Further Afield: Pullman Bibliographies

Further reading in the literature surrounding Philip Pullman and His Dark Materials, from scholarly criticism to journalism. 

There's just so much out there. I'm never going to be able to keep track of it all. But I thought I'd go ahead and post this rather than sit on the draft indefinitely, just in case something here might make someone's day the way, for instance, this conversation between Philip Pullman and Ruth Wilson made mine. 

I haven't actually read most of these, but I thought I'd try to keep tabs on them, adding more from time to time here. Send me any others that you find and I'll add them to the list!

For works by Pullman, see this other bibliography. 

Journalism, articles, interviews

First, you'll probably want to see Pullman's website-- http://www.philip-pullman.com/articles 

The links here arranged by topic are helpful-- https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Philip_Pullman 

A fansite "managed by readers something-of-addicted to the trilogy":  https://www.cittagazze.com/decouverte_en.php?page=11 

And The Guardian has many pieces by and about him-- https://www.theguardian.com/books/philippullman 

Another good starting point (if I do say so myself, having contributed a few of the links) is Fandom: https://hisdarkmaterials.fandom.com/wiki/Philip_Pullman 

Then all the rest. Have at them: 

Aitken, Johanne: https://macblog.mcmaster.ca/fryeblog/making-human-sense-the-changing-influences-of-northrop-fryes-literary-theory-upon-the-literary-experiences-of-children-1957-2007/  

Anderson, Douglas: https://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2019/09/philip-n-pullman-haunted-storm-1971.html 

Appleyard, Bryan: https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/the-interview-philip-pullman-on-the-book-of-dust-his-follow-up-to-his-dark-materials-n8s2dlflc?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqflEoLl3_frn9KeEdD4j44CUIGHdEvsvad_yVSQ4oRo76K4fZODs7Lxfs_S3G4%3D&gaa_ts=696834fd&gaa_sig=_ytv5XhSGEZR0LHN38ZkalqUnQS3eM3G-n-UnV8PNs-cP3wzcMVFg3KcW4Rjf-Ujr8OO2bpjNZrgs19q7x3Wqw%3D%3D 

Backlisted: https://www.backlisted.fm/episodes/100-robert-burton-the-anatomy-of-melancholy 

BBC 4: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1g6rpXFqjcklyq0pwH7GNnV/philip-pullman-s-five-tips-for-writing 

Blake Society 2018 Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wbcVXLLChY 

Bodleian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wln6vJig7-4 

Bogle, Joanna: https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/philip-pullmans-dark-materials 

Brown, Charles: [defunct link] http://www.avnet.co.uk/amaranth/Critic/ivpullman.htm -- try https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2000/08/interview-philip-pullman-august-2000.html 

Calmgrove: https://calmgrove.wordpress.com/2022/12/27/coll/ 

Cantor, Matthew: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/dec/24/philip-pullman-his-dark-materials 

Chabon, Michael: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2004/03/25/dust-daemons/ 

Chattaway, Peter: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/filmchat/2007/11/philip-pullman-the-extended-e-mail-interview.html 

--https://web.archive.org/web/20080203160716/https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/december/12.36.html 

Christopher, Cassandra: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4462&context=manuscripts 

Dihal, Kanta: http://theconversation.com/how-philip-pullmans-dark-literary-material-shed-light-on-science-and-religion-86238 

Dhillon, Rhiannon: https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/ask-penguin-podcast-phillip-pullman 

Dirda, Michael: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/10/31/philip-pullman-rose-field-dark-materials-dirda-review/ 

Dobrinska, Leah: https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/philip-pullman-teacher-writer-book-collectors-dream
-- https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/collecting-the-works-of-philip-pullman

Elmhirst, Sophie: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/magazine/philip-pullman-returns-to-his-fantasy-world.html 

Evans, Jules: https://www.philosophyforlife.org/blog/is-philip-pullman-an-atheist-a-pantheist-a-gnostic-a-black-magician-or-what 

Frisby, Isaac: https://www.seenandunseen.com/pullman-enchantment-and-flat-christmas-world 

Gallimard Jeunesse Romans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJzwxkzGR_U 

Gardner/BBC (film): https://archive.org/details/bach.-a.-passionate.-life 

Ginocchio, Tony: https://goths.substack.com/p/the-republic-of-heaven-part-1-of  

Goff, Philip: https://iai.tv/articles/panpsychism-and-his-dark-materials-auid-1286 

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhmQyLUwFpk 

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIvRaXVFNdI 

Green, Christopher: https://mbird.com/literature/thank-god-for-philip-pullman-a-religious-readers-guide-to-his-dark-materials/ 

Green, Daniel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BraSGHZPNNk 

Grossman, Lev: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/12/philip-pullman-his-dark-materials-book-of-dust-fantasy-trilogies/684612/ 

Haydon, Caroline: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/why-philip-pullman-wants-to-teach-children-about-atheism-6107883.html 

Higgins, Charlotte:  https://www.theguardian.com/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2008/sep/01/postholidayreadinglist 

Hitchens, Peter: https://firstthings.com/the-philip-pullman-dilemma/ 

Horobin, Simon: https://theconversation.com/his-dark-materials-how-to-decode-the-storys-linguistic-secrets-127459 

How to Academy (w/ McGilchrist): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgZwrfraLMY 

Jukes, Peter: https://aeon.co/essays/a-rare-interview-with-philip-pullman-the-religious-atheist 

Kermode, Frank: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v32/n10/frank-kermode/improving-the-story 

Lauritzen, Paul: https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/philip-pullmans-dark-material 

Leith, Sam: 

https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/rose-field-book-dust-volume-3-philip-pullman-review-bwwbddsl5?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqfOdqqxnb1aDv9nPQcIYKKyG-u6Am4q7Yxq36_VV0pFolPpJ7zc0M609B4yaOY%3D&gaa_ts=698b7764&gaa_sig=z6Jq50m8XXzl--adlIv2zHE3YsH2su1JWxc-V16Q0icLep94_EA7GoY0a4irqKOVCb0npZaT14SLt7rZbY5JAA%3D%3D 

-- https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/philip-pullman-when-i-write-nothing-bad-can-happen-3lqk2l86h 

-- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/philip-pullmans-book-dust-la-belle-sauvage-review-rich-dreamlike/ 

Maloney, Daniel: https://web.archive.org/web/20080302042231/https://firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2181 

Masters, Kristin: https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/bid/230045/Philip-Pullman-in-Pictures 

McGrath, Alister: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC-aE5CaMS0 

Mechanic, Michael: https://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/11/interview-philip-pullman-grimm-fairy-tales-his-dark-materials-book-dust/ 

Miller, Laura: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/12/26/far-from-narnia 

- https://slate.com/culture/2019/10/phillip-pullmans-secret-commonwealth-audiobook-read-by-michael-sheen.html 

Moreton, Cole: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-6114943/Im-congenial-melancholic-Philip-Pullman-keeps-writing.html 

New Scientist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4hnaac7ezs 

Nixon, David: https://www.solas-cpc.org/engaging-with-pullman-part-one-why-ill-be-watching-his-dark-materials-and-so-should-you/ 

Ordway, Holly: https://www.seenandunseen.com/holly-ordway-re-enchanting-middle-earth 

Oxford Story Museum: https://www.storymuseum.org.uk/1001-stories/his-dark-materials 

- https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/14/oxford-story-museum-childrens-book-lyra-alethiometer for the image of PP dressed as Long John Silver

- https://www.storymuseum.org.uk/1001-stories/four-tales 

Oxford Union: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xjKjOaOWR0 

Ozment, Nick: https://www.blackgate.com/2017/01/29/ozs-bag-of-holding-my-beef-with-lev-grossmans-the-magicians-and-philip-pullmans-his-dark-materials/ 

PA: https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/philip-pullman-surprised-and-honoured-at-knighthood-894517.html 

Parsons, Matthew: https://matthewjrparsons.com/tag/philip-pullman/ 

-- which links in Vonnegut's Timequake and the fascinating "Lemma Science" to The Rose Field

Perrin, Tom: https://www.publicbooks.org/coming-of-age-with-philip-pullman/ 

Poole, Kristen: https://www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/professor-kristen-poole-discusses-myth-fantasy-and-philip-pullmans-imagination/ 

Quayle, David: https://quavid.wordpress.com/2020/04/23/the-secret-commonweath-the-invisible-library/ 

Quinn, Annalisa: https://www.npr.org/2017/10/19/557189779/philip-pullmans-realm-of-poetry-and-inspiration 

Razzall, Katie: https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/w3ct8c3y 

Reimann, Matt: https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/philip-pullman-impassioned-storyteller-for-all-ages 

Renton, Jennie: https://textualities.net/jennie-renton/philip-pullman-interview 

Richards, Parker: https://theamericanscholar.org/philip-pullmans-unorthodox-liberalism/ 

Ross, Stephen: https://www.equip.org/articles/exposing-his-dark-materials/ 

Scholes, Lucy: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/71838/philip-pullman-beyond-childhood-and-evil-the-book-of-dust 

Sheen, Michael: interview at the end of The Rose Field audiobook -- amazing

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbzFpTfong4 

Society of Authors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTyY8amuGZM 

Southbank Centre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3NVBJL34kQ 

Spanner, Huw. www.spannermedia.com/interviews/Pullman.htm

Tucker, Nicholas: http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/issue/225/childrens-books/articles/an-interview-with-philip-pullman 

Unbelievable, Brierly/ Spufford: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=nq2xqpspkzc 

Ward, Michael: http://www.michaelward.net/assets/documents/74/Lewis_and_Pullman.pdf 

Waters, Sarah: https://shakinspearians.wordpress.com/2019/08/02/energising-revitalising-or-philip-pullman-on-why-burtons-anatomy-matters/ 

Waterstones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOk_669jUQM 

Watkins, Tony: http://www.tonywatkins.co.uk/media/literature/interview-with-philip-pullman-from-2004/

Young, Cathy: https://reason.com/2008/02/26/a-secular-fantasy/ 

Zarley, B. David: https://web.archive.org/web/20190923212331/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/10/daemon-voices-by-philip-pullman.html 


Books and Chapters

Barfield and Cox, eds: Critical Perspectives on Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials: Essays on the Novels, the Film and the Stage Productions 

Bobby, Susan R: Beyond His Dark Materials: Innocence and Experience in the Fiction of Philip Pullman 

Butler and Halsdorf, eds: Philip Pullman (New Casebooks, 24) 

Freitas, Donna and King, Jason: Killing the Imposter God: Philip Pullman's Spiritual Imagination in His Dark Materials 

Frost, Laurie: Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials - The Definitive Guide 

Gardner, John Eliot: Music in the Castle of Heaven (references, according to https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/30/music-castle-heaven-js-bach-john-eliot-gardiner )

Gray, William: Death and Fantasy: Essays on Philip Pullman, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald and R. L. Stevenson

Gresh, Lois: Exploring Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials: An Unauthorized Adventure Through The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass 

Gribben, Mary and John: The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials 

Gruner, Elisabeth Rose: "Leading through Reading" in Frontiers in Spiritual Leadership: Discovering the Better Angels of Our Nature   

Leith, Sam: The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading 

Lenz and Scott, eds: His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Philip Pullman's Trilogy 

Miesel and Vere: Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children's Fantasy 

Mountford, Brian: Christian Atheist: Belonging without Believing

King, Shelley: The Subtle Art of Reading Philip Pullman 

Poole, Kristen: Philip Pullman and the Historical Imagination: Seventeenth-Century Literature, Science, and Religion in His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust 

Squires, Claire: Philip Pullman, Master Storyteller: A Guide to the Worlds of His Dark Materials 

Tucker, Nicholas: Darkness Visible: Inside the World of Philip Pullman 

Academic/Peer-Reviewed Papers

Garrahy, Jessica: https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/LA/article/view/5004/5702

Gray, William (2007) "Pullman, Lewis, MacDonald, and the Anxiety of Influence," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 25 : No. 3 , Article 11.

Julien, Pauline: https://paulinejulien1.wixsite.com/website/post/believable-fantasy-world-building-and-symbolism-in-northern-lights-by-philip-pullman-1995 

Moruzi, Kristine: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10583-004-2189-7 

Oziewicz, Marek and Hade, Daniel (2010) "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell? Philip Pullman, C.S. Lewis, and the Fantasy Tradition," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 28 : No. 3 , Article 4.  

Syson, Antonia:  http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190610050.001.0001/acprof-9780190610050-chapter-11 

Walsh, Elizabeth. 2023. “His Dark Materials Among the Displays, the Pitt Rivers Museum, December 12, 2022 to December 31, 2023.” Museum Anthropology 00 (0): 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1111/muan.12278. 

Panels, Essays, and Theses

Doucet, Sibylle: https://theses.hal.science/tel-03693860/file/Doucet_Sibylle_2021_ED520_inc.pdf 

Haneline, Douglas: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/223821/pdf 

Hsu, Hsiao Hsien: https://repository.essex.ac.uk/19669/1/HHS%20thesis%202017.pdf 

Telkamp, Durba: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/33855/A%20Myth%20of%20Loss.pdf?sequence=1 

Waddell, Heather: https://ida.mtholyoke.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/8cc75489-ae51-4d3a-a7a8-e1752423627d/content