Philip Pullman at BBC Hoddinott Hall, Sunday 22 October
Waterstones Cardiff in association with Literature Wales presents Philip Pullman at BBC Hoddinott Hall
Sunday 22nd October at 3pm, Tickets £10
On Sunday 22nd October at 3 pm, Waterstones Cardiff, in association with Literature Wales, will host an event with renowned author Phillip Pullman at BBC Hoddinott Hall to celebrate the launch of La Belle Sauvage, the first of three volumes to be published in his new series The Book of Dust. Philip Pullman will sign copies of the book following his talk.
Twenty two years after the publication of Northern Lights, the first of Pullman’s critically acclaimed and much-loved His Dark Materials trilogy, The Book of Dust will return to the parallel world that has enthralled readers young and old, selling more than 17.5 million copies in over forty languages around the world. Widely regarded as a modern classic, the trilogy has been awarded several prestigious literary prizes and has been adapted for stage and screen countless times. Its heroine, Lyra Belacqua, frequently tops polls as an all-time favourite character. The books have been adapted for stage and screen countless times Published by Scholastic between 1995 and 2000, the His Dark Materials trilogy is widely regarded as a modern classic. Its heroine, Lyra Belacqua, frequently tops polls as an all-time favourite character
James Daunt, Managing Director, Waterstones says:
“The importance of Philip Pullman to the cause of reading cannot be overstated. The generations still in their first quarter century read first Harry Potter, then the complex, gripping and provocative His Dark Materials. Other books, other authors, make claims and bring huge rewards, but these two imprint on everyone who calls themselves a reader, and it is Philip who cements the sophisticated, unique pleasures of reading. As we account for the vigour of reading in a digital age, we need look no further. It is exhilarating to anticipate The Book of Dust, and in this I speak for those of all ages.”
In La Belle Sauvage we meet eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his dæmon, Asta, who live with Malcolm’s parents at the Trout Inn near Oxford. Across the River Thames, which Malcolm navigates often using his beloved canoe ‘La Belle Sauvage’, is the Godstow Priory where the nuns live. Malcolm learns they have a guest with them; a baby by the name of Lyra Belacqua.The first volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust – which has been speculated about for years – will be published on Thursday 19 October 2017.
The Book of Dust is a work in three parts, like His Dark Materials. 22 years after Northern Lights (July 1995) – the first of his world-famous His Dark Materials trilogy, which has sold more than 17.5m copies in over 40 languages – The Book of Dust will return to the parallel world that has enthralled readers young and old.
Eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his dæmon, Asta, live with his parents at the Trout Inn near Oxford. Across the River Thames (which Malcolm navigates often using his beloved canoe, a boat by the name of La Belle Sauvage) is the Godstow Priory where the nuns live. Malcolm learns they have a guest with them; a baby by the name of Lyra Belacqua . . .
Phillip Pullman, who is Patron of Literature Wales, will discuss La Belle Sauvage with fellow author Horatio Clare.
Venue: BBC Hoddinott Hall, Wales Millennium Centre, Bute Place, Cardiff Bay CF10 5AL Tel 029 2063 6464
Hosted by: Waterstones, 2a The Hayes, Cardiff CF10 1WB in association with Literature Wales
Tel 029 2066 5606
Tickets £10, available from 10am on Monday 28 August; online from waterstones.com/tickets
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman will be published jointly by Penguin Random House Children’s Books and David Fickling Books at £20 on 19th October 2017
Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, UK, in 1946 and educated in England, Zimbabwe, Australia and Wales. He studied English at Exeter College, Oxford. After graduating, Pullman went into teaching, at various Oxford Middle Schools before moving to Westminster College in 1986 for eight years. He retains a passionate interest in education.
His first children's book, Count Karlstein, was published in 1982 (later republished in 2002). It was followed by The Ruby in the Smoke (1986), the first in a quartet of books featuring the young Victorian adventurer, Sally Lockhart. He also published a number of shorter stories, which he calls fairytales, includingThe Firework-Maker's Daughter,Clockwork,I Was a Rat!andThe Scarecrow and His Servant. To date, he has published 33 books, read by children and adults alike.
His most famous work is the His Dark Materials trilogy: Northern Lights (1995 – published as The Golden Compass in the USA); The Subtle Knife (1997) and The Amber Spyglass (2000). These books have been honoured by several prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Award, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award – the first time in the history of that prize that it was given to a children's book. Pullman has received numerous other awards, including: the 2002 Eleanor Farjeon Award for children's literature and the 2005 Astrid Lindgren Award, jointly with the Japanese illustrator Ryoji Arai.
Philip Pullman lives in Oxford. Further information can be found at www.philip-pullman.com.
Literature Wales:
Literature Wales is the national company for the development of literature in Wales. It believes that literature belongs to everybody and can be found everywhere. The company’s various projects and activities include Wales Book of the Year, National Poet of Wales, the Bardd Plant Cymru and Young People’s Laureate Wales initiatives, Literary Tourism activities, Writers on Tour funding scheme, creative writing courses at Tŷ Newydd, Services for Writers (including Writers’ Bursaries and Mentoring), and Young People’s Writing Squads.
Website: www.llenyddiaethcymru.org / www.literaturewales.org | Twitter: @LlenCymru / @LitWales
