Philip Pullman: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|English author }}

From 1965, Pullman attended [[Exeter College, Oxford]], receiving a [[British undergraduate degree classification#Third Class honours|Third-class]] [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in 1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cherwell.org/content/8873 |title=University of Oxford, Cherwell newspaper Interviews: Philip Pullman |access-date=2 August 2009 |date=2 September 2009 |publisher=Cherwell |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613052154/http://www.cherwell.org/content/8873 |archive-date=13 June 2009 }}</ref> In an interview with the ''Oxford 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".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordstudent.com/tt2006wk7/Features/growing_pains |title=Growing Pains – Features – The Oxford Student – Official Student Newspaper |access-date=29 March 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216122358/http://www.oxfordstudent.com/tt2006wk7/Features/growing_pains |archive-date=16 December 2008 }}</ref> He discovered [[William Blake]]'s illustrations around 1970, which would also influence him greatly.

Pullman has been writing full-time since 1996. He continues to deliver talks and writes occasionally for ''[[The Guardian]]'', including writing and lecturing about education, in which he is often critical of unimaginative education policies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uce.ac.uk/web2/releases04/3476.html |title=Acclaimed Author Philip Pullman to Visit UCE Birmingham |access-date=11 May 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924164828/http://www.uce.ac.uk/web2/releases04/3476.html |archive-date=24 September 2006 }}. uce.ac.uk. 6 May 2004</ref><ref name="Moonshine">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/jan/22/schools.wordsandlanguage |title=Common sense has much to learn from moonshine |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=23 December 2014}}</ref> He was awarded a [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in the New Year's Honours list in 2004. He also co-judged the Christopher Tower Poetry Prize (awarded by [[Oxford University]]) in 2005 with [[Gillian Clarke]]. In 2004, he was elected President of the Blake Society.<ref>[http://www.blakesociety.org/about/governance/report-to-st-james%E2%80%99s-2004/ Report to St James’s 2004] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307132559/http://www.blakesociety.org/about/governance/report-to-st-james%E2%80%99s-2004/ |date=7 March 2012 }}. blakesociety.org</ref> In 2004 Pullman also guest-edited ''[[The Mays]] Anthology'', a collection of new writing from students at the Universities of Oxford and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]].

[http://www.alma.se/en/Award-winners/2005-Philip-Pullman/ "2005: Philip Pullman: Maintaining an Optimistic Belief in the Child"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013111441/http://www.alma.se/en/Award-winners/2005-Philip-Pullman/ |date=13 October 2012 }}.<!-- combines pdf and html titles --> The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Retrieved 2012-08-13.</ref><!--

In 2008, he started working on ''[[The Book of Dust]]'', a companion trilogy to his ''His Dark Materials'', and "The Adventures of John Blake", a story for the British children's comic ''[[The DFC]]'', with artist John Aggs.<ref>[http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3908515.ece Philip Pullman writes comic strip], ''[[The Times]]'', 11 May 2008</ref><ref>[http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/story/0,,2282010,00.html Deep stuff], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 24 May 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.thedfc.co.uk/davidficklingbooks_author.asp?page=Philip%20Pullman&authorid=22219 Pullman's page at the DFC website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727195205/http://www.thedfc.co.uk/davidficklingbooks_author.asp?page=Philip%20Pullman&authorid=22219 |date=27 July 2011 }}, ''[[The DFC]]''</ref>

On 23 November 2007, Pullman was made an honorary professor at [[Bangor University]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-11-23 |title=Professor role for writer Pullman |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7109377.stm |access-date=2022-11-25}}</ref> In June 2008, he became a fellow supporting the MA in creative writing at [[Oxford Brookes University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brookes.ac.uk/about/news/creativewriting|title=Philip Pullman Creative Writing Fellow for new MA|publisher=Oxford Brookes University|date=11 June 2008|access-date=26 January 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080901211628/http://www.brookes.ac.uk/about/news/creativewriting|archive-date=1 September 2008}}</ref> In September 2008, he hosted "The Writer's Table" for Waterstone's bookshop chain, highlighting 40 books which have influenced his career.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/15486|title=Philip Pullman To Host Next Waterstone's Writer's Table|publisher=booktrade.info|date=2 July 2008|access-date=26 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705054626/http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/15486|archive-date=5 July 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> In October 2009, he became a patron of the [[Palestine Festival of Literature]]. He is also a patron of the [[Shakespeare Schools Festival]], a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.shakespeareschools.org/about-us/patrons |title=Shakespeare Schools Foundation Patrons |website=Shakespeare Schools Foundation |access-date=July 12, 2021 |archive-date=11 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211165434/https://www.shakespeareschools.org/about-us/patrons |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 24 June 2009, Pullman was awarded the degree of D.Litt. (Doctor of Letters), ''honoris causa'', by the University of Oxford at the [[Encænia]] ceremony in the Sheldonian Theatre.<ref>[http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2009/090624.html Honorary degrees awarded at Encaenia – University of Oxford] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704114413/http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2009/090624.html |date=4 July 2009 }}. University of Oxford. Retrieved 2 January 2012.</ref>

A lifelong fan of [[Norwich City F.C.]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p05k8hxh|title=Book of the Week - Daemon Voices - Philip Pullman on his love of Norwich City - BBC Sounds|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> Pullman penned the foreword to the club's official history, published in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://shop.canaries.co.uk/souvenirs/gifts/books-games-and-dvds/2750_the-place-is-going-bananas-the-history-of-ncfc.html|title=The Place Is Going Bananas: The History of NCFC|website=shop.canaries.co.uk}}</ref>

In a lecture at the [[Sea of Faith]] conference, Pullman said that "the writers we call the greatest of all - [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]], [[Marcel Proust|Proust]], [[George Eliot]] herself, 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 big [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] and all the little Tolkiens." He says [[David Lindsay (novelist)|David Lindsay]]'s ''[[A Voyage to Arcturus]]'' "shows that fantasy is capable of saying big and important things."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pullman |first=Philip |title=Writing Fantasy Realistically |url=https://www.sofn.org.uk/conferences/pullman2002.html}}</ref> 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 sees ''His Dark Materials'' as "stark realism", not fantasy.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pullman |first=Philip |title=The Great Escape |url=http://iai.tv/video/the-great-escape |access-date=21 January 2014}}</ref> He has praised fantasy authors like [[Alan Garner]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=April 24, 2015 |title=Fantasy Author Alan Garner celebrated in new tribute, First Light |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/24/fantasy-author-alan-garner-celebrated-in-new-tribute-first-light}}</ref> and [[Neil Gaiman]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman in conversation by Waterstones |url=https://soundcloud.com/waterstones/neil-gaiman-and-philip-pullman}}</ref>

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 the [[Royal Society of Literature]], he quoted [[C. S. Lewis]] in “On Three Ways of Writing for Children”: “I now like [[Hock (wine)|hock]], which I am sure I should not have liked as a child. But I still like [[lemon squash|lemon-squash]]. I call this growth or development because I have been enriched: where I formerly had only one pleasure, I now have two.” He 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.'"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pullman |first=Philip |title=Philip Pullman on Children's Literature and the Critics Who Disdain It |url=https://lithub.com/philip-pullman-on-childrens-literature-and-the-critics-who-disdain-it/ |website=LitHub|date=8 October 2019 }}</ref> He is an admirer of [[Philippa Pearce]]; when Pullman's ''Northern Lights'' won the [[Carnegie of Carnegies]], Pearce's ''[[Tom's Midnight Garden]]'' was 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."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ezard |first=John |date=June 22, 2007 |title=Pullman children's book named the best in 70 years |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jun/22/books.booksnews}}</ref> In 2011, Pullman gave the Philippa Pearce Lecture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pullman |first=Philip |date=2011 |title=Philippa Pearce Lecture |url=https://pearcelecture.com/the-lectures/2011-2/}}</ref>

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 London<ref>[http://www.modernliberty.net/2009/philip-pullmans-keynote The Convention on Modern Liberty]. Modernliberty.net (28 February 2009). Retrieved 2 January 2012.</ref> and wrote an extended piece in ''The Times'' condemning the Labour government for its attacks on basic civil rights.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5811412.ece |work=The Times |location=London |title=Malevolent voices that despise our freedoms |first=Philip |last=Pullman |date=27 February 2009 |access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8153251.stm School safety 'insult' to Pullman]. BBC News (16 July 2009). Retrieved 2 January 2012.</ref>

Although Pullman has stated he is "a [[Church of England]] [[Atheism|atheist]], and a [[Book of Common Prayer|1662 Book of Common Prayer]] atheist, because that's the tradition I was brought up in",<ref name="atheist01" /> he has also said he is technically an [[Agnosticism|agnostic]].<ref name="agnostic01" /> 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."<ref name="agnostic01">{{cite web |url=http://www.pluggedin.com/upfront/2007/sympathyforthedevil.aspx |title=Sympathy for the Devil by Adam R. Holz |access-date=14 September 2013 |publisher=Plugged in Online |quote=I suppose technically, you'd have to put me down as an agnostic. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221064101/http://www.pluggedin.com/upfront/2007/sympathyforthedevil.aspx |archive-date=21 February 2014 }}</ref> He has also acknowledged that the same could be said of all religions.<ref name="Thirdway">{{cite web|url=http://www.thirdway.org.uk/past/showpage.asp?page=3949 |title=Heat and Dust |access-date=5 April 2007 |last=Spanner |first=Huw |date=13 February 2002 |publisher=ThirdWay.org.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310183032/http://www.thirdway.org.uk/past/showpage.asp?page=3949 |archive-date=10 March 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/philip_pullman.html |title= Belief |access-date=5 April 2007 |last=Bakewell |first=Joan |year= 2001 |work=BBC News|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040911070237/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/philip_pullman.html |archive-date = 11 September 2004}}</ref>

Pullman has also referred to himself as knowingly "of the Devil's party", a reference to William Blake's revisionist view of Milton in ''[[The Marriage of Heaven and Hell]]''.<ref>Whittaker, Jason. (9 April 2010) [http://zoamorphosis.com/2010/04/zoapod-10-his-dark-materials-transcript/ His Dark Materials – Blake and Pullman]. Zoamorphosis.com. Retrieved 2 January 2012.</ref>

On 15 September 2010, Pullman, along with 54 other public figures (including [[Stephen Fry]], Professor [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Terry Pratchett]], [[Jonathan Miller]] and [[Ken Follett]]), signed an open letter published in ''[[The Guardian]]'' stating their opposition to [[Pope Benedict XVI]] being 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".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/15/harsh-judgments-on-pope-religion|title=''The Guardian'': Harsh judgments on the pope and religion|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=16 September 2010 |location=London |date=15 September 2010}}</ref>

Alan Jacobs (of [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton College]]) said that in ''His Dark Materials'' Pullman replaced the [[theist]] world-view of [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' with a [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseauist]] one.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mhadigital.org/index.php?post_id=274993|title=Mars Hill Audio – Audition – Program 10|access-date=13 November 2007}}</ref>

The books in the series have been criticised for their attitude to religion, especially Catholicism, by the [[Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1342 |title="The Golden Compass" Sparks Protest |publisher=Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919000756/http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1342 |archive-date=19 September 2011 }}</ref> and [[Focus on the Family]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000005672.cfm |title=Golden Compass Reveals a World Where There is No God |author=Jennifer Mesko |publisher=Focus on the Family citizenlink.com |access-date=7 December 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011211304/http://citizenlink.org/content/A000005672.cfm |archive-date=11 October 2007 }}</ref> Writing in the ''[[Catholic Herald]]'' in 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 <blockquote>"[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".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/29th-october-1999/7/the-stuff-of-nightmares|title=The stuff of nightmares|date=29 October 1999|access-date=15 January 2014|author=Caldecott, Leonie|newspaper=Catholic Herald}}</ref> </blockquote>Pullman was flattered and asked his publisher to include quotes from Caldecott's article in his next book.<ref name="Vanity Fair" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.surefish.co.uk/culture/features/pullman_interview.htm|title=A dark agenda?|date=November 2002|access-date=15 January 2014|publisher=surefish.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511153018/http://www.surefish.co.uk/culture/features/pullman_interview.htm|archive-date=11 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2002, the ''Catholic Herald'' published an article by Sarah Johnson that compared Pullman to a "playground bully" whose work "attacks a religious minority".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/1st-february-2002/10/closing-childrens-minds|title=Closing children's minds|date=1 February 2002|access-date=15 January 2014|author=Johnson, Sarah|newspaper=Catholic Herald|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116104508/http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/1st-february-2002/10/closing-childrens-minds|archive-date=16 January 2014}}</ref> The following year, after [[Benedict Allen]]'s reference to the criticism during the BBC TV series ''[[The Big Read]]'', the ''Catholic Herald'' republished both articles and Caldecott claimed her "bonfire" comment was a joke and accused Pullman and his supporters of quoting her out of context.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/26th-december-2003/3/challenge-to-bbc-over-book-allegation|title=Challenge to BBC over book allegation|date=26 December 2003|access-date=15 January 2014|author=Farrell, Christina|newspaper=Catholic Herald|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218074222/http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/26th-december-2003/3/challenge-to-bbc-over-book-allegation|archive-date=18 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/26th-december-2003/5/the-big-read-and-the-big-lie|title=The Big Read and the big lie|date=26 December 2003|access-date=15 January 2014|author=Caldecott, Leonie|newspaper=Catholic Herald}}</ref> In a longer article for ''[[Touchstone (magazine)|Touchstone]]'' magazine earlier in 2003, Caldecott had also described Pullman's work as "axe-grinding" and "a kind of Luciferian enterprise".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=16-08-042-f|title=Paradise Denied – Philip Pullman & the Uses & Abuses of Enchantment|date=October 2003|access-date=15 January 2014|author=Caldecott, Leonie|work=Touchstone Magazine}}</ref>

Columnist [[Peter Hitchens]], in a 2002 article for ''[[The 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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ross|first=Deborah|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/philip-pullman-soap-and-the-serious-writer-9247559.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/philip-pullman-soap-and-the-serious-writer-9247559.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Philip Pullman: Soap and the serious writer|work=The Independent|date=4 February 2002|access-date=18 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Hitchens|first=Peter|url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/peter-hitchens-whats-happened-to-philip-pullman/|title=What's happened to Philip Pullman?|work=Catholic Herald|date=2 November 2017|access-date=14 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Hawkes|first=Rebecca|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/philippullmanversus-god-author-became-enemy-religion/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/philippullmanversus-god-author-became-enemy-religion/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Philip Pullman versus God: how the author became the enemy of religion|date=<!-- Wednesday -->18 October 2017|access-date=14 June 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In that interview, which was for a February 2001 article in ''[[The 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."<ref name="Post">{{cite news|last=Wartofsky|first=Alona|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/19/the-last-word/4bad376f-4ab7-441c-9c50-afc7e63dd192/|title=The Last Word|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=19 February 2001|access-date=18 January 2020}}</ref> Hitchens also views the ''His Dark Materials'' series as a direct rebuttal of [[C. S. Lewis]]'s ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'';<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/18th-january-2003/18/a-labour-of-loathing|title=A labour of loathing|date=18 January 2003|access-date=18 January 2020|last=Hitchens|first=Peter|work=The Spectator|page=18}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Pullman has criticised the Narnia books as religious propaganda.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=326&article=1 |title=The Golden Compass Author Avoids Atheist Labels |access-date=1 December 2008 |author=Crary, Duncan |format=Humanist Network News Interview |publisher=Humanist Network News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208222547/http://www.humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=326&article=1 |archive-date=8 December 2007 }}</ref> Hitchens' brother [[Christopher Hitchens]], author of ''[[God Is Not Great]]'', praised ''His Dark Materials'' as a fresh alternative to Lewis, [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] and [[J. K. Rowling]], describing the author as one "whose books have begun to dissolve the frontier between adult and juvenile fiction".<ref name="Vanity Fair">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2002/10/hitchens200210|title=Oxford's Rebel Angel|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=October 2002|access-date=15 January 2014}}</ref> However, he was more critical of ''[[The 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/books/review/Hitchens-t.html?pagewanted=all|title=In the Name of the Father, the Sons ...|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|date=9 July 2010|website=The New York Times|access-date=30 June 2017}}</ref>

Pullman has found support from some Christians, most notably [[Rowan Williams]], the former [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], who argued that Pullman's attacks focus on the constraints and dangers of [[dogma]]tism and the use of religion to [[oppression|oppress]], not on Christianity itself.<ref>{{cite news |last=Petre |first=Jonathan |title=Williams backs Pullman |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=10 March 2004 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1456451/Williams-backs-Pullman.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1456451/Williams-backs-Pullman.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=12 April 2007 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Williams recommended ''His Dark Materials'' for discussion in [[religious education]] classes, and said that "to see large school-parties in the audience of the Pullman plays at the National Theatre is vastly encouraging".<ref name="WilliamsSchools">{{cite news |last=Rowan |first=Williams |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3497702.stm |title=Archbishop wants Pullman in class |work=BBC News|date=10 March 2004 |access-date=10 March 2004 }}</ref> Pullman and Williams took part in a [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] platform debate a few days later to discuss myth, religious experience and its representation in the arts.<ref>{{cite news |last=Oborne|first=Peter|title= The Dark Materials debate: life, God, the universe... |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date= 17 March 2004 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3613962/The-Dark-Materials-debate-life-God-the-universe....html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3613962/The-Dark-Materials-debate-life-God-the-universe....html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2008 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Donna Freitas, professor of religion at [[Boston 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tyndale.com/products/details.asp?isbn=978-1-4143-1564-5|title=Shedding Light on His Dark Materials|access-date=1 October 2007|author1=Bruner, Kurt |author2=Ware, Jim |name-list-style=amp |format=Tyndale Products review|publisher=Tyndale}}</ref> Pullman's contribution to the [[Canongate Myth Series|''Canongate Myth'' series]], ''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".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pullman-christianity-idUSTRE62R1L120100328|title=Pullman Risks Christian Anger With Jesus Novel|author=Collett-White, Mike|date=28 March 2010|access-date=15 January 2014|work=Reuters}}</ref>

* ''The Adventures of John Blake'' (2008), in ''[[The DFC]]'' and ''[[The Phoenix (comics)|The Phoenix]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thephoenixcomic.co.uk/product/the-phoenix-issue-228/ |title=The Phoenix Issue 228: the weekly story comic |website=[[The Phoenix (comics)|The Phoenix]] online shop |publisher=David Fickling Comics Ltd |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114025822/https://thephoenixcomic.co.uk/product/the-phoenix-issue-228/ |archive-date=2017-01-14 |url-status=live |access-date=16 December 2017 }}</ref> Mystery of the Ghost Ship storyline collected by David Fickling Books<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thephoenixcomic.co.uk/product/the-adventures-of-john-blake/ |title=The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship |website=[[The Phoenix (comics)|The Phoenix]] online shop |publisher=David Fickling Comics Ltd |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216222137/https://thephoenixcomic.co.uk/product/the-adventures-of-john-blake/ |archive-date=2017-12-16 |url-status=live |access-date=16 December 2017 }}</ref> and in hardcover by [[Scholastic Inc.]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/product-detail-page.html?isbn=9781338149128 |title=The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship |website=[[Scholastic Corporation]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216223044/https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/product-detail-page.html?isbn=9781338149128 |archive-date=2017-12-16 |url-status=live |access-date=16 December 2017 }}</ref>

* ''The Ruby In The Smoke'' was 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,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fringereview.co.uk/review/edinburgh-fringe/2016/philip-pullmans-the-ruby-in-the-smoke/|title=Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke|first=Paul|last=Levy|date=25 August 2016}}</ref> finishing at the Brighton Fringe in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://broadwaybaby.com/shows/philip-pullmans-the-ruby-in-the-smoke/713459|title=Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke: 4 star review by Fiona Mossman|website=broadwaybaby.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://threeweeksedinburgh.com/article/philip-pullmans-the-ruby-in-the-smoke-reprint-productions/|title=Philip Pullman's The Ruby In The Smoke (Reprint Productions) &#124; ThreeWeeks Edinburgh}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/theatre-review-philip-pullmans-ruby-smoke-1470139|title=Theatre review: Philip Pullman's The Ruby In The Smoke|website=www.scotsman.com}}</ref>

&nbsp;[http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=1202&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35&cHash=08a690725a32efbfffb1e0fd36f88149 "Philip Pullman"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322122226/http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=1202&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35&cHash=08a690725a32efbfffb1e0fd36f88149 |date=22 March 2014 }}. IBBY. Retrieved 2013-07-20.</ref>

*{{cite book |last=Lenz |first=Millicent |year=2005 |title=His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Phillip Pullman's Trilogy |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=0-8143-3207-2}}

* {{official website |philip-pullman.com }}

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[[Category:British secularists]]