Open University is also the name of other institutions. See Distance education for a list.

The Open University (also commonly referred to by its initialism OU) is a distance learning and research^[5] university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom. The university is funded by a combination of student fees, contract income, and allocations for teaching and research by the higher education funding bodies in each of the four countries of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). It is notable for having an open entry policy, i.e. students' previous academic achievements are not taken into account for entry to most undergraduate courses. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off-campus, but many of its courses (both undergraduate and postgraduate) can be studied off-campus anywhere in the world.^[6] There are a number of full-time postgraduate research students based on the 48 hectare university campus^[7][8] where they use the OU facilities for research, as well as more than 1000 members of academic and research staff and over 2500 administrative, operational and support staff.^[9]

The OU was established in 1969 and the first students enrolled in January 1971.^[10] The University administration is based at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, but has regional centres in each of its thirteen regions around the United Kingdom. It also has offices and regional examination centres in most other European countries. The University awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as non-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates, or continuing education units.

With more than 250,000 students enrolled, including around 32,000 aged under 25^[11] and more than 50,000 overseas students,^[12] it is the largest academic institution in the United Kingdom (and one of the largest in Europe) by student number, and qualifies as one of the world's largest universities. Since it was founded, more than 1.5 million students have studied its courses.^[12] It was rated top university in England and Wales for student satisfaction in the 2005^[13] and 2006^[14] United Kingdom government national student satisfaction survey, and second in the 2007 survey.^[15] Out of 132 universities and colleges, the OU was ranked 43rd in the Times Higher Education Table of Excellence in 2008, between the University of Reading and University of the Arts London; it was rated highly in specific subjects such as art history, sociology (below Oxford and Cambridge) and development studies.^[16] It was ranked overall as a nationally top forty, and globally top five hundred university by the Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2011, as well as being ranked 247 for citations of its academics.^[17]

The Open University is also one of only three United Kingdom higher education institutions to gain accreditation in the United States of America by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education,^[18] an institutional accrediting agency, recognized by the United States Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.^[19]

History[link]

The Open University was founded by the then serving Labour Party government under Prime Minister Harold Wilson, based on the vision of Michael Young (later Lord Young of Dartington). Planning commenced in 1965 under Minister of State for Education Jennie Lee, who set up a planning committee consisting of university vice-chancellors, educationalists and television broadcasters, chaired by Sir Peter Venables. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Assistant Director of Engineering at the time James Redmond, had obtained most of his qualifications at night school, and his natural enthusiasm for the project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programmes.

Walter Perry (later Lord Perry) was appointed the OU's first vice-chancellor in January 1969, and its Foundation Secretary was Anastasios Christodoulou. The election of the new Conservative Party serving government under Prime Minister Edward Heath in 1970 led to budget cuts under Chancellor of the Exchequer Iain Macleod (who had earlier called the idea of an Open University "blithering nonsense").^[20] However, the OU accepted its first 25,000 students in 1971, adopting a radical open admissions policy. At the time, the total student population of conventional universities in the United Kingdom was around 130,000.

Organisation and administration[link]

Aims[link]

The OU provides university education to those wishing to pursue higher education on a part-time and/or distance learning basis, including people with health disabilities, who are officially a priority group for the university, nearly 13,000 OU students have health disabilities.^[12] The British Government has also tasked the Open University to continue the work of the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) when it was dissolved. The CNAA formerly awarded degrees at the polytechnics which have since become universities.

Staff[link]

The majority of staff are part-time Associate Lecturers(Dons) and, as of the 2009–2010 academic year, there are almost 8,000 working for the OU. There are also 1,286 salaried academic employees, 1,931 others who are also academic-related, and 1,902 support staff (including secretaries and technicians).^[12] Salaries are the main cost in The Open University's accounts, claiming over £275 million for the 2009–2010 academic year.^[12] In 2010 the OU became one of the Sunday Times' Best Places to Work in the Public Sector.

Academic divisions[link]

Faculties[link]

The University has Faculties of Arts; Education & Language Studies; Health and Social Care; Law; Mathematics, Computing and Technology; Science; Social Science; and Business and Law. The new Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology (created from the former Faculties of Mathematics and Computing and Faculty of Technology) was formed on 1 October 2007.

Business school[link]

The OU Business School is the largest provider of MBAs in the UK, producing more graduates than all the rest of the business schools in the UK put together. Its MBA has gained triple accreditation by AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB.^[21]

Although the majority of students at the Business School are in the UK, many of the modules are also available throughout most of the world. Students study via distance learning for a Certificate or Diploma in Management and MBA programmes. A number of modules have a compulsory residential school which students must attend. The faculty also offers Honours and Foundation degrees in Business Studies and Leadership & Management.

The first Diploma modules were developed from 1983; however the School did not become a separate entity until 1988, when development of the first MBA modules was started. The first MBA students were enrolled in 1989, and the School almost immediately became the largest business school in Europe.

Academic profile[link]

Teaching methods[link]

A local Open University centre in Leeds.

The OU uses a variety of methods for distance learning, including written and audio materials, the Internet, disc-based software and television programmes on DVD. Course-based television broadcasts by the BBC, which started on 3 January 1971, ceased on 15 December 2006.^[22] Materials are composed of originally authored work by in-house and external academic contributors, and from third-party materials licensed for use by OU students. For most modules, students are supported by tutors ("Associate Lecturers") who provide feedback on their work and are generally available to them at face-to-face tutorials, by telephone, and/or on the Internet. A number of short courses worth ten credits are now available that do not have an assigned tutor but offer an online conferencing service (Internet Forum) where help and advice is offered through conferencing "Moderators".

Some modules have mandatory day schools. These are day-long sessions which a student must attend in order to pass the module. One example of such a module is the K301 – Advanced Certificate in Health Promotion – which has two mandatory day schools/workshops, focusing on communication skills, counselling and practical issues, related to health promotion. Nevertheless, it is possible to seek excusal upon the basis of ill-health (or other extenuating circumstances), and many courses have no mandatory face-to-face component.

Similarly, many modules have traditionally offered week long summer schools offering an opportunity for students to remove themselves from the general distractions of their life and focus on their study for a short time.

Over the past ten years the University has adopted a policy of separating residential modules from distance-taught modules. Exemption from attendance at residential schools, always as an Alternative Learning Experience (ALE), is sometimes available for disabled students and others who find it impossible to attend in person (See "Qualifications-Undergraduate" section.)

The OU now produces mainstream television and radio programming aimed at bringing learning to a wider audience. Most of this programming, including series such as Rough Science and "Battle of the Geeks", are broadcast at peak times, while older programming is carried in the BBC Learning Zone. But in 2004 the OU announced it was to stop its late night programmes on BBC2, and the last such programme was broadcast at 5.30am on 16 December 2006. The OU now plans to focus on mainstream programmes.

Teaching at the OU has been rated as "excellent"^[23] by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The English national survey of student satisfaction has twice put the Open University in first place.

In October 2006 the OU joined the Open educational resources movement with the launch of OpenLearn. A growing selection of current and past distance learning course materials will be released for free access, including downloadable versions for educators to modify (under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA licence), plus free collaborative learning-support tools.

The OU is researching the use of virtual worlds in teaching and learning, and has two main islands in Second Life. These islands are called Open University island^[24] and OUtopia village.^[25] They are separated by a third region "OU Ocean." In May 2009 these regions formed the basis of a case study^[26] by Linden Lab, the company which owns Second Life.

As of mid 2010, the University led the list of contributing universities in the number of downloads of its material from the educational resources site iTunes U, with downloads of over 20 million ^[27]

Assessment methods[link]

Open University modules are often assessed using an equal weighting of examinations and coursework. The coursework component normally takes the form of between two and seven tutor marked assignments (TMAs) and, occasionally, may also include up to six multiple-choice or "missing word" 100-question computer marked assignments (CMAs). The examinable component is usually a proctored three-hour paper regardless of the size of the module (although on some modules it can be up to three three-hour papers^[28]), but an increasing number of modules instead have an EMA (End of Module Assessment) which is similar to a TMA, in that it is completed at home, but is regarded as an exam for grading purposes.

Modules results are sometimes issued on a graded basis, consisting of pass grades 1 (threshold 85%,a distinction), 2 (70–84%), 3 (55–69%) & 4 (40–54%), and fail (below 40%). This grade is calculated as the lower of the overall continuous assessment score (OCAS) and overall examination score (OES).

These grades can be weighted^[29] according to their level, and combined to calculate the classification of a degree. An undergraduate degree will weight level 3 modules twice as much as level 2, and in postgraduate programmes all M level modules are equally weighted.

Qualifications[link]

Undergraduate[link]

Open University modules have associated with them a number of Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS) credits – usually 30 or 60 – depending on the quantity of the material in the module and a level (1, 2, 3, or 4) corresponding to the complexity, with 120 points roughly equating to the year of study for a full-time student.

The OU offers a large number of undergraduate qualifications, including certificates, diplomas, and Bachelors degrees, based on both level and quantity of study. An OU undergraduate degree requires 300 (or 360 for honours) CATS credits.

Students generally do not undertake more than 60 credits per year, meaning that an undergraduate degree will take typically six years to complete. With the exception of some degrees in fast moving areas (such as computing) there is generally no limit on the time which a student may take. Students need special permission to take more than 120 points (equivalent to full-time study) at any time;^[30] such permission is not usually granted.

Originally the BA was the only undergraduate degree, and it was unnamed. The modern OU grants the BA, the BSc, and LLB undergraduate degrees, and the BA and BSc may be named (following a specified syllabus) or unnamed (constructed of courses chosen by the student).

Many OU faculties have now introduced short modules worth ten credits. Most of these modules are taught online, and start at regular intervals throughout the year. They typically provide an introduction to a broader subject over a period of ten weeks, these are generally timed during vacations at conventional universities in order to take advantage of their facilities. Some science modules, which require only home study, are complemented by residential courses, in order to allow the student to gain practical laboratory experience in that field; typically, an award of degree or diploma will require completion of both.

Different modules are run at different times of the year, but, typically, a 30 or 60 credit module will run either from October to June or from February through to October. Assessment is by both continual assessment (with, normally, between four and eight assignments during the year) and, for most, a final examination or, on some modules, a major assignment.

Degrees[link]

As well as degrees in named subject, the Open University also grants "Open" Bachelor degrees where the syllabus is designed by the students by combining any number of Open University modules up to 300 credits for an Open degree and 360 credits for an Open honours degree – the main restriction on which courses can be included is that there must be at least 60 at level 3 for the "ordinary degree" and 120 at level 3 for honours and in both cases no more than 120 at level 1. The Open degree may be awarded as a Bachelor of Arts Open or a Bachelor of Science Open either with or without honours. Without honours, at least 150 credits at level 1 and above and 60 credits at level 2 and above are required in the field, either art or science, for the Open degree to carry that name. For a degree with honours, no more than 120 credits at level 1, 120 credits at level 2 and above and 120 credits at level 3 and above are required.

Other qualifications[link]

The Open University grants undergraduate Certificates (abbreviated Cert) typically awarded after 60 completed credits at Level 1 or Level 3 (where each credit corresponds to roughly 10 hours of study, therefore 60 credits represent about 600 hours of effort), Diplomas (abbreviated Dip) after 120 credits – typically 60 credits at Level 2 and 60 credits at Level 3, ordinary Bachelor degrees (abbreviated BA, BSc, etc.) after 300 credits, and Bachelor degrees with honours, (abbreviated BA (Hons), BSc (Hons), etc.) after 360 credits. Open University also awards Foundation degrees (abbreviated FdA, FdSc, etc.).

OU also offers a limited number of CertHE (120 CATS) and DipHE (240 CATS).

Postgraduate[link]

The Open University provides the opportunity to study for a PhD on a part-time distance, or a full-time on-site basis in a wide range of disciplines as well as an EdD for professionals in education. The University also offers a range of Master's levels modules such as the MBA and MPA, MSc, MA and MEd, and MRes, as well as the professional PGCE qualification and a number of postgraduate diplomas and certificates including innovative practice-based modules and postgraduate computing qualifications for professionals. Postgraduate certificates are awarded for 60 credits of study on specified modules; postgraduate diplomas are awarded for 120 credits of study on specified modules. The University offers "Advanced Diplomas" that involve 60 credits at undergraduate level and 60 credits at postgraduate level – these are designed as "bridges" between undergraduate and postgraduate study.

Degree ceremonies[link]

Unlike most United Kingdom universities, degree graduation presentation ceremonies at the Open University are not the occasion on which degrees are formally conferred. This happens in absentia at a joint meeting of the University's Council and Senate ahead of the ceremony. The University's ceremonies — or "Presentation of Graduates" — occur throughout the year at various prestigious auditorium venues located throughout the United Kingdom, plus one each in Ireland and Continental Western Europe. In the year 2010 the OU held 26 degree ceremonies including Dublin, Manchester, Glasgow, Ely and Versailles. These ceremonies are presided over by a senior academic at Pro-Vice-Chancellor level or higher, and have the normal formal rituals associated with a graduation ceremony, including academic dress, procession, and university mace.

In year 2000, The Open University was the first to host an online 'virtual' graduation ceremony in the United Kingdom together with an audience at the OU's campus in Milton Keynes. Twenty-six students in eight countries, from the United States of America to Hong Kong, were presented for their masters degrees in the online graduation, including, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Tim Berners-Lee one of the founders of the World Wide Web on whom was conferred an honorary doctorate.^[31]

Research[link]

Like other UK universities, the OU actively engages in research. The OU's Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute has become particularly well known to the public through its involvement in space missions. In October 2006, the Cassini-Huygens mission including 15 people from the OU received the 2006 "Laurels for Team Achievement Award" from the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). Cassini-Huygens' successful completion of its seven-year, two billion-mile journey in January 2005 to Saturn ended with Huygens landing farther away from Earth than any previous probe or craft in the history of space exploration. The first instrument to touch Saturn's moon Titan was the Surface Science Package containing nine sensors to investigate the physical properties of Titan's surface. It was built by a team at the OU led by Professor John Zarnecki.

The OU now employs over 500 people engaged in research in over 25 areas, and there are over 1,200 research students. It spends approximately £20 million each year on research, around £6 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the remainder from external funders.

The Open University also runs the Open Research Online (ORO) website.^[32]

Students[link]

A diverse range of students from all walks of life are attracted to the OU; for most modules there are no entry requirements other than the ability to study at an appropriate level, though most postgraduate modules require evidence of previous study or equivalent life experience. This fundamental open admissions policy makes undergraduate university study accessible to all.

In the 2009–10 academic year over 70% of students were in full-time or part-time employment,^[12] often working towards a first (or additional) degree or qualification to progress or change their career. Over 50,000 students are being sponsored by their employer (three out of four FTSE 100 companies have sponsored staff to take OU courses). The University is also popular with those who cannot physically attend a traditional (on-campus) university study course because they have health limitations, are working or resident overseas, in prison, serving in the armed forces, caring for family members, or are otherwise unable to attend or commit to traditional full-time or on-campus university study. Students are represented by the University's students' union, known as the Open University Students Association, usually abbreviated to OUSA.

In the 2009–2010 academic year, there were 253,075 enrolled students, plus an additional 2,273 customers who bought course materials but did not enrol on a course to receive academic credits.^[12] The majority of students in the 2009–10 academic year were aged between 25 and 44 years old, with the median age of new undergraduates being 31.^[12] Most students were from England (166,936), while 15,744 were from Scotland, 8,443 from Wales, 4,225 from Northern Ireland, and 12,127 from elsewhere in the European Union, plus others elsewhere.^[12] 61% of undergraduates were female, with even numbers among those taking postgraduate modules.^[12]

Young undergraduates[link]

While most of those studying are mature students, an increasingly large proportion of new undergraduates are aged between 17–25, to the extent that the OU now has more students in this age range than the number of undergraduates at any other UK university.^[11][33] The reduction in financial support for those attending traditional universities, coupled with the use of technologies such as iTunes and YouTube that appeal to this demographic, is believed to be behind this growth.^[34]

By spring 2011, 32,000 undergraduates were under 25 years old,^[11] representing around 25% of new students.^[35] In 2010, 29,000 undergraduates were in this age range.^[36] In the 2003–2004 academic year around 20% of new undergraduates were under 25,^[37] up from 12.5% in 1996–1997^[37] (the year before top-up fees were announced). In 2010 approximately 55% of those under 25 were also in full time employment.^[36]

The OU works with some schools to introduce A Level students to OU study and in 2009–2010 3% of undergraduates were under 18 years old.

Courses[link]

Unlike other universities, where students register for a programme, OU students register separately for individual modules (which may be 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 CATS credits, equivalent to 5, 7.5, 10, 15, or 30 ECTS credits). These modules may then be linked into degree programmes.

During the 2009–10 academic year social studies was the most popular study area (with 16,381 full-time equivalent students), followed by biological and physical sciences (12,357), and historical and philosophical studies (8,686); the least popular academic fields were mass communications and documentation (123 full-time equivalent students) and creative arts and design (2,528).^[12]

The most popular module during 2009–10 was DD101 An introduction to the social sciences (7,512 students), followed by AA100 The Arts Past and Present, B120 An Introduction to Business Studies, K101 An Introduction to Health and Social Care and Y163 Starting with Psychology.^[12]

Fees and financial assistance[link]

61,787 students received financial assistance towards their study in 2009–10 and the typical cost for United Kingdom based students of a Bachelor's honours degree at the OU was between £3,780 and £5,130. From September 2012 the Government will be reducing its funding for all students residing in England, English students will for the first time pay higher fees than those living the rest of the United Kingdom. The average cost of one full time year or 120 credits will rise to £5,000, bringing the cost of an average Bachelor's honours degree for an English student to £15,000. (European Union and international students pay more as the University does not receive government funding for them).^[12] After government support, the second most important revenue stream to The Open University is academic fees paid by the students, which totalled about £157 million in 2009–2010.^[12]

Qualifications awarded[link]

The University enrolled fewer than 50,000 students in the 1970–1971 academic year, but it quickly exceeded that number by 1974–1975.^[12] By 1987–1988 yearly enrollment had doubled to 100,000 students, passing 200,000 by 2001–2002 and 250,000 in 2009–2010.^[12]

Cumulatively, by the end of 2009–2010 the OU had educated more than 1.5 million students and awarded 819,564 qualifications after successful assessment.^[12]

In addition, the Open University provides certification for qualifications at Ruskin College in Oxford, and Richmond, The American International University in London, a private liberal arts institution.

Notable current and former academics[link]

Walton Hall manor house, the Vice-Chancellor's office and the second oldest building on the OU Campus.

Walton Hall, headquarters of the OU, in 1970 at the time of its renovation for use by the new university. (Artist: Hilary French)

• Jocelyn Bell Burnell – astronomer
• Tim Benton – art historian
• Gordon Brown – former Prime Minister and OU tutor
• Catherine Cooke – architect and Russian scholar
• David Edmonds – philosopher, broadcaster
• Brian J. Ford – author
• Brian Goodwin – biologist
• Oswald Hanfling – philosopher and interpreter of Wittgenstein
• Stuart Hall – social scientist
• Arthur Marwick – historian
• Doreen Massey – geographer
• Oliver Penrose – mathematician
• Colin Pillinger – planetary scientist
• Steven Rose – biologist
• Russell Stannard – physicist
• Hilary Wainwright – editor of Red Pepper magazine
• Nigel Warburton – philosopher, author
• Margaret Wetherell – discourse analyst, social psychologist
• Glenn White – astronomer
• Robin Wilson – mathematician

Notable alumni and graduates[link]

The OU has over two million alumni, including:

• Elizabeth Arnold – children's writer
• Craig Brown – former Scotland football manager^[38]
• Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge – Royal Air Force (RAF) officer^[39]
• Romola Garai – actress
• Dean Anthony Gratton – author and columnist
• Peter Cottrell – soldier, author and military historian
• Bobby Cummines OBE FRSA – charity chief executive and reformed offender
• Lenny Henry – entertainer^[40]
• Gerry Hughes – sailor, first single-handed crossing of the Atlantic by a deaf person
• Mylene Klass – actress and media personality
• Paul Marsden – writer, businessman and former Labour/Liberal Democrat MP
• Neil McIntosh – journalist
• John Reid – Labour politician and former Cabinet minister
• Professor Mary Stuart – Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lincoln^[41]
• David Wilkinson – psychologist, ambiguity theorist and Oxford academic
• Meles Zenawi – Prime Minister of Ethiopia^[42]

In fiction[link]

The Open University has been featured in many film and television programmes. The plot of Educating Rita surrounds the working class character aiming to "improve" herself by studying English literature. She attends private tutorials run by alcoholic lecturer Frank. The teaching methods are not an accurate portrayal of contemporary teaching at the OU.

Television characters have also followed OU courses. These include Anne Bryce in the BBC sit-com Ever Decreasing Circles, Yvonne Sparrow in Goodnight Sweetheart, and Bulman, in the ITV spin-off from the series Strangers. Sheila Grant (Sue Johnston) was accused of having an affair with her tutor in Brookside. Onslow, a character from Keeping up Appearances, watches Open University programming on television from time to time.

In Autumn 2006, Lenny Henry was a star in Slings and Arrows, a one-off BBC television drama which he also wrote, about someone who falls in love while on an OU English Literature course. (Henry has himself completed an OU degree in English)^[40]

In the 2006-7 TV series Life on Mars, Sam Tyler received messages from the real world via Open University programmes late at night.

In the 2005 science fiction novel Sunstorm, written by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, the fictional Astronomer Royal, called Siobhan McGorran, used to work for the Open University in Milton Keynes.

During the Black Books episode "Party", Fran Katzenjammer (Tamsin Greig) informs Manny Bianco (Bill Bailey) that he was admitted to The Open University, however his Admission Letter was destroyed by Bernard Black (Dylan Moran).

See also[link]

• Category:Academics of the Open University
• List of Open University Alumni
• Open2.net
• Open College of the Arts
• Open University Press

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Open University on Facebook
• Open University's channel on YouTube
• OpenLearn – free online learning from The Open University
• COROUS — Corporate Open University Services
• H2G2 Open University Information at BBC Online
• Open2.net: online learning portal from The Open University and the BBC
• Video clip of BBC Open University programme circa 1982
• The Open University Access Centre

Coordinates: 52°01′30″N 0°42′20″W / 52.025°N 0.70556°W / 52.025; -0.70556

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Iain Banks
Born	Iain Banks (1954-02-16) 16 February 1954 (age 58) Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Pen name	Iain M. Banks
Occupation	writer
Nationality	Scottish
Period	1984–
Genres	science fiction literary fiction
Influences Ursula K. LeGuin
Influenced Ken MacLeod
www.iainbanks.net

Iain Banks (born on 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife) is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies. In 2008, The Times named Banks in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".^[1]

Early life and education[link]

Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was a professional ice skater. Banks studied English, philosophy, and psychology at the University of Stirling.

Personal life[link]

After attending the University of Stirling, Banks moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.^[2]

Banks met his future wife Annie in London, before the 1984 release of his first book. They married in Hawaii in 1992.^[3] It was announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated.^[4] Annie died in 2009, two months after their divorce had become final.^[5] Banks currently lives in North Queensferry, a village on the north side of the Firth of Forth, with the published author and founder of the Dead by Dawn film festival Adèle Hartley.^[3] The two have been together since 2006.^[5]

In February 2007, Banks sold his extensive car collection, including a 3.2 litre Porsche Boxster, a Porsche 911 Turbo, a 3.8 litre Jaguar Mark II, a 5 litre BMW M5 and a daily use diesel Land Rover Defender whose power he had boosted by about 50%. Banks traded all of the vehicles for a Lexus RX 400h hybrid - since replaced by a diesel Toyota Yaris - and vowed in the future to fly only in emergencies.^[6]

Initially Banks was reluctant to use the internet or email, although he liked some PC computer games, including Civilization which provided minor inspiration for his stories. Now, however, he uses the internet and email extensively. His work computer is a PC not connected to the internet. Next to it is an internet-enabled computer used for research and email.^[7]

Politics[link]

A strong awareness of history shows in his writings. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence.^[8]

In late 2004, Banks was a member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street. In an interview in Socialist Review he claimed he did this after he "abandoned the idea of crashing my Land Rover through the gates of Fife dockyard, after spotting the guys armed with machine guns."^[9] He relates his concerns about the invasion of Iraq in his book Raw Spirit, and the principal protagonist (Alban McGill) in the novel The Steep Approach to Garbadale confronts another character with arguments in a similar vein.

Banks is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society (see Quotations) and a Distinguished Supporter of the Humanist Society of Scotland. He has spoken out in support of Scottish independence.^[10]

Names[link]

Interviewed on Mark Lawson's BBC Four series, first broadcast in Britain on 14 November 2006, Banks explained why his novels are published under two different names. His parents wished to name him Iain Menzies Banks but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and he was officially registered as Iain Banks. Despite this he continued to use his middle name, and it may be considered official by adoption. It was as Iain M. Banks that he submitted The Wasp Factory for publication; his editor asked if he would mind dropping the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy". The editor also raised concerns about possible confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a minor romantic novelist in P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels. Following his three mainstream novels, his publishers agreed to publish his first SF novel, Consider Phlebas. To distinguish between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the 'M'.

Bibliography[link]

Fiction as Iain Banks[link]

• The Wasp Factory (1984)
• Walking on Glass (1985)
• The Bridge (1986)
• Espedair Street (1987) – adapted for BBC radio in 1998 (directed by Dave Batchelor).
• Canal Dreams (1989)
• The Crow Road (1992) – adapted for BBC TV in 1996 (directed by Gavin Millar).
• Complicity (1993) – filmed in 2000 (directed by Gavin Millar), retitled Retribution for its US DVD/video release.
• Whit (1995)
• A Song of Stone (1997)
• The Business (1999)
• Dead Air (2002)
• The Steep Approach to Garbadale (2007)
• Transition (2009) - published in the U.S.A. as Iain M. Banks
• Stonemouth (2012)

Science fiction as Iain M. Banks[link]

Novels[link]

[edit] The Culture novels

• Consider Phlebas (1987)
• The Player of Games (1988)
• Use of Weapons (1990)
• Excession (1996)
• Inversions (1998)
• Look to Windward (2000)
• Matter (2008)
• Surface Detail (2010)^[11]
• The Hydrogen Sonata (forthcoming 2012)

Other novels[link]

• Against a Dark Background (1993)
• Feersum Endjinn (1994)
• The Algebraist (2004)

Short fiction collections[link]

• The State of the Art (1991)
  • Includes three short works set in the Culture universe. It also includes works of fiction more characteristic of Banks's writing published as Iain Banks.
• The Spheres (Birmingham Science Fiction Group, 2010)
  • Includes 'The Spheres', excised from the original draft of Transition; and 'The Secret Courtyard', excised from Matter. Limited edition of 500, to mark Novacon 40.

Non-fiction[link]

• Raw Spirit (2003) (a travelogue of Scotland and its whisky distilleries)

Introductions[link]

Banks has written a number of introductions for works by other writers including:

• Viriconium (1988) by M. John Harrison, the Unwin edition, ISBN 0-04-440245-7.
• The Adventures of Luther Arkwright: Book 3, Götterdämmerung (1989) by Bryan Talbot from Proutt Publishing, ISBN 0-907865-03-8.
• The Orbit Science Fiction Yearbook Three (1990) edited by David S. Garnett, ISBN 0-07-088833-7.
• The Human Front (2001) by Ken MacLeod, the PS Publishing edition, ISBN 1-902880-30-7 (hbk) and ISBN 1-902880-31-5 (pbk).

Contributions[link]

Banks has contributed to a number of publications, including:

• New Writing Scotland (1983) ISBN 0-9502629-4-3. A poem of Banks's called 041. The title comes from the old subscriber trunk dialling code for Glasgow.
• The Edinburgh Pub Guide (1989) edited by James Bethell, Polygon Press, ISBN 0-7486-6053-4. A review of The Green Tree.
• The Culture #4 (2001) contained the words from the photo story Forbidden Love that Banks wrote for Viz, but which they would not publish without a cut that he would not agree to. It was written (and photographed) at the 1989 Eastercon.
• Critical Wave #26 (1992). After the death of Isaac Asimov, the fanzine contained appreciations of him by many SF authors including Banks.
• New Scientist #1865, pp38–9 (1993) has an article by Banks called Escape from the Laws of Physics about the science (or lack of it) in science fiction. Banks has also had a number of letters published in the magazine, for example, one on creationism in November 2005.^[12]
• The Observer (7 February 1999). A review of the Tower Restaurant on the top floor at the Museum of Scotland in the Life magazine section.
• A Sense of Belonging to Scotland (2002), edited by Andy Hall, The Mercat Press, ISBN 1-84183-036-4. Banks contributed a few paragraphs to this book about the "favourite places of Scottish celebrities". His chosen place was the Forth Bridge.
• The Guardian (2 November 2002). A review of the M. John Harrison novel Light headlined Into the 10th Dimension.
• Novacon 36 Programme Book (2006). A fictional remembrance of Ken MacLeod (the guest of honour for the convention).

He was a semi-regular music reviewer for Marc Riley's Rocket Science radio show on BBC 6 Music. He was the subject of a South Bank Show television programme broadcast on 16 November 1997, subtitled The Strange Worlds of Iain Banks, which concentrated on his mainstream work. The Curse Of Iain Banks, a play written by Maxton Walker, was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1999, with Banks contributing as a voice on tape. He has appeared on the BBC's political discussion television programme Question Time.

At the beginning of 2006 Banks captained a team of writers to victory in a special series of University Challenge on BBC2, beating a team of actors 185-105 (1 January 2006), and then the 'news' team 190-45 in the final (2 January 2006). He also won an edition of Celebrity Mastermind, taking "Malt whisky & the distilleries of Scotland" as his specialist subject on BBC1 on 2 January 2006.

On 21 May 2011, Banks featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme 'Saturday Live' on which he chose his 'inheritance tracks': a piece of music he had 'inherited' and one he would want to pass on. He chose firstly Shenandoah sung by Paul Robeson, which reminded him of time spent as a child living by the Rivers Forth and Clyde, a girl he loved from afar as a teenager, and his father's funeral the previous year. To pass on, he chose For a Dancer by Jackson Browne, with its line 'In the end there is one dance you'll do alone'. Firmly restating his atheism, Banks spoke of his belief that death is an important 'part of the totality of life', to be treated realistically, not feared.^[13]

Quotes[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Iain Banks

• "I write because I love it, I enjoy it, I've spent most of my life trying to do it better, and I can make a living from it: beats a day job."^[14]
• "The Universe says simply, but with every possible complication, 'Existence' and it neither pressures us nor draws us out, except as we allow. It all boils down to nothing, and where we have the means and will to fix our reference within that flux, then there we are. Let me be part of that outrageous chaos… and I am."^[15]
• "In all the human societies we have ever reviewed, in every age and in every state, there has seldom if ever been a shortage of eager young males prepared to kill and die to preserve the security, comfort and prejudices of their elders, and what you call heroism is just an expression of this fact; there is never a scarcity of idiots." (Use of Weapons)
• (CNN: Would you like to live in the Culture?)

  IMB: "Good grief yes, heck, yeah, oh it's my secular heaven … Yes, I would, absolutely … I haven't done a study and taken lots of replies across a cross-section of humanity to find out what would be their personal utopia. It's mine, I thought of it, and I'm going home with it – absolutely, it's great."^[16]

• IMB: 'You don't write space opera in a vacuum!' -- Cheltenham Literature Festival, quoted at Ansible^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Iain Banks at Contemporary Writers
• Iain Banks at the Internet Book List
• Iain Banks at the Internet Movie Database
• Iain M. Banks at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Interviews[link]

• Interview on drug glands, moon landings and the future of humanity. With CNN at Lincoln Book Festival 2008. With video.
• Two curmudgeons for the price of one, Interview at The Australian Feb 2008
• Interview at Wells Literature Festival 2006
• Spike Magazine Interview
• Interview
• BBC Five Live interview on whisky, the creative process and The Steep Approach to Garbadale
• Iain Banks - Why I write (Guardian Unlimited interview)
• Trinity College Dublin Alternate Magazine Interview (1997)
• Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone interviews Iain Banks, one of his favourite authors.
• Sci-Fi Writer Iain Banks Talks Surface Detail’s Hell, Creationist Heresy

Philip Pullman
Pullman in April 2005
Born	(1946-10-19) 19 October 1946 (age 65) Norwich, England
Occupation	Novelist
Education	English literature
Alma mater	Exeter College, Oxford
Genres	Fantasy
Notable work(s)	His Dark Materials trilogy, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
Influences John Milton, William Blake
Influenced Christopher Paolini
www.philip-pullman.com

Philip Pullman CBE, FRSL (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials, and his fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. The first book of His Dark Materials has been turned into the film The Golden Compass and the first two books from his Sally Lockhart series as well as his children's novel I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers have been adapted for television.

In 2008, The Times named Pullman in its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".^[1]

Life and career[link]

Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England, the son of Audrey Evelyn Pullman (née Merrifield) and Royal Air Force pilot Alfred Outram Pullman. The family travelled with his father's job, including to Southern Rhodesia where he spent time at school.

His father was killed in a plane crash in 1953 when Pullman was seven, being awarded posthumously the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Pullman said at the beginning of a 2008 exchange that to him as a boy, his father "was a hero, steeped in glamour, killed in action defending his country" and had been "training pilots, I think." Pullman was then presented with a report from The London Gazette of 1954 "which carried the official RAF news of the day [and] said that the medal was given for 'gallant and distinguished service' during the Mau Mau uprising. 'The main task of the Harvards [the squadron of planes led by his father] has been bombing and machine-gunning Mau Mau and their hideouts in densely wooded and difficult country.' This included 'diving steeply into the gorges of [various] rivers, often in conditions of low cloud and driving rain.' Testing conditions, yes, but not much opposition from the enemy, the journalist in the exchange continued. Very few of the Mau Mau had guns that could land a blow on an aircraft." Pullman responded to this new information, writing "my father probably doesn't come out of this with very much credit, judged by the standards of modern liberal progressive thought" and accepted the new information as "a serious challenge to his childhood memory."^[2]

His mother remarried and, with a move to Australia, came Pullman's discovery of comic books including Superman and Batman, a medium which he continues to espouse. From 1957 he was educated at Ysgol Ardudwy in Harlech, Gwynedd, and spent time in Norfolk with his grandfather, a clergyman. Around this time Pullman discovered John Milton's Paradise Lost, which would become a major influence for His Dark Materials.

From 1963, Pullman attended Exeter College, Oxford, receiving a Third class BA in 1968.^[3] In an interview with the Oxford Student he stated that he "did not really enjoy the English course" and that "I thought I was doing quite well until I came out with my third class degree and then I realised that I wasn’t — it was the year they stopped giving fourth class degrees otherwise I’d have got one of those".^[4] He discovered William Blake's illustrations around 1970, which would also later influence him greatly.

Pullman married Judith Speller in 1970 and began teaching middle school children ages 9 to 13 at Bishop Kirk Middle School in Summertown, North Oxford and writing school plays. His first published work was The Haunted Storm, which joint-won the New English Library's Young Writer's Award in 1972. He nevertheless refuses to discuss it. Galatea, an adult fantasy-fiction novel, followed in 1978, but it was his school plays which inspired his first children's book, Count Karlstein, in 1982. He stopped teaching around the publication of The Ruby in the Smoke (1986), his second children's book, whose Victorian setting is indicative of Pullman's interest in that era.

Pullman taught part-time at Westminster College, Oxford, between 1988 and 1996, continuing to write children's stories. He began His Dark Materials in about 1993. Northern Lights (published as The Golden Compass in the US) was published in 1995 and won the Carnegie Medal, one of the most prestigious British children's fiction awards, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Award.

Pullman has been writing full-time since 1996, but continues to deliver talks and writes occasionally for The Guardian. He was awarded a CBE in the New Year's Honours list in 2004. He also co-judged the prestigious Christopher Tower Poetry Prize (awarded by Oxford University) in 2005 with Gillian Clarke. Pullman also began lecturing at a seminar in English at his alma mater, Exeter College, Oxford, in 2004,^[5][6] the same year that he was elected President of the Blake Society.^[7] In 2004 Pullman also guest-edited The Mays Anthology, a collection of new writing from students at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.

In 2005, he was awarded The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award by the Swedish Arts Council.

In 2008, he started working on The Book of Dust, a sequel to his completed His Dark Materials trilogy, and "The Adventures of John Blake", a story for the British children's comic The DFC, with artist John Aggs.^[8][9][10]

On 23 November 2007, Pullman was made an honorary professor at Bangor University.^[11] In June 2008, he became a Fellow supporting the MA in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University.^[12] In September 2008, he hosted "The Writer's Table" for Waterstone's bookshop chain, highlighting 40 books which have influenced his career.^[13] In October 2009, he became a patron of the Palestine Festival of Literature.

Pullman has a strong commitment to traditional British civil liberties and is noted for his criticism of growing state authority and government encroachment into everyday life. In February 2009, he was the keynote speaker at the Convention on Modern Liberty in London^[14] and wrote an extended piece in The Times condemning the Labour government for its attacks on basic civil rights.^[15] Later, he and other authors threatened to stop visiting schools in protest at new laws requiring them to be vetted to work with youngsters—though officials claimed that the laws had been misinterpreted.^[16] In 2010, Pullman left the Liberal Democrats, the party he supported.^[17]

On 24 June 2009, Pullman was awarded the degree of D. Litt. (Doctor of Letters), honoris causa, by the University of Oxford at the Encænia ceremony in the Sheldonian Theatre.^[18]

[edit] His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials is a trilogy consisting of Northern Lights (titled The Golden Compass in North America), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. Northern Lights won the Carnegie Medal for children's fiction in the UK in 1995. The Amber Spyglass was awarded both 2001 Whitbread Prize for best children's book and the Whitbread Book of the Year prize in January 2002, the first children's book to receive that award. The series won popular acclaim in late 2003, taking third place in the BBC's Big Read poll. Pullman later wrote two companion pieces to the trilogy, entitled Lyra's Oxford, and Once Upon a Time in the North. A third companion piece Pullman refers to as the "green book" will expand upon his character Will. He has plans for one more, the as-yet-unwritten The Book of Dust. This book is not a continuation of the trilogy but will include characters and events from His Dark Materials.

In 2005 Pullman was announced as joint winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children's literature.

Perspective on religion[link]

Pullman is a supporter of the British Humanist Association and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. New Yorker journalist Laura Miller has described Pullman as one of England's most outspoken atheists;^[19] Pullman describes himself as being an agnostic atheist.^[20]

On 15 September 2010, Pullman along with 54 other public figures signed an open letter, published in The Guardian newspaper, stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI being given "the honour of a state visit" to the UK, arguing that he has led and condoned global abuses of human rights. The letter says "The state of which the pope is head has also resisted signing many major human rights treaties and has formed its own treaties ("concordats") with many states which negatively affect the human rights of citizens of those states". Co-signees included Stephen Fry, Professor Richard Dawkins, Terry Pratchett, Jonathan Miller and Ken Follett.^[21]

Literary critic Alan Jacobs (of Wheaton College) said that in His Dark Materials Pullman replaced the theist world-view of John Milton's Paradise Lost with a Rousseauist one.^[22] Donna Freitas, professor of religion at Boston University, argued on BeliefNet.com that challenges to traditional images of God should be welcomed as part of a "lively dialogue about faith", and Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has proposed that His Dark Materials be taught as part of religious education in schools.^[23] The Christian writers Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware "also uncover spiritual themes within the books."^[24] Pullman has also referred to himself as knowingly "of the Devil's party", a reference to William Blake's revisionist take on Milton in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.^[25]

Pullman's latest novel, a contribution to the Canongate Myth Series, is The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. It is "a far more direct exploration of the foundations of Christianity and the church as well as an examination of the fascination and power of storytelling."^[26]

The His Dark Materials books have been criticised by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights^[27] and Focus on the Family.^[28] Peter Hitchens has argued that Pullman actively pursues an anti-Christian agenda.^[29] In support of this contention, he cites an interview in which Pullman is quoted as saying: "I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief."^[30] In the same interview, Pullman also acknowledges that a controversy would be likely to boost sales. "But I'm not in the business of offending people. I find the books upholding certain values that I think are important, such as life is immensely valuable and this world is an extraordinarily beautiful place. We should do what we can to increase the amount of wisdom in the world".^[30]

Peter Hitchens views the His Dark Materials series as a direct rebuttal of C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia;^[31] Pullman has criticized the Narnia books as religious propaganda.^[32] Both Pullman's and Lewis's books contain religious allegory that features talking animals, parallel worlds, and children who face adult moral choices that determine the ultimate fate of those worlds.

Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great, praised His Dark Materials as a fresh alternative to C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and J. K. Rowling. He described the author as one "whose books have begun to dissolve the frontier between adult and juvenile fiction."^[33]

Screen adaptations[link]

• A mini-series adaptation of I Was a Rat was produced by the BBC and aired in three one-hour installments in 2001.
• A film adaptation of The Butterfly Tattoo^[34] finished principal photography on 30 September 2007. The Butterfly Tattoo is a project, supported by Philip Pullman, to allow young artists a chance to gain experience in the film industry. The film is produced by the Dutch production company Dynamic Entertainment.
• A co-produced BBC and WGBH Boston television adaptation of The Ruby in the Smoke, starring Billie Piper and Julie Walters, was screened in the UK on BBC One on 27 December 2006, and broadcast on PBS Masterpiece Theatre in America on 4 February 2007. The television adaptation of the second book in the series, The Shadow in the North, aired on the BBC on 26 December 2007. The BBC and WGBH announced plans to adapt the next two Sally Lockhart novels, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess, for television as well; however, since The Shadow in the North aired in 2007, no information has arisen regarding an adaptation of The Tiger in the Well.
• A film adaptation of Northern Lights, titled The Golden Compass, was released in December 2007 by New Line Cinema, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Sam Elliott, Ian McKellen, and Dakota Blue Richards.

Bibliography[link]

Pullman's books include the following works.^[35]

Non-series books[link]

• 1972 The Haunted Storm
• 1976 Galatea
• 1982 Count Karlstein
• 1987 How to be Cool
• 1989 Spring-Heeled Jack
• 1990 The Broken Bridge
• 1992 The White Mercedes
• 1993 The Wonderful Story of Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp
• 1995 Clockwork, or, All Wound Up
• 1995 The Firework-Maker's Daughter
• 1998 Mossycoat
• 1998 The Butterfly Tattoo (re-issue of The White Mercedes)
• 1999 I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers
• 2000 Puss in Boots: The Adventures of That Most Enterprising Feline
• 2004 The Scarecrow and his Servant
• 2010 The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

Sally Lockhart[link]

• 1985 The Ruby in the Smoke
• 1986 The Shadow in the North (first published as The Shadow in the Plate)
• 1991 The Tiger in the Well
• 1994 The Tin Princess

The New-Cut Gang[link]

• 1994 Thunderbolt's Waxwork
• 1995 The Gasfitter's Ball

His Dark Materials[link]

• 1995 Northern Lights, retitled The Golden Compass in the US
• 1997 The Subtle Knife
• 2000 The Amber Spyglass

Companion books[link]

• 2003 Lyra's Oxford
• 2008 Once Upon a Time in the North
• No release date The Book of Dust (not yet published)

Plays[link]

• 1990 Frankenstein
• 1992 Sherlock Holmes and the Limehouse Horror

Non-fiction[link]

• 1978 Ancient Civilisations
• 1978 Using the Oxford Junior Dictionary

Comics[link]

• 2008 The Adventures of John Blake in The DFC

Further reading[link]

• Hugh Rayment-Pickard, The Devil’s Account: Philip Pullman and Christianity (London, Darton, Longman and Todd, 2004).
• Lenz, Millicent (2005). His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Phillip Pullman's Trilogy. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3207-2. 
• Wheat, Leonard F. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials – A Multiple Allegory: Attacking Religious Superstition in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Paradise Lost.
• Robert Darby: Intercision-Circumcision: His Dark Materials, a disturbing allegory of genital mutilation [1].
• Gerald O’Collins SJ., Philip Pullman’s Jesus (London, Darton, Longman and Todd, 2010).

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Philip Pullman

• Philip-Pullman.com Official site
• Philip Pullman at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Philip Pullman at the Internet Movie Database
• Philip Pullman at House of Legend
• Philip Pullman at Random House Australia
• Philip Pullman: a life in writingThe Guardian, 4 March 2011, "Young fans ask Philip Pullman questions".
• Interview: Philip Pullman: new brand of environmentalismThe Daily Telegraph, 19 January 2008, "Paradise regained" Extract from interview with Pullman in Do Good Lives Have to Cost the Earth?"
• Article: Philip Pullman: Kill humans and ration heating The Register, January 21, 2008, ""This is a crisis as big as war"
• Article: Pullman criticizes modern fiction The Guardian, 12 August 2002, "Fiction becoming trivial and worthless, says top author".
• Article: The Dark Materials debate: life, God, the universe The Daily Telegraph, 17 March 2004, Philip Pullman and Rowan Williams debate on Religion in His Dark Materials