Congratulations Philip Pullman
Congratulations Philip Pullman
Scholastic UK is thrilled to celebrate Philip Pullman being honoured with a knighthood as announced in The Queen’s New Year Honours List. Philip Pullman is one of the finest and most popular authors writing today. His three HIS DARK MATERIALS books are global bestsellers, loved passionately by young readers and adults alike, and are winners of numerous literary prizes.
Philip Pullman says: “I was very surprised and honoured to be offered a knighthood. I believe the profession of letters should be recognised as having a proper place in the life of the nation, along with science, and sport, and music, and scholarship, and many other human activities. Many people I admire, such as Quentin Blake, Ellen MacArthur, Chris Hoy, Jacqueline Wilson, Nicholas Hytner, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Bryn Terfel, Ray Davies, Mary Beard — far too many to list — have been happy to accept a knighthood or damehood, and I am proud to be in their company. I’m immensely grateful to those who have worked so hard over many years to edit, publish, illustrate, and sell my books, and to the Society of Authors, which does so much for the profession of authorship. I’m most grateful of all to those who continue to read my books, and I hope they don’t have to work as hard as those who edit them.”
Samantha Smith, Fiction and Picture Books Publisher of Scholastic UK, says: “Our congratulations to the incomparable Philip Pullman on this incredibly well-deserved honour. Philip’s unparalleled contribution to the literary life of the British populace would be secure enough in the publication of the thoughtful, challenging and thoroughly entertaining His Dark Materials trilogy, often chosen one of the most beloved series of books in popular polls. But he has also been a stalwart defender of the importance of literature in providing opportunity and creating communities. On the page and in life he has consistently championed the underdog and, in doing so, reminded us all how transformative literature can be to both British society and our world.”
Image ©Michael Leckie
