Malorie Blackman is currently children’s laureate of 2015 and one of Britain’s best authors. Winning awards since 1995, it’s clear that she’s still got it.
Blackman’s heart wrenching Noughts and Crosses series was a game changer, taking the reader on a thought provoking journey of romance and racial politics. Before the hype of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and Veronica Roth’s Divergent, Noughts and Crosses is interpreted as dystopian teenage fiction with a difference. What makes Blackman’s writing so great? It’s realistic and often relatable. Her characters are a sublime balance between funny and serious.
One of the best things about Blackman’s work is her mission to increase diversity in literature. Luckily, Blackman is one of the many authors supporting this concept, creating more multi-cultural characters for young readers. In 2014, Blackman joined forces with the “Let Books Be Books” campaign in order to stop children’s books being sold for one gender or another. The campaign has also attracted the support of fellow authors Anne Fine and Phillip Pullman.
Blackman is still viewed as one of Britain’s trendy teen authors, recently composing a romance anthology labelled Love Hurts. She is also receives a cheeky reference in Tinie Temper’s single, ‘Written in the Stars’.
Blackman remains an inspiration for aspiring writers, unafraid to fight for what she believes in whether it’s gender equality, combating the “demonisation of young people” or battling racism. Malorie Blackman has a way with words, and a unique style that should continue to grip Britain’s young bookworms.
