28/10/2024
Join us this Black History Month as we honour British role models who inspire change, celebrate resilience, and empower future generations to continue breaking barriers for a just world. This year's theme is reclaiming the narrative.
Today we acknowledge and celebrate...
Malorie Blackman, born in February 1962 in Merton, London, is a highly acclaimed British author celebrated for her influential contributions to children's and young adult literature. Raised by Barbadian parents who were part of the Windrush generation, Blackman initially pursued a career in computing, studying computer science at Thames Polytechnic and working as a systems programmer. However, her passion for writing led her to shift careers, and she began her journey as an author at the age of 28.
Blackman's debut book, Not So Stupid! (1990), a collection of short stories, marked the beginning of a prolific writing career. Her early works included Hacker (1992), a novel about a teenage girl who uses her computer skills to prove her father's innocence, and Thief! (1995), which explores themes of injustice and time travel. Her 1997 novel, Pig-Heart Boy, which follows a young boy undergoing a heart transplant, garnered significant acclaim and was adapted into a BAFTA-winning television series.
She gained further recognition with her groundbreaking Noughts & Crosses series, starting with the eponymous novel in 2001. This series, which explores themes of race and societal division through the story of Callum and Sephy, has been followed by several sequels, including Knife Edge (2004), Checkmate (2005), and Double Cross (2008). In 2004, Blackman also published Cloud Busting, a novel in verse that won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Silver Award).
In addition to her novels, Blackman has written for television, including episodes of Byker Grove and Pig-Heart Boy, and her stage play The Amazing Birthday was performed in 2002. She has also contributed to collections such as Unheard Voices (2007), which commemorates the abolition of the slave trade, and Free? (2009), celebrating human rights.
Blackman's impact on literature has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Red House Children’s Book Award, the Fantastic Fiction Award, and the Eleanor Farjeon Award in 2005. In 2008, she was honored with an OBE for her services to children's literature. In 2022, she became the first writer of children's and young adult fiction to win the PEN Pinter Prize. Blackman was also the Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015, during which she established the YA Lit Con, the UK's first large-scale public literature event dedicated to young adult books.
Her work consistently features Black characters, driven by her desire to address the lack of representation she experienced in her own reading as a child. As noted by The Times, Malorie Blackman is regarded as a national treasure, reflecting her significant and enduring influence on literature for young readers.
