Author Spotlight: Philip Pullman
- Max
- Mar 30
- 3 min read
Perhaps best known for his fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman has been named one of Britain’s greatest writers since 1945. Unafraid to push the envelope, Pullman's works often explore moral questions and spirituality by challenging religious authority in his works. With lyrical and adventurous prose, Pullman draws readers of all ages into adventures that will have them questioning everything they think they know.
Pullman's first foray into children's fiction was the novel Count Karlstein, published in 1982, though he had been writing and publishing work prior to its release. Count Karlstein was succeeded in 1986 by The Ruby in the Smoke, a children’s mystery book set in the Victorian Era. The first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights, was published in 1995. The story follows Lyra Belacqua, a young girl who lives in an oppressive theocratic society ruled by the Magisterium. Lyra must be closely accompanied at all times by her daemon, Pan, an animal manifestation of her human soul; in her world, humans cannot survive if they are separated from their daemons. When it turns out Lyra can naturally read a truth-telling device known as the alethiometer, which resembles a golden compass, she becomes the central figure in a conspiracy that shakes the foundations of her magical world.
The Subtle Knife (1997), the sequel to Northern Lights, transports Lyra to another world, where she meets a young boy named Will Parry. Lyra and Will embark on journey across different realms. Unbeknownst to them, they are the heart of an eons-old prophecy. In the final book, The Amber Spyglass (2000), they become key to winning a battle against heaven itself. Pullman's trilogy soars to grand heights, combining magic, science, and spirituality in an epic that is ultimately about what it means to grow up.
His Dark Materials draws inspiration from and makes direct allusions to John Milton's Paradise Lost, which Pullman first read while spending time with his grandfather in Norfolk. In many ways, the trilogy is a reimagining, perhaps even a reparative reading, of Miltonic temptation and the Fall of Man. Pullman, in an interview, also cited Romantic poets such as Blake and Wordsworth; the theme of innocence in their works is core to the trilogy.
In 2007, Northern Lights was adapted into a film called The Golden Compass. While it received mixed reviews, it won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. In 2019, the full trilogy was adapted into a television series for BBC One and HBO. Spanning three seasons, with each devoted to one book, the series received positive reviews and praise for staying faithful to the source material. His Dark Materials also gave birth to other books in Lyra's universe, such as the series The Book of Dust.
Pullman continues to craft new works, and has delivered talks on writing and education. In 2012, he also curated 50 of Grimm's fairytales for Penguin Classic. His contributions to the genre of children’s novels earned him many awards and accolades. Other than the Carnegie Medal, Pullman was also awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2005 and was a finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2006. He was also made an honorary professor at Bangor University in 2007 and became a fellow at Oxford Brookes University. Other than being a prolific writer, Pullman is also very vocal in various social issues. In 2008 and 2014, he led campaigns against age and gender labeling of books. In 2011, he also backed a campaign to stop the closure of six hundred libraries in England.
One key lesson aspiring children's book writers can learn from Pullman is that he isn't afraid to introduce complex ideas and narratives to his young audience. Instead, his work becomes part of their coming-of-age, encouraging their inquisitiveness as they start to question the rules of the world around them. For these reasons, Pullman is our pick for today's Author Spotlight.
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