Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England in 1946 and grew up in Zimbabwe and Wales. He has won many awards, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Award, the Smarties Prize, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the Whitbread Book of the Year Award, a knighthood and a CBE. His acclaimed fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials, comprising Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, has been published in 39 languages. A new BBC drama series based on His Dark Materials, on which Philip is an executive producer, began airing in 2019.

As if I'm sneaking into a year of lectures and classes with one of the masters of this art . . . Pullman shares advice, secrets, thoughts in such a down-to-earth, friendly manner, it almost makes me want to weep