A young victim of the Grenfell Tower fire is almost certain to be commemorated in the name of a character in Philip Pullman’s much-anticipated The Book of Dust trilogy as part of a fundraising effort by authors.
The naming is among hundreds of lots being offered as part of the Authors for Grenfell Tower auction, to which the Northern Lights author pledged the character’s name. Writers Mark Haddon and David Nicholls, as well as TV presenter Richard Osman, are among those adding their donations to an initial bid, to support the attempt to get Pullman to name a character after 16-year-old Nur Huda el-Wahabi, who died in the tragedy alongside her family.
Former teacher James Clements had initially bid £1,500 to have a character in the second book of the forthcoming Pullman series named after Nur Huda. The education writer taught the Nur Huda at Thomas Jones primary school when she was nine, and again when she was 11. He said: “She was wonderful. Joyful, hard-working, fun and always keen to help. Her family were delightful, too.”
Children’s author and comedian David Walliams, film star Stanley Tucci, photographer Rankin and Matilda the Musical creator Tim Minchin have joined the appeal, which has already raised well in excess of £62,000. The money will go directly to the British Red Cross London Fire Relief Fund.
Walliams, who has offered afternoon tea at Claridges and a book reading, said he was motivated to donate by the scale and horror of the disaster in which at least 79 people died. “What happened at Grenfell Tower is so unbearably sad, I am sure everyone in the country was thinking how best to help those affected by this terrible tragedy,” he said.
Bidding for his lot had passed £10,000 by Monday. The children’s author and TV personality admitted some lots were expensive, but said he planned to visit schools in the area near the fire next week, to read to the children and distribute free books. “If there can be some positive legacy from this, I hope it is to bring down the barriers between London’s rich and poor,” he added.
Stanley Tucci, who has offered a signed copy of his cookbook, said: “I wanted to support a community who have suffered a devastating loss and who will need our continued support in the future.”
Clements said that he has been touched by the response to his bid. “The prize is amazing, so I didn’t expect for a moment that my bid would be anywhere near winning. It is incredibly life-affirming to know that there are so many good people in the world.”
Support for the bid came in fast with celebrities and members of the public pushing it through the £17,000 barrier by Monday afternoon.
Pullman said he was alerted to the auction by a tweet from Rooftoppers author Katherine Rundell. However, he said it may be some time before the winning name appears on the page: “I’ve ‘sold’ characters’ names before, but I’m not a fast writer and sometimes people have to wait a long time to find their names in print.”
The brainchild of authors Harriet Reuter Hapgood and Sara Barnard and literary agent Molly Ker Hawn, the auction was launched a week ago with a Twitter hashtag. Reuter Hapgood said: “We’ve been so inundated with emails, we didn’t really have to chase people – Philip Pullman emailed us himself, it wasn’t us reaching out.”
Agent Ker Hawn’s 12-year-old daughter has schoolmates on the Lancaster West estate where the fire happened. “This is a very real and present tragedy to her, one that I’ve really struggled to explain because I’m so angry and shocked at how these Londoners were so grievously failed by their building management and their council and their government,” she said.
Other offers on the site include lunch and an editorial report from literary agent Jonny Geller, whose clients include John le Carré and Tracy Chevalier. By Monday, bidding on his lot had passed £1,500. Children’s writer Paul Torday’s offer to write a bespoke story featuring the winning bidder’s child had passed £1,000.
The auction closes at 8pm on Tuesday with more than 650 lots open for bids.