Described by Philip Pullman as 'the most important British writer of fantasy since Tolkein', Alan Garner has been enrapturing readers with works likeThe Weirdstone of Brisingamen,The Owl Service,Red Shift andThe Stone Book Quartetfor more than half a century. Now, a group of the writers and artists he has inspired over the years have come together to celebrate his life and work inFirst Light.

This anthology includes original contributions from David Almond, Margaret Atwood, John Burnside, Susan Cooper, Helen Dunmore, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Garner, Paul Kingsnorth, Katherine Langrish, Helen Macdonald, Robert Macfarlane, Gregory Maguire, Neel Mukherjee, Philip Pullman, Ali Smith, Elizabeth Wein, Michael Wood and many, many more.Whether a literary essay, a personal response to Garner's writing or a story about the man himself, each piece is a tribute to his remarkable impact. Edited by the acclaimed journalist and novelist Erica Wagner,First Light will touch the heart of anyone who grew up reading Alan Garner.

Erica Wagner is the author ofGravity: Stories, Ariels Gift: Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath and the Story of Birthday Letters and a novel,Seizure. Her stories have been widely anthologised and broadcast on the radio;Pas de Deux/A Concert of Stories, a show co-written with storyteller Abbi Patrix and musician and composer Linda Edsjö, tours around the world. Twice a judge of the Booker Prize, she was literary editor ofThe Times for seventeen years, and she is now a contributing writer for theNew Statesmanand consulting literary editor forHarpers Bazaar. Her biography of Washington Roebling, chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, was published by Bloomsbury in 2017. @EricaWgnr