Letters by pre-Smiths Morrissey set for auction

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Morrissey was one of the pioneers of British indie rock in the 1980s By Emma Stanley North West Published 52 minutes ago Letters written by a young Morrissey before he formed The Smiths are to go to auction where they are expected to sell for £22,000. The archive of letters, written to Birmingham pen friend, Simon Pitt, who would go on to become the city's poet laureate, by the singer between the ages of 14 and 20, includes one in which Morrissey says "my ambition is to be a rock 'n' roll star or an actor, or a writer". Another letter dated a number of weeks later adds: "I always said I was a genius, but nobody listened." The letters, written between 1974 and 1979, are expected to fetch a combined £22,000 estimate when they go on sale in London. Image source, PA Media Image caption, The letters are expected to sell for £22,000 They are being offered as separate lots in Before The Smiths: The Morrissey Letters, which will be held at Dawsons Auctioneers on 26 August. The period documented in the letters was featured in the 2017 biopic England Is Mine, which follows the young singer, whose full name is Steven Morrissey, as he struggles to find his place before forming The Smiths with guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982. In the letters, Morrissey also speaks about seeing The Sex Pistols at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, which he says changed his opinion on the band. In the letter, he says: "As for the Pistols... they were pathetic. I take back all that I've said about the Pistols... They are just plain bad. Period." He also speaks about meeting Patti Smith, along with Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls - the band whose UK fan club Morrissey was the president of. Image source, PA Media Image caption, The letters were written by the singer between the ages of 14 and 20 Morrissey speaks of visiting New York punk club CBGB's and attempting to join The Clash, and becoming the vocalist with Manchester punk band The Nosebleeds - his first experience fronting a band. In the letters, he says of his experience with the band: "I'm in showbusiness... I'll spring on this unsuspecting world yet... "One thing I won't do is record for the sake of it... I'm all set for superstardom. But then, I've always been a star, haven't I?" Morrissey also speaks about politics in the letters and his dreams of moving to America. One letter following Margaret Thatcher's election as prime minister in 1979 reads: "Did you vote? Labour, I hope? God knows what tortures that miserable Thatcher has prepared for us woikin' class folk. I dread to fink." The final letter sees Morrissey reveal he has joined a band in London who "have a recording contract and all that rubbish". Image source, PA Media Image caption, The letters are being offered as separate lots in Before The Smiths: The Morrissey Letters, which will be held at Dawsons Auctioneers on 26 August Peter Mason, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dawsons, sai