New Honorary Fellow Sue Perkins on comedy, Cornwall and the courage to be yourself

A surprise honour

When the invitation to become an Honorary Fellow arrived, Sue admits she almost didn’t believe it.

“I get a lot of emails through my agent, but this one was different. I got halfway through reading it and I didn’t know who they were describing because they’d been so nice about me. To be honest, it’s one of the very few emails I’ve ever read all the way through.”

Coming from a family without a university background, the recognition felt especially meaningful.

“My parents didn’t go to university, so even just getting my own degree was a big deal. To be given this honour was overwhelming and wonderful.”

Discovering Falmouth

Sue first moved to Cornwall on a whim after a holiday to Zennor.

“I went down for a week and cried when I was packing up the car to leave. Three weeks later I came back, not knowing anyone, and moved to a remote part of West Penwith. It has been the most incredible place for me to be myself, to be calm, but also to feel part of a community.”

Though she spent seven years living in Cornwall, her impressions of Falmouth’s campuses came later.

“It’s got to be one of the most peaceful places in the country. You really get a sense of creativity here. Young people are allowed to express themselves, to form communities, and to be at the sharp edge of everything they love doing. That’s needed more than ever now, when the arts are struggling.”

Lessons from comedy

Sue’s career began in the most unlikely way, when she and Mel were invited to write for Falmouth’s Chancellor, Dawn French, and her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders.

“I was unemployed at the time, living in a squat, and Jennifer Saunders rang me. I thought it was a prank and put the phone down. Luckily, she called back.”

From writing came performing, and the pair went on to front shows together for years. Their long partnership, she says, has lasted because of one unusual factor.

“The secret of any long creative partnership is kompromat. We are mutually bound by a series of awkward, dreadful and sometimes criminal revelations that we’re both desperate for each other to keep quiet. And that, I believe, is the secret to any good creative endeavour.”

Words for graduates

Sue offered the following advice to those graduating in 2025:

“Stop pretending you’re like everybody else and just be yourself. I was late to that lesson, and I wasted a lot of time trying to fit in. Don’t do the same. Be present, be happy, and don’t worry so much about how you look. This is the best you’ll ever look.”

She also reminded graduates not to lose heart in a changing creative landscape.

“Yes, the arts are in a tough place. But this generation are going to find new ways. They’ll use digital, AI, whatever’s available, to create things I won’t even understand. And that’s exciting.”