Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England in 1946 and grew up in Zimbabwe and Wales. He worked as a teacher for many years and his first children’s novel THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE, the first of a quartet of Victorian thrillers, was published in 1992.
He has won many awards for his children’s books, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Award, the Smarties Prize, the Astrid Lindgren Award, the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and a CBE. His acclaimed fantasy trilogy, HIS DARK MATERIALS (Scholastic Books in the UK and Knopf in the US), comprising NORTHERN LIGHTS, THE SUBTLE KNIFE and THE AMBER SPYGLASS, has been published in 38 languages, and the first volume is now in production as a major motion picture.
His other books for children and young adults include CLOCKWORK, I WAS A RAT!, COUNT KARLSTEIN and THE SCARECROW AND HIS SERVANT. Philip Pullman lives in Oxford with his wife, and has two sons.