Philip Pullman

Sir Philip Nicholas Outram PullmanCBEFRSL(born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include thefantasytrilogyHis Dark MaterialsandThe Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ,a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008,The Timesnamed Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945".In a 2004BBCpoll, he was named the eleventh most influential person in British culture.He wasknightedin the2019 New Year Honoursfor services to literature.

Sir Philip Pullman CBEFRSL
Pullman in April 2005
Born	(1946-10-19)19 October 1946 Norwich,England
Occupation	Novelist
Education	English
Alma mater	Exeter College, Oxford
Genre	Fantasy
Notable works	His Dark Materials Clockwork, or All Wound Up The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
Notable awards	Carnegie Medal 1995 Guardian Prize 1996 Astrid Lindgren Award 2005
Spouse	Judith Speller ​ (m.1970)​
Children	2
Parents	Alfred Outram Pullman Audrey Evelyn Merrifield
Relatives	Outram Marshall(great-grandfather)
Signature
Website
philip-pullman.com

Northern Lights,the first volume inHis Dark Materials,won the 1995Carnegie Medalof theLibrary Associationas the year's outstanding English-language children's book.For the Carnegie's 70th anniversary, it was named in the top ten by a panel tasked with compiling a shortlist for a public vote for an all-time favourite.It won that public vote and was named all-time "Carnegie of Carnegies"in June 2007. It wasfilmedunder the book's US title,The Golden Compass.In 2003,His Dark Materialstrilogy ranked third in the BBC'sThe Big Read,a poll of 200 top novels voted by the British public.

Life and career

Philip Pullman was born inNorwich,England, the son of Audrey Evelyn Pullman (née Merrifield) andRoyal Air ForcepilotAlfred Outram Pullman.The family travelled with his father's job, including toSouthern Rhodesia,though most of his formative years were spent inLlanbedrinArdudwy,Wales.

In 1954, when Pullman was seven, his father, an RAF pilot, was killed in a plane crash inKenya,being posthumously awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross(DFC). In an exchange with a journalist in 2008, Pullman said that, as a boy, he saw his father as "a hero, steeped in glamour, killed in action defending his country", and who had been "training pilots". Pullman was then presented with a report fromThe London Gazetteof 1954 "which carried the official RAF news of the day [and] said that the medal was given for 'gallant and distinguished service' during theMau Mau uprising.'The main task of theHarvards[the aircraft flown by his father's unit] had been bombing and machine-gunning Mau Mau and their hideouts in densely wooded and difficult country.' This included 'diving steeply into the gorges of [various] rivers, often in conditions of low cloud and driving rain.' Testing conditions, yes, but not much opposition from the enemy, the journalist in the exchange continued. Very few of the Mau Mau had guns that could land a blow on an aircraft. "

Responding to that new information, Pullman wrote: "My father probably doesn't come out of this with very much credit, judged by the standards of modern liberal progressive thought", and he accepted the revelation as "a serious challenge to his childhood memory."In the 2017 BBC series documentaryImagine,Pullman said that he has since become aware that his father could have crashed his plane deliberately, saying "There was something odd about the crash... he just took his plane up and flew into the side of a hill", citing rumours of his father having debt troubles and a problematic love affair. His mother remarried the following year and, following a move to North Wales, Pullman discovered comic books, includingSupermanandBatman,a medium which he continues to enjoy.

In his early years, Pullman attendedTaverham Hall SchoolandEaton Houseand, from 1957, he was educated atYsgol ArdudwyinHarlech,Gwynedd,spending time inNorfolkwith his grandfather, a clergyman. Around that time, Pullman discoveredJohn Milton'sParadise Lost,which would become a major influence onHis Dark Materials:"I found, in that classroom so long ago, that it had the power to stir a physical response: my heart beat faster, the hair on my head stirred, my skin bristled. Ever since then, that has been my test for poetry, just as it was forA. E. Housman,who dared not think of a line of poetry while he was shaving, in case he cut himself. "

As a teenager,Allen Ginsberg's poetry led him toWilliam Blake:"Thanks to those books, and thanks to my encounter with Ginsberg, and thanks further back to the enlightened local education authority that sent a library van around to the secondary schools in Merionethshire so that I could choose from their shelves the anthology (Donald Allen’sThe New American Poetry 1945-1960:still in print, still irreplaceable) that containedHowl– thanks to those things, I discovered what I believed in. My mind and my body reacted to certain lines from theSongs of Innocence and of Experience,fromThe Marriage of Heaven and Hell,from 'Auguries of Innocence', fromEurope,fromAmericawith the joyful immediacy of a flame leaping to meet a gas jet. What these things meant I didn’t quite know then, and I’m not sure I fully know now. There was no sober period of reflection, consideration, comparison, analysis: I didn’t have to work anything out. I knew they were true in the way I knew that I was alive. "

From 1965, Pullman attendedExeter College, Oxford,receiving aThird-classBAin 1968.In an interview with theOxford Student,he noted that he "did not really enjoy the English course", and that "I thought I was doing quite well until I came out with my third class degree and then I realised that I wasn't – it was the year they stopped giving fourth class degrees otherwise I'd have got one of those".

Pullman married Judith Speller in 1970 and they have two sons.At the time of his marriage he began teaching children aged 9 to 13 at Bishop Kirk Middle School inSummertown, North Oxford,as well as writing school plays.

His first published work wasThe Haunted Storm,which was joint-winner of the New English Library's Young Writer's Award in 1972, but which he refuses to discuss.Galatea,an adult fantasy-fiction novel, followed in 1978, but it was his school plays which inspired his first children's book,Count Karlstein,in 1982. He stopped teaching shortly after the publication ofThe Ruby in the Smoke(1986), aVictorianmystery and the first book in theSally Lockharttetralogy.

Between 1988 and 1996, Pullman taught part-time atWestminster College, Oxford,continuing to write children's stories. He beganHis Dark Materialsin about 1993. The first book,Northern Lights,was published in 1995 (The Golden Compassin the U.S., 1996). Pullman won both the annualCarnegie Medaland theGuardian Children's Fiction Prize,a similar award that authors may not win twice.While working onHis Dark Materials,he wrote two novellas,The Firework-Maker's Daughter(1995) andClockwork, or All Wound Up(1996), which he calls fairy tales. The trilogy continued withThe Subtle Knife(1997) andThe Amber Spyglass(2000).

Pullman has been writing full-time since 1996. He continues to deliver talks and writes occasionally forThe Guardian,including writing and lecturing about education, in which he is often critical of unimaginative education policies.He was awarded aCBEin the New Year's Honours list in 2004. In 2004, he was elected President of the Blake Society.In 2004 Pullman also guest-editedThe MaysAnthology,a collection of new writing from students at the Universities of Oxford andCambridge.

In 2005, Pullman won the annualAstrid Lindgren Memorial Awardfrom the Swedish Arts Council, recognising his career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense". According to the presentation, "Pullman radically injects new life into fantasy by introducing a variety of alternative worlds and by allowing good and evil to become ambiguous." In every genre, "he combines storytelling and psychological insight of the highest order."

In 2006, he was one of five finalists for the biennial, internationalHans Christian Andersen Medal,and he was the British nominee again in 2012.

In 2008, he started working onThe Book of Dust,a companion trilogy to hisHis Dark Materials,and "The Adventures of John Blake", a story for the British children's comicThe DFC,with artist John Aggs.

On 23 November 2007, Pullman was made an honorary professor atBangor University.In October 2009, he became a patron of thePalestine Festival of Literature.He is also a patron of theShakespeare Schools Festival,a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres

On 24 June 2009, Pullman was awarded the degree of D.Litt. (Doctor of Letters),honoris causa,by the University of Oxford at theEncæniaceremony in the Sheldonian Theatre.

In 2012, during a break from writingThe Book of Dust,Pullman was asked by Penguin Classics to curate 50 ofGrimms' classic fairytales,from their compendium of over 200 stories. "They are not all of the same quality", said Pullman. "Some are easily much better than others. And some are obvious classics. You can't do a selected Grimms' withoutRumpelstiltskin,Cinderellaand so on. "

On 19 October 2017, the first volume ofThe Book of Dustwas published by Penguin Random House Children's andDavid Ficklingin the UK and by Random House Children's in the US.The second title inThe Book of Dust,The Secret Commonwealth,published in October 2019, includes a character named after Nur Huda el-Wahabi, a 16-year-old victim of London'sGrenfell Tower fire.As part of the charity auction Authors for Grenfell Tower, Pullman offered the highest bidder a chance to name a character in the upcoming trilogy. Ultimately, he raised £32,400.

Pullman was named aKnight Bachelorin the 2019 New Year's Honours list.In March 2019, the charity Action for Children's Art presented Pullman with their annualJ. M. BarrieAward to mark a "lifetime's achievement in delighting children".

A lifelong fan ofNorwich City F.C.,Pullman penned the foreword to the club's official history, published in 2020.

Awards and Honours

He was a joint-winner of the New English Library's Young Writer's Award in 1972. Northern Lights,was published in 1995 (entitledThe Golden Compassin the U.S., 1996). Pullman won both the annualCarnegie Medaland theGuardian Children's Fiction Prize,a similar award that authors may not win twice. He was awarded aCBEin the New Year's Honours list in 2004. In 2004, he was elected President of the Blake Society.In 2013, he was awarded a Honorary Doctorate by theUniversity of Bath.

His Dark Materials

Main article:His Dark Materials

His Dark Materialsis a trilogy consisting ofNorthern Lights(titledThe Golden Compassin North America),The Subtle KnifeandThe Amber Spyglass.Northern Lightswon the Carnegie Medal for children's fiction in the UK in 1995.The Amber Spyglasswas awarded both 2001Whitbread Prizefor best children's book and the Whitbread Book of the Year prize in January 2002, the first children's book to receive that award. The series won popular acclaim in late 2003, taking third place in theBBC'sBig Readpoll. Pullman has written two companion pieces to the trilogy,Lyra's OxfordandOnce Upon a Time in the North.He refers to a third, which will expand his characterWill Parry,as the "green book".

The Book of Dust,another trilogy, includes characters and events fromHis Dark Materials.Pullman has said that the new series is neither sequel, nor prequel, but an "equel".The first book,La Belle Sauvage,was published in October 2017 and the second book,The Secret Commonwealth,in October 2019.

Pullman has narrated unabridged audiobooks of the three novels in theHis Dark Materialstrilogy; the other parts are read by actors, includingJo Wyatt,Steven Webb,Peter England,Stephen ThorneandDouglas Blackwell.

Campaigns and views

Pullman has been a vocal campaigner on a number of issues related to books and politics.

Views on writing

In the epigraph ofThe Amber Spyglass,Pullman writes that "I have stolen ideas from every book I've ever read. My principle for researching a novel is 'Read like a butterfly, write like a bee,' and if this story contains any honey, it is because of the quality of the nectar I have found in the work of better writers." He acknowledges his primary influences asHeinrich von Kleist's essay "On the Marionette Theater",Milton'sParadise Lostand the works ofWilliam Blake.He says his favorite book is probablyRobert Burton'sThe Anatomy of Melancholy,describing it as "a funny book about depression written in a very prolix, ornate style."

Views on fantasy

In a lecture at theSea of Faithconference, Pullman said that "the writers we call the greatest of all –Shakespeare,Tolstoy,Proust,George Eliotherself, are those who have created the most lifelike simulacra of real human beings in real human situations. In fact the more profound and powerful the imagination, the closer to reality are the forms it dreams up. "He said he wanted to write fantasy realistically, or write fantastic characters with psychological depth:" Because when I thought about it, there was no reason why fantasy shouldn't be realistic, in a psychological sense – and it was the lack of that sort of realism that I objected to in the work of the bigTolkienand all the little Tolkiens. "He saysDavid Lindsay'sA Voyage to Arcturus"shows that fantasy is capable of saying big and important things."He concludes that fantasy is "a great vehicle when it serves the purposes of realism, and a lot of old cobblers when it doesn't." Pullman says that he seesHis Dark Materialsas "stark realism", not fantasy.He has praised fantasy authors likeAlan GarnerandNeil Gaiman.

Views on children's literature

Pullman believes that children deserve quality literature, and that there isn't a clear demarcation between children's and adult literature. In a talk at theRoyal Society of Literature,he quotedC. S. Lewisin "On Three Ways of Writing for Children": "I now likehock,which I am sure I should not have liked as a child. But I still likelemon-squash.I call this growth or development because I have been enriched: where I formerly had only one pleasure, I now have two. "Pullman says that" It would be nice to think that normal human curiosity would let us open our minds to experience from every quarter, to listen to every storyteller in the marketplace. It would be nice too, occasionally, to read a review of an adult book that said, 'This book is so interesting, and so clearly and beautifully written, that children would enjoy it as well.' "He is an admirer ofPhilippa Pearce;when Pullman'sNorthern Lightswon theCarnegie of Carnegies,Pearce'sTom's Midnight Gardenwas the runner-up. Pullman said "Personally, I feel they got the initials right but not the name. I don't know if the result would be the same in a hundred years' time; maybe Philippa Pearce would win then."In 2011, Pullman gave the Philippa Pearce Lecture.

He is also an admirer ofLeon Garfield,"someone who put the best of his imagination into everything he wrote", particularly praisingThe Pleasure Garden.In a lecture, he said that "one of the things we need to do for children is introduce them to the pleasures of the subtle and complex. One way to do that, of course, is to let them see us enjoying it, and then forbid them to touch it, on the grounds that it's too grown-up for them, their minds aren't ready to cope with it, it's too strong, it'll drive them mad with strange and uncontrollable desires. If that doesn't make them want to try it, nothing will."

Monarchy

In 2002, to coincide with theGolden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II,Pullman was interviewed for a feature inThe Guardianon notable republicans. According to Pullman, "The present system is unsustainable, because it is cruel. No individual and no family should be subject to the pressures of publicity and expectation that have beset theWindsors."Expressing sympathy for the youngPrince William,Pullman added, "we can't have a quiet, sensible, unobtrusive sort of monarchy because of the mistakes the Windsors have made, and because of the disgusting and unredeemable nature of the tabloid press; so we shall have to have a republic. The one thing to avoid is a political president. Let's have a well-respected figure from some other walk of life, and leave politics to the prime minister and parliament."In 2010,The Atlanticdescribed Pullman's Jesus inThe Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christas "a proper republican in the Pullman sense of the word: instinctively fraternal and anti-institutional, spreading his rough-and-ready enlightenments across the horizontal axis."

Age and gender labelling of books

In 2008, Pullman led a campaign against the introduction of age bands on the covers of children's books, saying: "It's based on a one-dimensional view of growth, which regards growing older as moving along a line like a monkey climbing a stick: now you're seven, so you read these books; and now you're nine so you read these."More than 1,200 authors, booksellers, illustrators, librarians and teachers joined the campaign; Pullman's own publisher,Scholastic,agreed to his request not to put the age bands on his book covers. Joel Rickett, deputy editor ofThe Bookseller,said: "The steps taken by Mr Pullman and other authors have taken the industry by surprise and I think these proposals are now in the balance."

In 2014, Pullman supported theLet Books Be Bookscampaign to stop children's books being labelled as "for girls" or "for boys", saying: "I'm against anything, from age-ranging to pinking and blueing, whose effect is to shut the door in the face of children who might enjoy coming in. No publisher should announce on the cover of any book the sort of readers the book would prefer. Let the readers decide for themselves."

Civil liberties

Pullman has a strong commitment to traditional British civil liberties and is noted for his criticism of growing state authority and government encroachment into everyday life. In February 2009, he was the keynote speaker at the Convention on Modern Liberty in Londonand wrote an extended piece inThe Timescondemning the Labour government for its attacks on basic civil rights.Later, he and other authors threatened to stop visiting schools in protest at new laws requiring them to be vetted to work with youngsters—though officials claimed that the laws had been misinterpreted.

Public jury

In July 2011, Pullman was one of the lead campaigners signing a declaration that called for a 1,000-strong "public jury", selected at random, to draw up a "public interest first" test to ensure that power was taken away from "remote interest groups". The declaration was also signed by 56 academics, writers, trade unionists and politicians from theLabour Party,theLiberal Democratsand theGreen Party.

Library closures

In October 2011, Pullman backed a campaign to stop 600 library closures in England, calling it a "war against stupidity".London Borough of Brentclaimed that it was closing half of its libraries to fulfil its "exciting plans" to improve its library service. Pullman said: "All the time, you see, the council had been longing to improve the library service, and the only thing standing in the way was – the libraries."

Speaking at a conference organised by The Library Campaign andVoices for the Library,he added:

The book is second only to the wheel as the best piece of technology human beings have ever invented. A book symbolises the whole intellectual history of mankind; it's the greatest weapon ever devised in the war against stupidity. Beware of anyone who tries to make books harder to get at. And that is exactly what these closures are going to do – oh, not intentionally, except in a few cases; very few people are stupid intentionally; but that will be the effect. Books will be harder to get at. Stupidity will gain a little ground.

Ebook library loans

In advance of becoming president of theSociety of Authorsin August 2013, Pullman led a call for authors to be fairly paid forebooklibrary loans. Under arrangements in force at the time, authors were paid 6p per library loan by the government for physical books, but nothing for ebook loans. In addition, the Society found that publishers had possibly been inadvertently underpaying authors for ebook loans. Altogether, this may have resulted in authors losing up to two-thirds of the income they would have received on the sale and loan of a physical book. Addressing this issue, Pullman said:

New media and new forms of buying and lending are all very interesting, for all kinds of reasons, but one principle remains unchanged: authors must be paid fairly for their work. Any arrangement that doesn't acknowledge that principle is a bad one, and needs to be changed. That is our whole argument.

William Blake's cottage and memorial stone

As a long-time enthusiast ofWilliam Blake,and president of the Blake Society, Pullman led a campaign in 2014 to buythe Sussex cottagewhere the poet lived between 1800 and 1803, saying:

Surely it isn't beyond the resources of a nation that can spend enormous amounts of money on acts of folly and unnecessary warfare, a nation that likes to boast about its literary heritage, to find the money to pay for a proper memorial and a centre for the study of this great poet and artist. Not least because this is the place where he wrote the words now often sung as an alternative (and better) national anthem, the poem known asJerusalem:"And did those feet in ancient time". Blake's feet walked inFelpham.Let's not let this opportunity pass by.

As president of the Blake Society, on 11 August 2018, Pullman inaugurated Blake's new memorial gravestone on the site of his grave inBunhill Fields,following a long campaign by the society.

Boycott of Brexit 50p coin

In January 2020, Pullman called for literate people to boycott the newly mintedBrexit50p coindue to the omission of theOxford commain its slogan "Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations". The viewpoint was supported by some, whilelexicographerSusie Dentindicated it was optional and BaronessBakewellsaid she had been "taught that it was wrong to use the comma in such circumstances".

Presidency of the Society of Authors

In 2013 Pullman was elected President of theSociety of Authors– the "ultimate honour" awarded by the British writers' body, and a position first held by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.In January 2016, Pullman resigned as patron of the Oxford Literary Festival in support of the Society of Author's campaign for writers to be paid fees at festivals and drew attention to the poor remuneration of writers.

On 10 August 2021 Pullman tweeted a response to what he wrongly thought was criticism ofKate Clanchy's teaching memoirSome Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.His tweet said that those who condemn a book without reading it would be at home with "Boko Haram and the Taliban." Pullman later deleted the tweet and apologised. On the 11th of August The Society of Authors put out a statement and an interview with Chair of Management CommitteeJoanne Harriswhich were described byThe Guardianas the society "distancing" itself from Pullman.Pullman resigned his presidency, later stating that the management committee urging him to apologise for something he hadn’t done had been a factor in his decision to stand down.He later criticised Harris for her "facetious and flippant" public comments and stated that the Society of Authors had become a "vehicle for gesture politics" and called for external review and reform of the organisation.

Perspective on religion

Although Pullman has stated he is "aChurch of Englandatheist,and a1662 Book of Common Prayeratheist, because that's the tradition I was brought up in ",he has also said he is technically anagnostic.He has singled out elements of Christianity for criticism: "if there is a God, and he is as the Christians describe him, then he deserves to be put down and rebelled against."He has also acknowledged that the same could be said of all religions. Pullman has also referred to himself as knowingly "of the Devil's party", a reference to William Blake's revisionist view of Milton inThe Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Pullman is a supporter ofHumanists UKand an Honorary Associate of theNational Secular Society.In 2011, he was given a services to Humanism award by the British Humanist Association for his contribution as a longstanding supporter.

On 15 September 2010, Pullman, along with 54 other public figures (includingStephen Fry,ProfessorRichard Dawkins,Terry Pratchett,Jonathan MillerandKen Follett), signed an open letter published inThe Guardianstating their opposition toPope Benedict XVIbeing given "the honour of a state visit" to the UK; the letter argued that the Pope had led and condoned global abuses of human rights, leading a state which has "resisted signing many major human rights treaties and has formed its own treaties ("concordats") with many states which negatively affect the human rights of citizens of those states".

New Yorkerjournalist Laura Miller described Pullman as one of England's most outspokenatheists.He has characterised atheist totalitarian regimes as religions.

Alan Jacobs (ofWheaton College) said that inHis Dark MaterialsPullman replaced thetheistworld-view ofJohn Milton'sParadise Lostwith aRousseauistone.

The books in the series have been criticised for their attitude to religion, especially Catholicism, by theCatholic League for Religious and Civil RightsandFocus on the Family.Writing in theCatholic Heraldin 1999, Leonie Caldecott cited Pullman's work as an example of fiction "far more worthy of the bonfire than Harry [Potter]" on the grounds that

"[by] co-opting Catholic terminology and playing with Judaeo-Christian theological concepts, Pullman is effectively removing, among a mass audience of a highly impressionable age, some of the building blocks for future evangelisation".

Pullman was flattered and asked his publisher to include quotes from Caldecott's article in his next book.In 2002, theCatholic Heraldpublished an article by Sarah Johnson that compared Pullman to a "playground bully" whose work "attacks a religious minority".The following year, afterBenedict Allen's reference to the criticism during the BBC TV seriesThe Big Read,theCatholic Heraldrepublished both articles and Caldecott claimed her "bonfire" comment was a joke and accused Pullman and his supporters of quoting her out of context.In a longer article forTouchstonemagazine earlier in 2003, Caldecott had also described Pullman's work as "axe-grinding" and "a kind of Luciferian enterprise".

ColumnistPeter Hitchens,in a 2002 article forThe Mail on Sunday,accused Pullman of "killing god" and described him as "the most dangerous author in Britain" because he said in an interview: "I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief." Pullman responded by posting Hitchens' article on his study wall.In that interview, which was for a February 2001 article inThe Washington Post,Pullman acknowledged that a controversy would be likely to boost sales, but continued: "I'm not in the business of offending people. I find the books upholding certain values that I think are important, such as life is immensely valuable and this world is an extraordinarily beautiful place. We should do what we can to increase the amount of wisdom in the world."Hitchens also views theHis Dark Materialsseries as a direct rebuttal ofC. S. Lewis'sThe Chronicles of Narnia;Pullman has criticised the Narnia books as religious propaganda.Hitchens' brotherChristopher Hitchens,author ofGod Is Not Great,praisedHis Dark Materialsas a fresh alternative to Lewis,J. R. R. TolkienandJ. K. Rowling,describing the author as one "whose books have begun to dissolve the frontier between adult and juvenile fiction".However, he was more critical ofThe Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ,accusing Pullman of being a "Protestant atheist" for supporting the teachings of Christ but being critical of organised religion.

Pullman has found support from some Christians, most notablyRowan Williams,the formerArchbishop of Canterbury,who argued that Pullman's attacks focus on the constraints and dangers ofdogmatismand the use of religion tooppress,not on Christianity itself.Williams recommendedHis Dark Materialsfor discussion inreligious educationclasses, and said that "to see large school-parties in the audience of the Pullman plays at the National Theatre is vastly encouraging".Pullman and Williams took part in aNational Theatreplatform debate a few days later to discuss myth, religious experience and its representation in the arts.

Donna Freitas, professor of religion atBoston University,argued that challenges to traditional images of God should be welcomed as part of a "lively dialogue about faith". The Christian writers Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware "also uncover spiritual themes within the books".Pullman's contribution to theCanongate Mythseries,The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ,was described by Mike Collett-White as "a far more direct exploration of the foundations of Christianity and the church as well as an examination of the fascination and power of storytelling".

In a 2017 interview withThe Times Magazine,Pullman said: "The place religion has in our lives is a permanent one." He concluded that there was "no point in condemning [religion]", and mused that it is part of the human mind to ask philosophical questions such as the purpose of life. He reiterated that it was useless to "become censorious about [religion], to say there is no God". He also mentioned that his novel,The Book of Dust,is based on the "extreme danger of putting power into the hands of those who believe in some absolute creed, whether that is Christianity or Islam or Marxism".

Bibliography

Young adult novels

His Dark Materialsseries

His Dark Materialstrilogy

Main article:His Dark Materials

1. Northern Lights(retitledThe Golden Compassin the US) (1995)
2. The Subtle Knife(1997)
3. The Amber Spyglass(2000)

The Book of Dusttrilogy

Main article:The Book of Dust

1. La Belle Sauvage(2017)
2. The Secret Commonwealth(2019)
3. Third book (title and publication date TBC)

Companion books

• Lyra's Oxford(2003), novella, set afterThe Amber Spyglass
• Once Upon a Time in the North(2008), novella, prequel toNorthern Lights
• The Collectors(2014), short story, set betweenLa Belle SauvageandNorthern Lights,first published as an audiobook and on Kindle, then hardcover (2022)ISBN978-0593378342
• Serpentine(2020), novella, set afterThe Amber Spyglass
• The Imagination Chamber(2022), Companion, Scenes fromHis Dark Materials Trilogy

Sally Lockhartseries

1. The Ruby in the Smoke(1985)
2. The Shadow in the North,first published asThe Shadow in the Plate(1986)
3. The Tiger in the Well(1990)
4. The Tin Princess(1994)

Stand-alones

• How to Be Cool(1987)
• The Broken Bridge(1990)
• The White Mercedes(1992), re-issued asThe Butterfly Tattoo(1998)

Children's novels

The New-Cut Gangseries

1. Thunderbolt's Waxwork(1994)
2. The Gas-Fitters' Ball(1995)

Stand-alones

• Count Karlstein(1982)
• Spring-Heeled Jack(1989)
• I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers(1999)
• The Scarecrow and his Servant(2004)

Other novels

• The Haunted Storm(1972)
• Galatea(1976)
• The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ(2010), novella, part of theCanongate Mythseries

Children's short stories

Novellas:

• The Firework-Maker's Daughter(1995)
• Clockwork, or All Wound Up(1996)

Collections:

• Fairy Tales From The Brothers Grimm(2012), collection of 50 short stories

Picture books

• The Wonderful Story of Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp(1993)
• Mossycoat(1998)
• Puss in Boots: The Adventures of That Most Enterprising Feline(2000)

Comics

• The Adventures of John Blake(2008), inThe DFCandThe PhoenixMystery of the Ghost Ship storyline collected by David Fickling Booksand in hardcover byScholastic Inc.

Plays

• Frankenstein(1990)
• Sherlock Holmes and the Limehouse Horror(1992)

Non-fiction

• Ancient Civilizations(1978), historyISBN978-0-08-021920-2
• Using the Oxford Junior Dictionary(1978), guideISBN978-0-19-910324-9
• Daemon Voices: Essays on Storytelling(2017), essaysISBN978-1-910200-96-4

Adaptations

Screen adaptations

• A TV mini-series,I Was a Rat,was produced by theBBCand aired in three one-hour instalments in 2001.
• A film adaptation ofThe Butterfly Tattoofinished principal photography on 30 September 2007.The Butterfly Tattoois a project, supported by Philip Pullman, to allow young artists a chance to gain experience in the film industry. The film is produced by the Dutch production company Dynamic Entertainment.
• A co-producedBBCandWGBH Bostontelevision adaptation ofThe Ruby in the Smoke,starringBillie PiperandJulie Walters,was screened in the UK on BBC One on 27 December 2006, and broadcast on PBS Masterpiece Theatre in America on 4 February 2007. The television adaptation of the second book in the series,The Shadow in the North,aired on theBBCon 26 December 2007. TheBBCandWGBHannounced plans to adapt the next twoSally Lockhartnovels,The Tiger in the WellandThe Tin Princess,for television as well; however, sinceThe Shadow in the Northaired in 2007, no information has arisen regarding an adaptation ofThe Tiger in the Well.
• A film adaptation ofNorthern Lights,titledThe Golden Compass,was released in December 2007 byNew Line Cinema,starringDakota Blue Richardsas Lyra, along withDaniel Craig,Nicole Kidman,Eva Green,Sam ElliottandIan McKellen.
• His Dark MaterialsTV series was produced by theBBCandHBO,broadcast began onBBC Oneon 3 November 2019.

Other adaptations

• London'sRoyal National Theatrestaged a two-parttheatrical versionofHis Dark Materialsin December 2003. The same adaptation has since been staged by several other theatres in the UK and elsewhere.
• His Dark Materialshas also beenadapted for radio, CD and unabridged audiobook;the unabridged audiobooks were narrated by the author.
• The Ruby In The Smokewas adapted for the stage by Reprint (now Escapade) Productions. The adaptation was written and directed by Madeleine Perham, and toured the UK in 2016, including a run at the Edinburgh Festival,finishing at the Brighton Fringe in 2017.
• The Firework-Maker's Daughterwas adapted intoan opera,with music byDavid Bruceand alibrettobyGlyn Maxwell.The production was premiered by the Opera Group in the UK in 2013.Pullman wrote of the opera that it was "one of the best treatments a story of [his had] ever received."

Presidency of Society of Authors

In 2013, Pullman was elected President of theSociety of Authors– the "ultimate honour" awarded by the British writers' body, and a position first held by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.In January 2016, Pullman resigned as patron of the Oxford Literary Festival in support of the Society of Author's campaign for writers to be paid fees at festivals and drew attention to the poor remuneration of writers.

On 10 August 2021 Pullman tweeted a response to what he wrongly thought was criticism ofKate Clanchy's teaching memoirSome Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.His tweet said that those who condemn a book without reading it would be at home with "Boko Haram and the Taliban." Pullman later deleted the tweet and apologised. On the 11th of August The Society of Authors put out a statement and an interview with Chair of Management CommitteeJoanne Harriswhich were described byThe Guardianas the society "distancing" itself from Pullman.Pullman resigned his presidency, later stating that the management committee urging him to apologise for something he hadn’t done had been a factor in his decision to stand down.He later criticised Harris for her "facetious and flippant" public comments and stated that the Society of Authors had become a "vehicle for gesture politics" and called for external review and reform of the organisation.

Further reading

• Robert Darby:Intercision-Circumcision: His Dark Materials, a disturbing allegory of genital mutilationHistory of Circumcision.
• Lenz, Millicent (2005).His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Phillip Pullman's Trilogy.Wayne State University Press.ISBN0-8143-3207-2.
• Gerald O'Collins S.J.,Philip Pullman's Jesus(London, Darton, Longman and Todd, 2010).
• Hugh Rayment-Pickard,The Devil's Account: Philip Pullman and Christianity(London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2004).
• Wheat, Leonard F.Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials – A Multiple Allegory: Attacking Religious Superstition in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Paradise Lost.

External links

• Official website
• Philip PullmanatBritish Council:Literature
• Philip Pullmanat theInternet Speculative Fiction Database
• Philip PullmanatIMDb
• Philip PullmanatLibrary of Congress,with 53 library catalogue records