Penguin Talks: Michelle Obama to speak on the importance of education

On Monday 3 December, Michelle Obama will be speaking at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington, London, as part of her visit to the UK to celebrate the publication of her memoir, Becoming.

The Penguin Talk will see Mrs. Obama joined by three young alumni and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Executive Head teacher, Jo Dibb, for a conversation on the on the importance of education in front of an audience of 250+ school pupils from both Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Mulberry School in East London. Mrs. Obama has a longstanding relationship with the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Mulberry School communities, having visited and engaged with both on several occasions during her time as First Lady of the United States. 

The event will be filmed by Penguin as part of the Penguin Talks series, with the video to be made free and available to all to watch on the Penguin Books YouTube channel later in the week. Penguin will also be making a free teaching resource, based on the central themes and ideas of Becoming, available to download on its Penguin Talks webpage. 

Penguin Talks is a programme of free creative talks hosted by Penguin for young people across the UK, which give the audience the opportunity to both hear from and directly question a world-renowned thinker, writer or influential figure from our family of authors. 

Our aim is to help equip young people for the future by introducing a new generation of readers to new ideas and perspectives, and broadening their understanding of issues which speakers feel to be particularly prevalent for this generation.

Watch the inaugural Penguin Talk, featuring global phenomenon Yuval Noah Harari in conversation with Russell Brand, to discuss ideas from his book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, here.