and enduring literary legacy of Townsend, who died in 2014.
  xhibition will launch on Friday.
  unch event will see author Bali Rai, associate professor of English Emma Parker and curator Sarah Wood discuss Townsend's legacy.
  Dr Parker will also offer a guided bicycle tour of Leicester, focussing on significant places associated with Townsend on Saturday.
  Dr Parker described the book as being "cherished as a warm-hearted comic novel about adolescence".
  However, she added Townsend's writing "deserves greater approbation for its razor-sharp satire of Thatcherism and astute working-class, feminist assessment of the changing landscape of the 1980s".
  Source: University of Leicester
  xhibition will remain in place in the Exhibition Zone of the David Wilson library until 14 January.
  A new edition of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ is to be released in October to mark the book's 40th anniversary, featuring a forward by journalist and writer Caitlin Moran.
  wnsend was awarded an honorary degree by the university in 1991 and received the award of Distinguished Honorary Fellow in 2008.
  Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.