Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman, OBE, is a British writer who held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015. She primarily writes literature and television drama for children and young adults. She has used science fiction to explore social and ethical issues. Her critically and popularly acclaimed Noughts and Crosses series uses the setting of a fictional dystopia to explore racism...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionYoung Adult Author
Date of Birth8 February 1962
CityLondon, England
anxieties book child cover front publishers putting white
Any anxieties publishers have about putting a child on the front cover of a book who isn't white is very old fashioned.
great laureate
Being the Children's Laureate has been educational, sometimes hectic, but most of all, great fun.
allow
Books allow you to see the world through the eyes of others.
children others
Books teach children to see the world through the eyes of others and empathise with others. It's about the story.
children
Children find prescriptive reading lists daunting, and they are a dangerous thing to have in schools.
child enthusiasm hope love
I hope to instill, in every child I meet, my love and enthusiasm for reading and stories.
design fan fiction goes music writers
I think fan fiction is the way most writers start, and the same goes for music and design.
people
I think what we need, especially in publishing, is more commissioning editors and editors who are people of colour.
behind work wrote
I wanted to have a body of work behind me before I wrote about racism.
chimney next work
I work in my attic, and the view is next door's chimney stack.
authors champion diverse forms graphic novels verse works writers
I would like to champion diverse forms like graphic novels and works told in verse and diverse writers and illustrators and diverse authors as well.
I'm a voice for children's books and children's reading.
minutes ten
When I was a child, we used to look forward to the end of the day when we would hear another ten minutes of a story.
itself people
We need more people working in the publishing industry itself who are people of colour.