JM Barrie Lifetime Achievement Award Goes to Philip Pullman

This year’s annual JM Barrie award, which is used to recognise a “lifetime’s achievement in delighting children,” has been awarded to His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman. The prize is given out by the charity Action for Children’s Arts, which works to ensure that all children across the world get to experience the arts.

As The Guardian reports, the ACA chair, Vicky Ireland stated that the author was selected by the organisation’s trustees for his inspired writing which appeals to all ages, particularly children.

“We consider him a magical, magnificent spinner of yarns, who for many years has pulled his readers and audiences in by the power of his imagination to explore realms of wonder and adventure,” she said. “Children need help to think and feel, to grow strong in their convictions, to empathise and to love. Stories can do this, and Philip Pullman’s stories go a great way in inspiring his readers to test their emotions and develop their imaginations in the most marvellous way possible. What better way to recognise and celebrate this lovely man’s talent, than with a lifetime accolade?”

Pullman has since stated that he couldn’t be more proud to win the award and said that he’s sending “an uncountable number of thanks to my lovely readers”. The Bookseller records that Pullman has sold over 6.9 million books in the UK alone, many of which will no doubt be sales of his hugely popular His Dark Materials series.

Pullman recently began work on a new series set in the same world, called The Book of Dust trilogy, the first book of which was called La Belle Sauvage and was published in 2017. The Secret Commonwealth, the second book in the new series, is set to be published later this year ion October. Despite being six months away, the book is already one of Amazon’s top sellers.

As a patron of the ACA, Pullman has said he believes the charity is a very good way of seeing that children get “the best of everything; the best opportunities, the best education, the best food, the best stories and poems, the best music, the best theatre”. Past winners of the JM Barrie award include Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson, and Dick King-Smith.