Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman 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. Her book Pig Heart Boy sold out within a week of publishing it.
Early life
Blackman was born in Clapham, London. Her parents were both from Barbados. At school, she wanted to be an English teacher, but she grew up to become a systems programmer instead. She earned an HNC at Thames Polytechnic and is a graduate of the National Film and Television School.She married Neil Morrison in 1992 and their daughter was born in 1995.
Author
Blackman had her book "New Windmills Spring" sold out within a week of publishing it. Ever since, she has written more than 60 children's books, including novels and short story collections, and also television scripts and a stage play..Her work has won over 15 awards. Blackman's television scripts include episodes of the long-running children's drama Byker Grove as well as television adaptations of her novels Whizziwig and Pig-Heart Boy. She became the first person of colour writer to work on Doctor Who in its entire history. Her books have been translated into over 15 languages including Spanish, Welsh, German, Japanese, Chinese and French.
Blackman's award-winning Noughts & Crosses series, exploring love, racism and violence, is set in a fictional dystopia. Explaining her choice of title, in a 2007 interview for the BBC's Blast website, Blackman said that noughts and crosses is "one of those games that nobody ever plays after childhood, because nobody ever wins". In an interview for The Times, Blackman said that before writing Noughts & Crosses, her protagonists' ethnicities had never been central to the plots of her books. She has also said, "I wanted to show black children just getting on with their lives, having adventures, and solving their dilemmas, like the characters in all the books I read as a child."
Blackman eventually decided to address racism directly. She reused some details from her own experience, including an occasion when she needed a plaster and found they were designed to be inconspicuous only on white people's skin. The Times interviewer Amanda Craig speculated about the delay for the Noughts & Crosses series to be published in the United States: "though there was considerable interest, 9/11 killed off the possibility of publishing any book describing what might drive someone to become a terrorist". Noughts and Crosses is now available in the US published under the title Black & White.
Noughts & Crosses was No. 61 on the Big Read list, a 2003 BBC survey to find "The Nation's Best-Loved Book", with more votes than A Tale of Two Cities, several Terry Pratchett novels and Lord of the Flies.
She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 Birthday Honours.
In June 2013, Blackman was announced as the new Children's Laureate, succeeding Julia Donaldson..
Personal life
Malorie Blackman lives with her husband Neil and daughter Elizabeth in Kent, England. In her free time, she likes to play her piano, compose, play computer games and write poetry. She is the subject of a biography for children by Verna Wilkins.In March 2014, Blackman joined other prominent authors in supporting the Let Books Be Books campaign, which seeks to stop children’s books being labelled as 'for girls' or 'for boys'.
In August 2014, Malorie Blackman was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.
Works
Published works
Novels for young adults and children
- Not So Stupid!: Incredible Short Stories, The Women's Press, 1990,
- Trust Me, Livewire, 1992,. Corgi Children's, 2013,
- Words Last Forever, Mammoth, 1998,
- The Noughts & Crosses series:
- *Noughts & Crosses, Doubleday, 2001,
- *An Eye for an Eye, Corgi Children's, 2003,
- *Knife Edge, Doubleday, 2004,
- *Checkmate, Doubleday, 2005,
- *Double Cross, Doubleday, 6 November 2008
- *Crossfire, Penguin, Summer 2019
- 'The Stuff of Nightmares, Doubleday, 2007,
- Boys Don't Cry, Doubleday Children's, 2010. Corgi Children's, 2011,
- Unheard Voices: An Anthology of Stories and Poems to Commemorate the Bicentenary Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, ed. Malorie Blackman, Corgi Children's, 2007,
- Noble Conflict'', Doubleday Children's, 2013,
Short stories for young adults
- "Humming Through My Fingers" in the multi-author collection Shining on: A Collection of Stories in Aid of the Teen Cancer Trust, Picadilly Press, 2006,
- Short story in the multi-author collection The Crew and Other Teen Fiction, Heinemann Library,
Novels for children
- Hacker, Doubleday, 1992,
- Operation Gadgetman!, Doubleday, 1993,
- Jack Sweettooth the 73rd, Viking Children's Books, 1995,
- The Space Stowaway, Ginn, 1995,
- Whizziwig, Viking Children's Books, 1995,
- Thief!, Doubleday, 1996,
- A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E, Doubleday, 1997,
- Pig Heart Boy, Doubleday, 1997,
- Animal Avengers, Mammoth, 1999,
- Dangerous Reality, Doubleday, 1999,
- Don't Be Afraid, Ginn, 1999,
- Forbidden Game, Puffin Books, 1999,
- Hostage, Barrington Stoke, 1999,
- Tell Me No Lies, Macmillan Children's Books, 1999,
- Whizziwig Returns, Puffin, 1999,
- Dead Gorgeous, Doubleday, 2002,
- Cloud Busting, Doubleday, 2004,
- The Deadly Dare Mysteries, Corgi Children's, 2005,
- Whizziwig and Whizziwig Returns, Corgi Children's, 2005,
- Doctor Who: The Ripple Effect, Puffin, 2013
Short stories for children
- "Contact" in the multi-author collection Out of This World: Stories of Virtual Reality, Dolphin, 1997,
- Aesop's Fables, Scholastic, 1998,
- "Dare to be Different" in the multi-author collection Dare to be Different, Bloomsbury Publishing, 1999,
- "Peacemaker" in the multi-author collection Peacemaker and Other Stories, Heinemann Educational, 1999,
Books for new readers
- The Betsey Biggalow stories:
- * Betsey Biggalow the Detective, Piccadilly Press, 1992,
- * Betsey Biggalow is Here!, Piccadilly Press, 1992,
- * Hurricane Betsey, Piccadilly Press, 1993,
- * Magic Betsey, Piccadilly Press, 1994,
- * Betsey's Birthday Surprise, Piccadilly Press, 1996,
- The Girl Wonder series:
- * Girl Wonder and the Terrific Twins, Orion Children's Books, 1991,
- * Girl Wonder's Winter Adventures, Orion Children's Books, 1992,
- * Girl Wonder to the Rescue, Gollancz, 1994,
- * The Amazing Adventures of Girl Wonder, Barn Owl Books, 2003,
- The Puzzle Planet adventures:
- * Peril on Planet Pellia, Orchard Books, 1996,
- * The Mellion Moon Mystery, Orchard Books, 1996,
- * The Secret of the Terrible Hand, Orchard Books, 1996,
- * Quasar Quartz Quest Orchard Books, 1996,
- The Longman Book Project :
- * Rachel versus Bonecrusher the Mighty, Longman, 1994,
- * Rachel and the Difference Thief, Longman, 1994,
- * Crazy Crocs, Longman, 1994,
- Elaine You're a Brat!, Orchard Books, 1991,
- My Friend's a Gris-Quok, Scholastic, 1994,
- Grandma Gertie's Haunted Handbag, Heinemann, 1996,
- Space Race, Corgi Children's, 1997,
- Fangs, Orchard Books, 1998,
- Snow Dog, Corgi Children's, 2001,
- The Monster Crisp-Guzzler, Corgi Children's, 2002,
- Sinclair, Wonder Bear, Egmont Books, 2003,
Picture books
- That New Dress, Hodder Wayland, 1991,
- Mrs Spoon's Family, Andersen Press, 1995,
- Dizzy's Walk, Tamarind, 1999,
- Marty Monster, Tamarind, 1999,
- I Want a Cuddle!, Orchard Books, 2001,
- Jessica Strange, Hodder Children's Books, 2002,
- Contributed to A Christmas Tree of Stories, Scholastic Press, 1999,
Television scripts
- Episodes of Byker Grove
- Episodes of Whizziwig
- Episodes of Pig Heart Boy
- Episode of Doctor Who – "Rosa", co-written with Chris Chibnall
Stage plays
- The Amazing Rob The Mechanic
- Noughts and Crosses
Radio scripts
- Noughts and Crosses
Awards and nominations
Body of work
- 1997, Excelle/Write Thing Children's Author of the Year Award.
- 2005, Children's Book Circle's Eleanor Farjeon Award.
- 2013, The Kitschies Black Tentacle for "outstanding achievement in encouraging and elevating the conversation around genre literature"
Novels
For ''Hacker'' (1995)
- 1994, W.H. Smith Mind Boggling Book of the Year Award.
- 1994, Young Telegraph/Gimme 5 Children's Book of the Year Award.
- 1995, Birmingham/TSB Children's Book Award.
For ''A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E'' (1997)
- 1997, Stockport Children's Book of the Year Award.
- 1997, Stockton-on-Tees Children's Book Award.
- 1998, Sheffield Children's Book Award.
- 2001, Stockport Schools Book Award.
For ''Pig-Heart Boy'' (1997)
- 1998, Carnegie Medal.
- 1998, UKRA Award.
- 1999, Lancashire Children's Book of the Year.
- 1999, Wirral Paperback of the Year Award.
For ''Tell Me No Lies'' (1999)
- 1999, Stockport Children's Book Award .
For ''Dead Gorgeous'' (2002)
- 2003, Calderdale Book of the Year.
- 2003, Salford Children's Book Award.
For books in the ''Noughts & Crosses'' series
- 2002, Lancashire Children's Book of the Year.
- 2002, Red House Children's Book Award.
- 2002, Sheffield Children's Book Award.
- 2003, Wirral Paperback of the Year Award.
- 2004, Fantastic Fiction Award.
- 2005, Berkshire Book Award.
- 2005, Lancashire Children's Book of the Year.
- 2005, Redbridge Teenage Book Award.
- 2006, Lancashire Children's Book of the Year.
- 2006, Staffordshire Young People's Book of the Year.
For ''Cloud Busting'' (2004)
- 2004, Nestlé Smarties Book Prize .
- 2005, Redbridge Children's Book Award.
- 2005, Stockport Schools Book Award.
- 2006, Nottingham Children's Book Award .
- 2006, West Sussex Children's Book Award.
For ''Crossfire'' (2019)
- 2019, Costa Children’s Book Award.
Television adaptations
For ''Pig-Heart Boy''
- 2000, BAFTA Best Drama.
- 2000, Race and Media Best Drama Award.
- 2000, Royal Television Society Award.
- 2001, Chicago TV Festival.
- 2001, Prix Danube Children's Jury Prize.
For the ''Doctor Who'' episode "Rosa"
- 2019, Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, nominated