About Philip Pullman

    Philip Pullman was born the 19th of October in 1946 and is a famous English writer. He is the best-selling author of His Dark Materials (a trilogy of fantasy novels), and a number of other books. In 2008, The Times named Pullman in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England to Royal Air Force pilot Alfred Outram Pullman and Audrey Evelyn Outram née Merrifield. Pullman married Judith Speller in 1970 and began teaching children and writing school plays. He began His Dark Materials about 1993. Northern Lights (published as The Golden Compass in the US) was published in 1995. He has been writting full-time since 1996.

    Philip Pullman is a memeber of the British Humanist Association (an organization of the United Kingdom that promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs"). Pullman's His Dark Materials has been criticized by the Catholic Leaugue for Religious and Civil Rights and Focus on the Family. Peter Hitchens (a British columnist and author) arugued that Pullman pursues an anti- Christian Agenda. Hitchens cites an interview in which Pullman states " I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief " and "But 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". Peter Hitchens also views His Dark Materials as a rebuttal of The Chronicals of Narnia (a series of fantasy books by author, C.S. Lewis); Pullman has criticized the Narnia books as religious propaganda.