Thanks again to Haku from our French community partner Cittàgazze for the tip!
March 4, 2010
Oxford Inspires webcast details confirmed
Last month, Kinders alerted us to Philip Pullman’s Cultural Platform at Oxford Inspires. The details of the event have since been confirmed. The live webcast will take place Thursday, 4 March at 1700 GMT, “where Mr. Pullman will share his own perspectives on contemporary cultural issues and the value of culture in modern times.” Click here for more information.
February 28, 2010
Upcoming appearances
Philip Pullman’s latest work The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ will be released 31st March and the author will be making a series of appearance to promote it this coming spring and summer:
- Sunday 28 March, 12 pm: Oxford Literary Festival [link]
- Thursday 1 April, 8 pm: Guildhall, Bath [link]
- Saturday 10 April, 1.30 pm: Cambridge Wordfest – In Conversation with Sir Peter Stothard [link]
- Monday 12 April, 7.45 pm: Royal Festival Hall, QEH – In Conversation with Marina Warner [link]
- Tuesday 13 April, 6.30 pm: English PEN, Free Word Centre – In Conversation with Richard Harries [link]
- Saturday 17 April, 3 pm: Dublin Writers’ Festival, Trinity College – In Conversation with Fintan O’Toole [link]
- Sunday 2 May, 4 pm: New College Forum, New College, Oxford
- Wednesday 26 May, 8 pm: Charleston Festival, Sussex – ‘Enduring Myths’, with David Eagleman and William Nicholson [link]
- Saturday 5 June, 7 pm: Hay on Wye Festival – In Conversation with Peter Florence [link]
- 18-20 June: Shakespeare and Company Literary Festival, Paris, in collaboration with PEN and The New York Review of Books: Storytelling, Politics and the Imagination [link]
- 14-30 August: Edinburgh International Book Festival – details, date, and time to be confirmed [link]
- 8-17 October: Cheltenham Festival – details, date, and time to be confirmed [link]
February 3, 2010
Pullman on culture at Oxford Inspires
Philip Pullman will share his perspectives on “contemporary cultural issues and the value of culture in modern times” at the Oxford Inspires’ Cultural Platforms 2010 event (held at the Said Business School in March). The event will be open to invited guests, and to the general public via a live web-cast of the talk and a web chat with Pullman himself. The topic for the web chat will be “culture”. Email questions to be put to Pullman at sarah.pakes@oxfordinspires.org.
October 14, 2009
Philip Pullman retells the fairytale ‘Mossycoat’
Philip Pullman retold the English Traveller folk tale ‘Mossycoat’. The retelling was published in The Observer on Sunday, 11 October and can be found here. Thanks to BlackSatinDancer for the tip.
September 20, 2009
Pullman: legalise drugs
Philip Pullman commented in an opinion piece on the legalisation of drugs in The Observer today, saying “Should drugs be legalised? Of course, and as soon as possible. … Legalising drugs would have three huge and immediate benefits: it would cut the link between drugs and crime, and empty the prisons; it would ensure that supplies were pure and reliable and not cut with chalk or worse; and it would provide a vast new source of tax for the Treasury.”
September 6, 2009
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
Jesus Christ as the son of God was nothing more than the literary invention of St Paul, according to Philip Pullman’s new book. In it Pullman seeks to retell events from the bible with more ordinary interpretations. Whether the book will draw the ire of the church or pass under its radar will depend on media interest over the next few months. The book is set to be published by Canongate, next Spring, so watch this space.
For more information see the TimesOnline article: Philip Pullman writes off Christ ‘the scoundrel’
July 22, 2009
Pullman to lecture at Open University
Philip Pullman will be able to direct the discussion personally this October when he lectures at Open University. Having already spoken to a number of reporters on the vetting scheme, the children’s author will have the floor to himself 21 October:
“The trouble is that they never give you enough time or enough space to go into the subject properly. So on 21 October I’m going to give a lecture to the Open University, which will be put online, in which I’m going to examine the whole area. It seems to me that there are several issues in conflict here, and it’s worth exploring them in full.” Read more.
July 16, 2009
Pullman defends school visits
Earlier today, Philip Pullman spoke to Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 about his decision to longer make school visits in the wake of new rules that require guest writers and illustrators to register with the national Independent Safeguarding Authority, effective in the next school year. He spoke out against the underlying assumption that any visitor entering a school intends to do harm, and insisted upon the safety of children under existing protocols for guest speakers. Vine also spoke to former child protection officer Rebecca Andrews who defended the vetting scheme.
You can listen to the interview again on BBC’s iPlayer. The broadcast expires in seven days (on 23rd July). Vine does not discuss the matter until later in the program, so if you’re only interested in hearing about the new scheme, skip to 1:42:20. Thanks to Jason and Chris for letting us know. Discussion continues on our forum.
July 13, 2009
Pullman refuses to be vetted
The Guardian’s Alison Flood reports: Alongside other prominent children’s authors, Philip Pullman has condemned new rules that will require guest writers to register themselves with the Independent Safeguarding Authority in order to visit schools. The author compared the vetting scheme with the notorious legislation which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools throughout the 1990s. “It seems to be fueled by the same combination of prurience, sexual fear and cold political calculation.” In protest, Pullman will no longer be making school visits, also acknowledging that other authors dependent on income generated from schools visits would be unable to make such a statement. “It’d be a great shame for me but I’m not going to under these circumstances.” Read more. Thanks to BlackSatinDancer for the news tip.
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.