“Philip Pullman is a bit like a bear with a sore paw, as a friend has described him. But beneath a gruff exterior he is by turns charming and patronising – although in the nicest possible way,” writes The Oxford Student in a short interview with the author. Pullman talks about his college education, controversiality in His Dark Materials and his reasons for writing. He also says of the film adaptation, “I’m worried, but I’m not going to do anything about it, partly because I have no power. They bought the rights, they can do what they like with it,” and that, if Hollywood does try to “Disneyfy” his works, “there are ten million readers or something all over the world who will say this is a load of bloody rubbish.” Read more.