By Ellie Bowker
Malorie Blackman is a British writer who primarily writes literature for children and young adults. Born in Clapham, London, she had aspirations to become an English teacher but then became a systems programmer instead. Blackman earned a Higher National Certificate at Thames Polytechnic and is also a graduate of the National Film and Television School. Her first book, titled Not So Stupid, was a collection of horror and science fiction stories for young adults and this was publish in November 1990. Since then, Malorie Blackman has written over 60 children’s books including novels, short stories and also television scripts and stage plays.
Malorie Blackman is a British writer who primarily writes literature for children and young adults. Born in Clapham, London, she had aspirations to become an English teacher but then became a systems programmer instead. Blackman earned a Higher National Certificate at Thames Polytechnic and is also a graduate of the National Film and Television School. Her first book, titled Not So Stupid, was a collection of horror and science fiction stories for young adults and this was publish in November 1990. Since then, Malorie Blackman has written over 60 children’s books including novels, short stories and also television scripts and stage plays.
Her work has won countless awards. In 1997, she published Pig-Heart Boy which was later adapted in to a television series and won several awards including a BAFTA for Best Children’s Drama in 2000. Pig-Heart Boy, along with others, has been translated in to over fifteen different languages including Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, German and French.
Her best known books for young adults (and my personal favourites) are the multi-award winning Nought and Crosses series. Blackman uses a fictional dystopian setting to explore love, racism and violence. In an interview, she said that she chose the title because “noughts and crosses is one of those games that nobody plays after childhood because nobody ever wins.” Before writing Noughts and Crosses, Blackman said that her characters ethnicities were never central plots in her books and wanted to show black children just getting on with their lives just like in all the books that she had read as a child.
In Noughts and Crosses, Blackman addresses racism by creating a world in which black people (Crosses) are the ruling power whilst white people (Noughts) are the minority and are denied their rights and forced to work disgraceful jobs. The novels follow a frustrating love affair between a Nought, Callum, and a Cross, Sephy. The series includes four books; Noughts and Crosses, Knife Edge, Checkmate and Double Cross. Noughts and Crosses was featured at number 61 on the Big Read List in 2003, a survey dedicated to finding the nation’s best loved book, with more voted than A Tale of Two Cities, several Terry Pratchett books and Lord of the Flies.
In 2005, she was awarded the Eleanor Farjeon Award for her contribution to the world of children’s literature. Following on from that, in 2007, she edited Unheard Voices, an anthropology with short stories and poems as a tribute to the 200th anniversary of the abolishment of the slave trade. Two years later, she contributed to Free? which is a book of stories celebrating human rights. And because Malorie Blackman just doesn’t stop, she was honoured with an OBE in 2008 for her contribution to children’s literature and she is the Children’s Laureate from 2013 to 2015. Okay, I think I’ve covered all her achievements now so I completely agree with The Times as they describe her as ‘a national treasure’.
Malorie Blackman is one of the most successful and celebrated authors of our time. She is an icon and an inspiration to all who read her books. If you are yet to pick up and read one her books then I strongly recommend that you get yourself in to gear and start reading. Immediately, that’s an order! Her most recent novel, Noble Conflict, is available now.
Her best known books for young adults (and my personal favourites) are the multi-award winning Nought and Crosses series. Blackman uses a fictional dystopian setting to explore love, racism and violence. In an interview, she said that she chose the title because “noughts and crosses is one of those games that nobody plays after childhood because nobody ever wins.” Before writing Noughts and Crosses, Blackman said that her characters ethnicities were never central plots in her books and wanted to show black children just getting on with their lives just like in all the books that she had read as a child.
In Noughts and Crosses, Blackman addresses racism by creating a world in which black people (Crosses) are the ruling power whilst white people (Noughts) are the minority and are denied their rights and forced to work disgraceful jobs. The novels follow a frustrating love affair between a Nought, Callum, and a Cross, Sephy. The series includes four books; Noughts and Crosses, Knife Edge, Checkmate and Double Cross. Noughts and Crosses was featured at number 61 on the Big Read List in 2003, a survey dedicated to finding the nation’s best loved book, with more voted than A Tale of Two Cities, several Terry Pratchett books and Lord of the Flies.
In 2005, she was awarded the Eleanor Farjeon Award for her contribution to the world of children’s literature. Following on from that, in 2007, she edited Unheard Voices, an anthropology with short stories and poems as a tribute to the 200th anniversary of the abolishment of the slave trade. Two years later, she contributed to Free? which is a book of stories celebrating human rights. And because Malorie Blackman just doesn’t stop, she was honoured with an OBE in 2008 for her contribution to children’s literature and she is the Children’s Laureate from 2013 to 2015. Okay, I think I’ve covered all her achievements now so I completely agree with The Times as they describe her as ‘a national treasure’.
Malorie Blackman is one of the most successful and celebrated authors of our time. She is an icon and an inspiration to all who read her books. If you are yet to pick up and read one her books then I strongly recommend that you get yourself in to gear and start reading. Immediately, that’s an order! Her most recent novel, Noble Conflict, is available now.
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