A Conversation With Philip Pullman
It was a very enlightening chat!
In 2008 the well-known writer Philip Pullman was given an honorary Professorship in the Department of English at Bangor University, North Wales. As a graduate of that department (in 1974) I was invited to attend a reunion at which Philip Pullman gave an inaugural talk.
The event was highly enjoyable, not least because of the chance to meet again some people I had not seen for more than 30 years. I discovered, for example, that my first tutor in English, who had started in his job on the same day that I started as a student, was now the Head of Department!
In his address on Saturday 9th February, Philip Pullman gave some insights to the world of fantasy fiction and his reasons for writing. I was also able to have a short private conversation with him later in the day (when I took the accompanying photo), and found him to be a fascinating person to talk to. He is a very level-headed man who can take criticism in his stride, but he is also convinced of the need to speak out when freedom of thought and speech are under attack.
His Dark Materials
The work for which he is best known is “His Dark Materials”, a trilogy of novels about the growing-up of two children from parallel worlds who are able to meet and work together to fight the…