“It is not nice and I do not wish to be there for the endgame.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
Figure timeline
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett was an English author, humorist, and satirist, best known for the Discworld series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the apocalyptic comedy novel Good Omens (1990), which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
culture · English fantasy author (1948–2015) · writer · novelist · journalist · screenwriter · science fiction writer · children's writer · author · also Terry Pratchett, Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, Terence David John Pratchett, Sir Terry Pratchett, Sir Terence David John Pratchett, Pratchett
Born 28 April 1948 · Died 12 March 2015 · Q46248
95 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
5 photos · 1 audio
Listen
Terry Pratchett BBC Radio4 Book Club 20 May 2008 b00bc2qw
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Quote
2026· 10 entries
“s got to. Eventually it will be too restrictive.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. This is in fact true. It's called living.”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“What is the truth? you might ask, if I was giving you a chance to speak, which at the moment I am not. My answer to you would be that the truth is a fog, in which one man sees the heavenly host and the other one sees a flying elephant.”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Of course I am. Everyone is. That”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“s chosen genre and to the point of”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“like a polite way of saying you write fantasy and is more acceptable to certain people”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“[his] editor screams until [he] does”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“at least a few more books yet”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“he could tell how successful you were going to be in later life by how well you could read or write at the age of six”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
2025· 1 entry
The Guardian: Where to start with: Terry Pratchett
- #news
- #headline
2023· 6 entries
The Guardian: A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett audiobook review – brimming with wit
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories by Terry Pratchett review – a fantasist’s formative years
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett review – newly discovered early stories
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: Pratchett power: from lost stories to new adaptations, how the late Discworld author lives on
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: Rediscovered Terry Pratchett stories to be published
- #news
- #headline
Several stories published in a regional newspaper between 1970 and 1975 under the pen name Patrick Kearns were discovered to have been authored by Pratchett
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2022· 6 entries
The Guardian: The Amazing Maurice review – perky Terry Pratchett adaptation
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: ‘We can continue Pratchett’s efforts’: the gamers keeping Discworld alive
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins review – anecdotes, elephants and ‘an embuggerance’
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: ‘I think I was good, though I could have been better’: Terry Pratchett and the writing of his life
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett audiobook review – terrifically narrated by Andy Serkis
- #news
- #headline
Wilkins wrote the official biography, Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2019· 1 entry
And seen by Pratchett's biographer as prescient of fake news
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2016· 3 entries
Awarded Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book for The Shepherd's Crown (2016).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
SFWA named Pratchett the recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award, given for "significant impact on the science fiction or fantasy landscape"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Pratchett fans unsuccessfully petitioned the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) to name chemical element 117, temporarily called ununseptium, as octarine with the proposed symbol Oc (pronounced "oo
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2015· 6 entries
Awarded Eleanor Farjeon Award (2015).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Died 2015-03-12.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
“El mal comienza cuando empiezas a tratar a las personas como cosas.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:es
Pratchett's estate announced an endowment in perpetuity to the University of South Australia
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“Personal no es lo mismo que importante.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:es
“Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
2014· 2 entries
Awarded Geffen Award (2014).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
A similar collection was published of Pratchett's non-fiction, entitled A Slip of the Keyboard
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2013· 3 entries
Awarded honorary doctorate presented by The Open University (2013).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Gave a talk at Beaconsfield Library, which he had visited as a child, and donated the income from the event to it
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Pratchett was named Humanist of the Year by the British Humanist Association for his campaign to fund research into Alzheimers, his contribution to the right to die public debate and his Humanist values
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2012· 3 entries
Awarded Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Snuff (2012).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
By Dodger, a children's novel set in Victorian London
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
The first volume of Pratchett's collected short fiction was published under the title A Blink of the Screen
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2011· 4 entries
Awarded Ignotus Award for Best Foreign Novel for Nation (2011).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Margaret Edwards Award for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (2011).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Andre Norton Award for I Shall Wear Midnight (2011).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
“I have to tell you that I thought I”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
2010· 4 entries
Pratchett created his own sword from deposits of iron he had found in a field near his home as he believed a knight should have a sword
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Pratchett was granted his own coat of arms following his knighthood
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“s disease. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
With a role in postgraduate education in creative writing and popular literature
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2009· 4 entries
Awarded Edward E. Smith Memorial Award (2009).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Pratchett stated that he wished to die by assisted suicide (a term he disliked) before his disease progressed to a critical point
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
The Open University in 2013 for his contribution to Public Service and his last, from the University of South Australia, in May 2014
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
And the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2008· 7 entries
Awarded Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel for Making Money (2008).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Knight Bachelor (2008).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
“I believe in the same God that Einstein did ... And it is just possible that once you have got past all the gods that we have created with big beards and many human traits, just beyond all that on the other side of physics, there just may be the ordered structure from which everything flows.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“I create gods all the time - now I think one might exist”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
Making Money was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“I am, along with many others, scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the cure comes along.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“s Research Trust, and that he was shocked”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
2007· 3 entries
Awarded Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book for Wintersmith (2007).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
“this is the first time ever that I have been unable to attend a UK convention and I really am very sorry”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“s disease, which had been responsible for the”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
2005· 3 entries
Awarded Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature for A Hat Full of Sky (2005).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book for A Hat Full of Sky (2005).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Going Postal was shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel; however, Pratchett recused himself, stating that stress over the award would mar his enjoyment of Worldcon
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2004· 1 entry
Awarded Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book for The Wee Free Men (2004).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
2003· 3 entries
“s series featuring a trainee witch, Tiffany Aching, and taking place on Discworld, beginning with The Wee Free Men in 2003. In September 2014, a collection of children”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Pratchett's UK sales amounted to 3
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
The BBC conducted The Big Read to identify the "Nation's Best-loved Novel" and finally published a ranked list of the "Top 200"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2001· 3 entries
Won Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (2001).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Wrote The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, his first Discworld book marketed for children
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1999· 2 entries
The University of Portsmouth in 2001, the University of Bath in 2003, the University of Bristol in 2004, Buckinghamshire New University in 2008, the University of Dublin in 2008, Bradford University in 2009, University o
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Pratchett appointed both Cohen and Stewart as "Honorary Wizards of the Unseen University" at the same ceremony at which the University of Warwick awarded him an honorary degree
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1998· 2 entries
Awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1998).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
And was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1996· 1 entry
Then worldwide, often with the author as guest of honour
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1995· 2 entries
A fossil of a sea-turtle from the Eocene epoch of New Zealand was named Psephophorus terrypratchetti in his honour by the paleontologist Richard Köhler (his Discworld being a flat planet balanced on the backs of four ele
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Seeing orangutans in their natural habitat
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1994· 1 entry
The British Science Fiction Award in 1989 for his novel Pyramids, and a Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 for Making Money
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1993· 1 entry
The family moved to Broad Chalke, a village west of Salisbury, Wiltshire
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1991· 1 entry
“Merely because the red army can fight, dig, march and climb and is controlled by little icons? Can”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
1989· 1 entry
Awarded BSFA Award for Best Novel for Pyramids (1989).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1987· 1 entry
After finishing the fourth Discworld novel, Mort
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1983· 2 entries
After which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“s Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death. With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
1979· 1 entry
Took a job as press officer for the South West Region of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) in an area that contained three nuclear power stations
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1976· 1 entry
Their daughter Rhianna Pratchett, also a writer, was born there in 1976.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #life
- #personal-life
1972· 1 entry
Also wrote short fiction under the pen name "Patrick Kearns" which was serialized in the Western Daily Press
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1971· 2 entries
Which Pratchett substantially rewrote and re-released in 1992
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
With illustrations by Pratchett
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1968· 1 entry
Pratchett interviewed Peter Bander van Duren, co-director of a small publishing company, Colin Smythe Ltd
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1958· 1 entry
Earning a place at High Wycombe Technical High School, where he was a key member of the debating society and wrote stories for the school magazine
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1948· 1 entry
Born 1948-04-28.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth