In this article Library and Digital Assistant Becky Bavill points us towards some sources of Terry Pratchett’s creativity in the Central Library collections. This article is part of our series on the current Fantasy: Realms of Imagination exhibition, taking place at the Central Library until January 2024…

You can’t talk about fantasy without talking about Terry Pratchett.  Britain’s best selling author for a decade (ousted by JK Rowling), it’s possible that the oft-quoted statistic of over 100 million books sold in 43 languages might even be a bit outdated now.    I was loaned a Terry Pratchett Discworld book in high school and was immediately hooked.  It was the silliness that attracted me in my teens.  As the years have gone by, I’ve found myself constantly returning to the series, always finding a new dimension to appreciate.  My favourite characters have changed as I have become older, where once I empathised heavily with Agnes Nitt, I think I’m more appreciative of Nanny Ogg’s attitude to life these days.  I even wrote my undergraduate dissertation about one of his characters!

One of my favourite things about Pratchett is his accessibility.  Even if you think you don’t like fantasy, you’ll probably find a way into the Discworld.  Like musical theatre?  Try Maskerade.  Like Shakespeare?  Lords and Ladies.  Rock and Roll music?  Soul Music.  The development of a free press and the maintenance of journalistic integrity?  The Truth.  The relationship between faith and state religion?  Small Gods.

The breadth of subjects and ideas in his work might lead you to believe that Pratchett was a lifelong bookworm.  According to his biography, A Life With Footnotes, this was not the case.  Despite the best efforts of many people in his life young Pratchett was seriously resistant to books and reading for a very long time.  It was the Wind In The Willows that did the trick.  As Rob Wilkins writes, ‘Having mostly been reluctant to read anything, Terry would now apply himself to the project of reading absolutely everything.’(1)  He was eleven.

As part of the Fantasy Exhibition, we’ve assembled a selection of books that – according to Wilkins – were of significance to Pratchett as an adult or as child.  Books that he enjoyed, books that inspired him, books that influenced him, books that he used as source material.  These range from books for children like Biggles and Just William, through sci fi classics by Brian W. Aldiss and Arthur C Clarke, to reference materials like London Labour and the London Poor and Brewers Dictionary of Phrase & Fable.  Not forgetting titles by his close collaborator, Neil Gaiman.

Why not come to Local and Family History on the second floor of the Central Library, and be inspired like Terry Pratchett?

1 Wilkins, Rob, Terry Pratchett – A Life With Footnotes, Penguin (2023), London.  We have 4 copies in the Leeds Libraries stock, catch one if you can!