HisDarkMaterials.org

This article from The Times Educational supplement is a very critical reply the earlier article "Christian anger at blasphemous play". It´s nice to see a Christian defending His Dark Materials.

As a Christian and a teacher, I felt I had to respond to the article "Christian anger at blasphemous play" (TES, October 24). I wonder how many of those who seek to condemn Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy have actually read the books.

The following article is about books: "with the sort of appeal that wins readers before they've even read a word". Top of the list? Lyra´s Oxford.

Lyra's Oxford By Philip Pullman. Engravings by John Lawrence. David Fickling Books £9.99.

The Tale of Tales By Tony Mitton. Illustrated by Peter Bailey. David Fickling Books £12.99.

The Stolen Childhood By Carol Ann Duffy. Illustrated by Jane Ray. Puffin £7.99.

The Little Cat Baby By Allan Ahlberg. Illustrated by Fritz Wegner. Viking £7.99.

As Jumpers returns to the West End, the playwright Tom Stoppard happily tells our critic Benedict Nightingale that he's right out of ideas:

THERE’S ONE CLOUD in Tom Stoppard’s sky, and, no, it’s not exactly that he’s suffering from writer’s block. As he reminds me in his genially punctilious way, that would mean he had a play in mind which he was finding impossible to write. But 18 months after the three parts of The Coast of Utopia opened at the National, the problem is a lack of ideas and the feeling that, at 66, time is limited: “I go to bed every night saying please God give me a play, and so far he hasn’t.”

In the Guardian´s "Letters" section there was this submission, by Philip Pullman:

"I have a question about ID cards that nobody has answered yet. What does the D stand for?"

View the complete list of Letters below.

Sarah McWhinney reviews Philip Pullman’s Lyra’s Oxford:

It seems that lately, a kind of Phillip Pullman madness has taken hold of Oxford. If you’ve managed to escape it, well done indeed. He’s been everywhere – signing books in Waterstones, giving talks at Borders, taking centre stage at the Sheldonian. He even had a blimp flying above St. Giles for three days.

Will Steph tell Max? Is Dee really dead? - Philip Pullman on why he is addicted to Neighbours:

I started watching Neighbours with my son when he was 16 and have been addicted ever since. I like the characters: you get fond of people you see for 25 minutes every day.

The success of J K Rowling and Philip Pullman in popularising children's fiction is reflected in a record number of entries for the children's category of the Whitbread Book Awards, whose shortlists are announced today.

Four titles have been shortlisted for each of the five categories - novel, first novel, biography, poetry and children's book. Category winners are revealed on 7 January, followed by a face-off between them for the £30,000 top prize, to be announced on 27 January.

Philip Pullman about his favorite composer, Nicolai Medtner:

"Not long ago I tried to explain to a friend the effect that Nicolai Medtner’s music has on me. I spoke with eloquence, passion and wit; analogies of the most ingenious kind sprang to my lips; I found myself stirred to a frenzy of admiration for the profundity of my insights."

Partick Lloyd, of Waterstones, informed us that the Philip Pullman booksigning to celebrate the release of Lyra´s Oxford at Oxford Waterstones was a great success, with more than 500 fans attending.

He also sent us some images of the booksigning:

Click here to view them.

THE writer Philip Pullman is no stranger to controversy. The award-winning author of The Amber Spyglass is second only to J K Rowling in sales to the crossover child-adult market. But he is equally well-known as a target of vilification for the religious lobby. They describe him as the most dangerous author in Britain and cite the example of his trilogy, His Dark Materials, where he kills off God in the final volume, replacing him with "the republic of heaven".

Clare Stewart on why rare first editions fire the imagination of investors as well as readers .

A bit dated, but still very interesting. This year's Oxford Literary Festival included a guest appearance by Philip Pullman and advertizes maps of Oxford edited by Philip Pullman with illustrations from over thirty Oxford author's books - including His Dark Materials.

Next year's Literary Festival is to be held the 23rd through the 28th of March and will also feature Philip Pullman as a guest.

Another review about The Amber Spyglass, though quite a critical one:

The task of an author of epic fiction parallels that of his central characters, however many hurdles they pass through, however far along the road they travel, the analogy of Odysseus' return, of Frodo's casting the ring into the fire, can always find a parallel in the author's achievement of a satisfying and truthful culmination.

Here´s a review of The Subtle Knife.