Sevenoaks Bookshop wins nationwide competition to host exclusive event with top author Philip Pullman
SEVENOAKS Bookshop is hosting a special evening with bestselling author Philip Pullman on Thursday 21 June 2018 and is the second of three events put on by the shop to celebrate Independent Bookshop Week (IBW).
Philip Pullman in Oxford Photo: Michael Leckie
Sevenoaks Bookshop is one of just three independent bookshops hosting an event with the author, following a nationwide competition. This year is particularly special for the Bookshop as 2018 marks its 70th year as an independent bookseller.
The evening is exclusively invitation only. School librarians from a selection of local primary and secondary schools have been offered two tickets, one for themselves and one for a pupil of their choosing. Each ticket includes a hardback copy of one of three titles by Philip Pullman: La Belle Savage: The Book of Dust, Volume One; His Dark Materials; or Daemon Voices. The school librarian’s choice of book will be signed and dedicated to the children of their school, while the pupil’s book is theirs to keep.
To mark the special occasion, Sevenoaks Bookshop has commissioned personalised bookplates for all attendees, to be designed by local illustrator Katharine McEwen. Attendees will also be given a special certificate of attendance designed by the illustrator as a keepsake. Sugared pastry in the shape of objects from La Belle Savage will also be served during the evening.
Children’s author Katherine Woodfine, writer of The Sinclair’s Mysteries and presenter of radio show Down The Rabbit Hole, will host the evening. Children attending will be given the opportunity to submit questions for Pullman in advance.
Independent Bookshop Week 2018 will take place 16 – 23 June. IBW is part of the Books Are My Bag campaign, and seeks to celebrate independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland.
Other events taking place at Sevenoaks Bookshop during IBW include Faber and Faber – Still Independent at 90 with Toby Faber, grandson of the founder of publishing house Faber and Faber (Tuesday 19 June) and a Sevenoaks Bookshop’s Summer Party on Friday 22 June, 6.30 to 8.30pm.
If you would like more information, please contact Sevenoaks Bookshop at enquiries@sevenoaksbookshop.co.uk
More about authors Philip Pullman and Katherine Woodfine
Philip Pullman. Photo: Michael Leckie
Philip Pullman was born in Norwich in 1946 and educated in England, Zimbabwe, Australia and Wales. He read 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, including The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, Clockwork, I Was a Rat! and The 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. The first volume of his The Book of Dust series – La Belle Sauvage – was published in October 2017 to great acclaim.
Philip Pullman lives in Oxford. Further information can be found at www.philip-pullman.com.
Katherine Woodfine is the author of the bestselling Sinclair’s Mysteries series, including The Clockwork Sparrow, which was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, longlisted for the Branford Boase Award, and nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal.
Until 2015 she worked for reading charity Book Trust on projects including the Children’s Laureate; she was also part of the founding team behind YALC, the UK’s first Young Adult Literature Convention. She now combines writing with reviewing children’s books, and presenting Down the Rabbit Hole, a radio show and podcast about children’s literature.
Her forthcoming book Taylor & Rose Secret Agents: Peril in Paris is the first in a new series following the heroines of the Sinclair’s Mysteries as they venture into the thrilling world of Edwardian espionage. Find out more at katherinewoodfine.co.uk
