Philip's Career

Philip Pullman was educated at Oxford University. After graduating he became a school teacher, a profession that sustained him materially and imaginatively whilst he began to write novels. Before Northern Lights , the first book in the His Dark Materials, trilogy he had written many other stories (and some plays) mostly designed for young people, all written in his shed at the bottom of his garden in Oxford. His first book for children, The Ruby in the Smoke was published in 1992. Northern Lights , the first volume of His Dark Materials , was published in 1995, followed two years later by The Subtle Knife . The final novel The Amber Spyglass won the Whitbread Prize on its publication in 2000. The trilogy has since become a worldwide best seller and has been translated into over twenty languages. The dramatist Tom Stoppard is currently writing a screen play based on the three novels. In 2003 Philip returned to the world of His Dark Materials with the publication of Lyra’s Oxford .