Andrew Ffrench reports: Local author Philip Pullman will be participating in Oxfam’s book collection drive this coming Saturday, 4 July at Oxford’s St. Giles store. Manager Nihal Alahendra revealed his delight that Pullman would volunteer: “It’s very exciting because he’s actually one of the world’s best-selling authors. The fact that he wants to get his hands dirty in a second-hand book shop is a tribute to the work Oxfam does.” The author will meet fellow volunteers at help to price books, stack shelves, work at the til, and is also happy to sign fans’ books. “If someone approaches me with a hopeful expression holding one of my books then I will do the usual thing and sign it for them.” Read more. Thanks to Kinders for lettings us know. June 29, 2009
Author volunteering at Oxfam Bookfest
Andrew Ffrench reports: Local author Philip Pullman will be participating in Oxfam’s book collection drive this coming Saturday, 4 July at Oxford’s St. Giles store. Manager Nihal Alahendra revealed his delight that Pullman would volunteer: “It’s very exciting because he’s actually one of the world’s best-selling authors. The fact that he wants to get his hands dirty in a second-hand book shop is a tribute to the work Oxfam does.” The author will meet fellow volunteers at help to price books, stack shelves, work at the til, and is also happy to sign fans’ books. “If someone approaches me with a hopeful expression holding one of my books then I will do the usual thing and sign it for them.” Read more. Thanks to Kinders for lettings us know. May 4, 2009
Pullman to visit Oxfam bookshop volunteers
Philip Pullman plans to visit volunteers at the Oxfam bookshop in St Giles, Oxford, as part of the Ox-Tales event in which well-known authors will read their latest stories at an Oxford theatre to raise money for the charity.
Pullman said, “As someone who has shopped in Oxfam bookshops and supported Oxfam’s work for years, I was delighted to hear about Bookfest, which is a brilliant idea. It will give book lovers all over the country the chance to indulge their deepest passion, while helping to change lives for the better.”
Nihal Alahendra, manager of the shop, said: “Bookfest will be a sustained effort to promote books, literacy and Oxfam throughout the year. I hope this will be a springboard to make Bookfest an annual event, and we’re looking forward to Philip Pullman coming to the store. He will meet our volunteers, who will show him what happens behind the scenes in the shop.” Thanks to blacksatindancer.
Pullman said, “As someone who has shopped in Oxfam bookshops and supported Oxfam’s work for years, I was delighted to hear about Bookfest, which is a brilliant idea. It will give book lovers all over the country the chance to indulge their deepest passion, while helping to change lives for the better.”
Nihal Alahendra, manager of the shop, said: “Bookfest will be a sustained effort to promote books, literacy and Oxfam throughout the year. I hope this will be a springboard to make Bookfest an annual event, and we’re looking forward to Philip Pullman coming to the store. He will meet our volunteers, who will show him what happens behind the scenes in the shop.” Thanks to blacksatindancer.
April 23, 2009
Pullman on adapting Oxford
In an interview with Philip Pullman in the Oxford Times to coincide with the new run of the His Dark Materials stage play, Pullman discusses the representation of Oxford in the books and the play. “Oxford does feature in many works of literature, starting, I suppose, with Alice in Wonderland. I’m happy to be putting my little contribution into the myth of Oxford. … It’s just a habit of thought, I suppose, a way of looking at things I’ve always had. Sunderland Avenue, between the Banbury Road and Woodstock Road roundabouts, has always fascinated me because the hornbeam trees there are so peculiar.”
Pullman also talks about the Birmingham Repertory Theatre production, and makes a new suggestion on the reason for the apparent decision not to produce sequels to the film version of the books, saying “It’s a great shame that it looks as if the films of the two later books won’t now be made, as a result of the credit crunch.”
March 17, 2009
Philip Pullman at the Oxford Literary Festival
Several events at this year’s Times Oxford Literary Festival will feature or reference Philip Pullman:
The Lyra’s Oxford walk, on April 1st at 2pm, is “a walk of under two miles, broadly based on Oxford author Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights and Lyra’s Oxford, but citing many other authors. The route will include the literary-rich Victorian suburb of Jericho and the Oxford Canal (complementing the Inspector Morse Tour), and finish at Oxford Castle. The tour will begin at Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Jericho, and will be led by local historian, author, and publisher, Mark Davies, an Oxford ‘gyptian’ himself.”
On April 2nd at 12pm, Newman Rooms, St. Aldates will be host to Writing for a Change – Responses to Climate Change. Various guests including Pullman will discuss why the artistic and particularly the written response to climate change has been so muted, and whether a new self-awareness is going to be motivated more by fiction than by the writing of activists – or is this not the role of the writer?
Finally, on April 5th at 2.30, the Sheldonian Theatre will play host to the final of Off By Heart, the BBC’s new poetry reciting competition. Pullman will sit on the panel of judges that determines the winner from the 12 best (of over 1,000) entrants.
February 23, 2009
Philip Pullman in Conversation at the Oxford Playhouse
Philip Pullman will be at the Oxford Playhouse on April 24th for a discussion of His Dark Materials as part of the Playhouse’s 70th anniversary celebrations. He will talk about “the genesis of an alternate Oxford” and “his impressions of the adaptation of his epic trilogy, in the week before it takes to the Playhouse stage”. He will also talk about the differences between stage and screen, comparing the play with the film of The Golden Compass. Tickets can be purchased for £11(£9) through the Oxford Playhouse website.
February 9, 2009
Pullman chosen for an honorary degree by University of Oxford
This is Oxfordshire reports that Philip Pullman has been chosen for an honorary degree by his Alma Mater, the University of Oxford. “Two years ago,” he said, “I was given the Freedom of the City, so now I have been given one award by the city and one by the university.”
The article notes that, in the past, Pullman has also been awarded honorary degrees by Oxford Brookes, the University of East Anglia and Dundee University, and is an honorary professor at Bangor in North Wales. It also features information on Pullman’s education, the Jericho boatyard campaign, the film of The Golden Compass and the John Blake comic. Read the article at This is Oxfordshire.
The article notes that, in the past, Pullman has also been awarded honorary degrees by Oxford Brookes, the University of East Anglia and Dundee University, and is an honorary professor at Bangor in North Wales. It also features information on Pullman’s education, the Jericho boatyard campaign, the film of The Golden Compass and the John Blake comic. Read the article at This is Oxfordshire.
November 7, 2008
Pullman donates to Pegasus
You may remember that the Pegasus Theatre in Oxford hosted a fundraising evening in November 2007, at which their patron, Philip Pullman was guest of honour. Amongst other things the audience were offered discussion on the then upcoming film adaptation of ‘The Golden Compass’ and a world premiere reading of Pullman’s latest book, ‘Once Upon A Time In The North’. Pegasus’ fundraising efforts have continued, and they are now just £800,000 away from reaching the amount they need to redevelop their building in Oxford. Their most recent e-newsletter reports that Philip and Jude Pullman recently donated £100,000 towards the Pegasus campaign. If you’d like to find out more about Pegasus head here.
October 27, 2008
Jericho boatyard saved
John Vidal of the Guardian reports: Plans to develop the 160 year old boatyard into luxury flats were rejected by Oxford city council because they were “sterile” and “uninspiring.” Author Philip Pullman, whose Gyptian characters docked at Jericho, was one of many conservation activists protesting the bid by the real estate developer by Spring Residential, calling the boatyard “part of a complex human ecology that sustains all kinds of life: economic life, artistic life, social life, environmental life, cultural life in the widest possible sense.” Pullman hopes that the site might instead be developed for social housing and local workshops. “The ideal situation now would be for a fairy godmother to appear with a pot of gold and make over the site to a trust.” Read more. Thanks to Kinders again for the tip.
August 17, 2008
Jericho battle continues
Philip Pullman led 200 people in a protest outside Oxford’s town hall earlier this week at the continued proposals to destroy the area around the canal basin in Jericho, Oxford – the setting for parts of His Dark Materials. The plans are currently subject to inspection by a government planning inspector, and Pullman has been leading from the front, suggesting that Jericho is just as beautiful as Venice. You can read the full article in the Oxford Mail here.
April 20, 2008
New Boatyard Fight
You may remember that we reported back in December that Oxford City Council had rejected a planning application to redevelop the Castle Mill boatyard in the Jericho area of Oxford; however, according to the Oxford Mail, the developers in question, Spring Residential, have announced they intend to appeal against the decision. This is highly unpopular with many locals who have manned a long-running campaign against the proposal with support and patronage from Philip Pullman and others such as actor Kevin Whately (Morse, Lewis). It is rumoured that this latest turn of events will push the cost of the inquiries surrounding the proposal to over GBP 1 million of tax payer’s money. The hearing is expected to take place towards the end of the year. Read the article in full here.