Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England in 1946. He received a BA from Oxford University, and worked as a middle school teacher for some years afterwards. He married Judith Speller in 1970.
Pullman began his writing career with two works for adults. While both were well-received, it was once he started writing children's literature that Pullman began to garner widespread critical and popular attention. The Golden Compass was first published in England under the title Northern Lights. This novel, and the other two books in the His Dark Materials trilogy, have been awarded numerous honors, including the prestigious Carnegie Medal. Pullman has written many other acclaimed and beloved...