My two audiences
From Philip Pullman Sir: In an article about the dark state of current children's literature (`Read me a dirty story, Mummy', 24 July), Rachel Johnson says, it's well known that Philip Pullman, like Tolkien, did not intend his books to be children's books, but they have been successfully marketed as such.'
May I clarify this 'intention' business? I've never believed that an author can intend to have any audience at all, never mind specify its composition. The most we can do is tell a story and hope. In my case, what I hoped was that any audience my stories might attract would include both adults and children. Such an audience, if you can find it, is the best there is. The adults keep you on your intellectual mettle and warn you against any tendency to patronise, and the children prompt you to write as clearly as you can, and never forget that your fundamental task is to tell a story.
Philip Pullman
Oxford
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