Whitbread 2001: Philip Pullman's surprise coup

Q. What is significant about this year's Whitbread winner

A. Each year one of the winners of the five categories of Whitbread awards - children's, first novel, novel, biography and poetry - is chosen as the overall book of the year, the champion of champions, as it were. This year's winner is Philip Pullman for his novel The Amber Spyglass, and it's the first time that a children's book has ever won the Whitbread Book of the Year.

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Q. So, something of a dark horse

A. Yes and no. Pullman is no stranger to accolades, having been the first children's author to be longlisted for the Booker Prize and having a number of other awards under his belt, including the International Reading Association Children's Book Award, the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, the Carnegie Medal, the Smarties Gold Award and he was previously shortlisted for Whitbread Children's Book of the Year.

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But, the fact that the category had never won and the prevailing attitude of some literary types to children's literature in general may have mitigated against it. However, the judges this year were, apparently, unanimous, with the chair, broadcaster Jon Snow, declaring Pullman 'in a league of his own', despite heavyweight competition which included ex-Monty Python star Terry Jones.

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Q. What's it worth in cash money

A. In total �30,000: �25,000 for the Book of the Year, to which he can add the �5,000 for winning the children's book category.

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Q. What's The Amber Spyglass about, then

A. The Amber Spyglass is the final part of the trilogy called 'His Dark Material'. The first was The Golden Compass, which introduced the young heroine Lyra Belacqua, a half-wild orphan girl. Her adventures continued in The Subtle Knife but are brought to a startling conclusion in the final part. In it there is battle raging in Heaven in which God is killed and the fates of the living and the dead are left in the hands of Lyra and a companion.

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Q. God dies Hasn't that created a bit of a problem with the religious fraternity

A. It did to a degree when the book was first published, but the books come from a highly moral standpoint - Pullman is a champion of children's literature as a serious medium - and the treatment of the themes is far from flippant. In order to offset any complaints, however, Pullman said at the time: 'If you find that you inadvertently become a Satanist, you can write to the publisher and get your money back.' He's got a sense of humour, too.

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Q. Blake, Milton, Tolkien, Lewis

A. It seems Pullman's early influences were Batman and Superman comics, ghost stories and radio serials. He is an avowed fan the Australian soap Neighbours, in which he finds 'ancient story patterns', which he has said are modern versions of those in classic literature. 'His Dark Material' is a quote from Milton's Paradise Lost, however - and he has taught English literature at Oxford University - so it's safe to conclude that he has a pretty good grounding in the weightier end of the literary canon.

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Q. What's this about sheds, then

A. Famously, he does all his work in a shed at the bottom of his garden in Oxford, sharing it with a stuffed rat, two comfortable chairs, several hundred books, a saxophone, a guitar and his computer.

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Q. What does his publisher say about him

A. 'As far as he can tell, Philip Pullman is moderately harmless and useful. He would like to carry on doing what he's doing now, and there seems no reason why he shouldn't, but if it suddenly became against the law to write stories, he would break the law without a second's hesitation.'

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Q. And what does he say about it all

A. 'I was very surprised and happy.'

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For more on the Whitbread Book Awards go to their site at http//:www.whitbread-bookawards.co.uk

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See also the answerbank articles on C.S. Lewis, Lord of the Rings and Literary Awards

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For more on Arts & Literature click here

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By Simon Smith