Philip Pullman is given the freedom of the city by Lord Mayor Jim Campbell
Oxford author Philip Pullman has been awarded the freedom of the city which has inspired so much of his work.
Mr Pullman said at a ceremony in Oxford Town Hall that the honour showed the area valued the importance of its literary heritage.
He said: "I'm so grateful for the astonishing richness and variety of this city of ours, its beautiful buildings, fascinating history and varied population.
"Most of all today I'm grateful to the city of Oxford for giving me this great honour and in doing so honouring the whole business of stories.
"It shows that the city has a proper sense of the value of stories and an understanding of their part in making Oxford what it is."
Mr Pullman, who has been based in the city for 40 years and currently lives in Cumnor, is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy.
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The writer is one of a small number of people in living memory who have been handed the accolade, including Sir Roger Bannister and Nelson Mandela.
Lord Mayor Jim Campbell described Oxford's latest freeman as a "craftsmen, teacher and storyteller" whose work had brought joy to many.
Mr Pullman said: "You can't help being influenced by a city that is so interesting, so rich and so full of strange corners and odd bits of history.
"It is like living in the present and the past at the same time."
He also spoke with excitement about The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of his novel, Northern Lights.
He said: "It is looking terrific. They shot some footage in Christ Church College and Exeter College and the flower garden. They used the city a fair amount and quite rightly."
Northern Lights, the first book in the trilogy, which has sold nine million copies, won the Carnegie Medal for children's fiction in 1995. The Amber Spyglass, the last volume, won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize in 2002 - the first children's book to win it.
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