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==Early life==
==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 [[system programming|systems programmer]] instead.<ref name="Penguin authors">{{cite web
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 [[system programming|systems programmer]] instead.<ref name="Penguin authors">{{cite web
| last = Blackman
|last = Blackman
| first = Malorie
|first = Malorie
| title = Malorie Blackman
|title = Malorie Blackman
| work = Penguin UK Authors
|work = Penguin UK Authors
| publisher = Penguin Books Ltd.
|publisher = Penguin Books Ltd.
| date = 1995–2007
|date = 1995–2007
| url = http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000003969,00.html
|url = http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000003969,00.html
| accessdate = 2007-03-23 }}</ref><ref name="Craig interview">{{cite web
|accessdate = 2007-03-23
|deadurl = yes
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070419075514/http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000003969,00.html
|archivedate = 19 April 2007
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref name="Craig interview">{{cite web
|last=Craig
|last=Craig
|first=Amanda
|first=Amanda

Revision as of 17:53, 2 December 2017

Malorie Blackmann
BornOneta Malorie Blackmann
(1962-02-08) 8 February 1962 (age 62)
Clapham, London, England
OccupationAuthor
NationalityBritish
GenreChildren's literature, science fiction, mystery, thriller and horror; poetry
Website
www.malorieblackman.co.uk

Malorie Blackman, OBE (born 8 February 1962), is a British writer who held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015.[1] 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.

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.[2][3] She earned an HNC at Thames Polytechnic and is a graduate of the National Film and Television School.[2][4]

She married Neil in the 1990s and their daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1995.[3] Blackman describing herself: "I'm just Malorie Blackman, a black woman writer."[2]

Author

Blackman's first book was Not So Stupid, a collection of horror and science fiction stories for young adults, published in November 1990.[5] 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.[5][6]

Her work has won over 15 awards.[6][7] 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.[6] 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".[8] 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.[3] 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."[2]

Blackman eventually decided to address racism directly.[3][8] 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.[3] 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".[3] Noughts and Crosses is now available in the US published under the title Black & White (Simon & Schuster Publishers, 2005).

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 (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[9]

In June 2013, Blackman was announced as the new Children's Laureate, succeeding Julia Donaldson.[10][11]

Personal living

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.[12] She is the subject of a biography for children by Verna Wilkins.[13]

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'.[14]

In August 2014, 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.[15]

Works

Published works

Novels for young adults

  • Not So Stupid!: Incredible Short Stories, The Women's Press, 1990, ISBN 0-7043-4924-8
  • Trust Me, Livewire, 1992, ISBN 0-7043-4931-0. Corgi Children's, 2013, ISBN 0-552-56847-3
  • Words Last Forever, Mammoth, 1998, ISBN 0-7497-2983-X
  • The Noughts & Crosses series:
  • The Stuff of Nightmares, Doubleday, 2007, ISBN 0-385-61043-2
  • Boys Don't Cry, Doubleday Children's, 2010. Corgi Children's, 2011, ISBN 0-552-54862-6
  • 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, ISBN 0-552-55600-9
  • Noble Conflict, Doubleday Children's, 2013, ISBN 0-385-61042-4

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, ISBN 1-85340-893-X
  • Short story in the multi-author collection The Crew and Other Teen Fiction, Heinemann Library, ISBN 0-431-01875-8

Novels for children

Short stories for children

  • "Contact" in the multi-author collection Out of This World: Stories of Virtual Reality (chosen by Wendy Cooling), Dolphin, 1997, ISBN 1-85881-602-5
  • Aesop's Fables (retold by Malorie Blackman, illustrated by Patrice Aggs), Scholastic, 1998, ISBN 0-590-54382-2
  • "Dare to be Different" (illustrated by Jane Ray) in the multi-author collection Dare to be Different, Bloomsbury Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0-7475-4021-7
  • "Peacemaker" in the multi-author collection Peacemaker and Other Stories (illustrated by Peter Richardson and David Hine), Heinemann Educational, 1999, ISBN 0-435-11600-2

Books for new readers

  • The Betsey Biggalow stories:
    • Betsey Biggalow the Detective (illustrated by Lis Toft), Piccadilly Press, 1992, ISBN 1-85340-163-3
    • Betsey Biggalow is Here! (illustrated by Lis Toft), Piccadilly Press, 1992, ISBN 1-85340-172-2
    • Hurricane Betsey (illustrated by Lis Toft), Piccadilly Press, 1993, ISBN 1-85340-199-4
    • Magic Betsey (illustrated by Lis Toft), Piccadilly Press, 1994, ISBN 1-85340-237-0
    • Betsey's Birthday Surprise (illustrated by Lis Toft), Piccadilly Press, 1996, ISBN 0-590-55864-1
  • The Girl Wonder series:
    • Girl Wonder and the Terrific Twins (illustrated by Pat Ludlow), Orion Children's Books, 1991, ISBN 0-575-05048-9
    • Girl Wonder's Winter Adventures (illustrated by Lis Toft), Orion Children's Books, 1992, ISBN 0-575-05383-6
    • Girl Wonder to the Rescue (illustrated by Lis Toft), Gollancz, 1994, ISBN 0-575-05774-2
    • The Amazing Adventures of Girl Wonder (illustrated by Lis Toft), Barn Owl Books, 2003, ISBN 1-903015-27-8
  • The Puzzle Planet adventures:
    • Peril on Planet Pellia (illustrated by Patrice Aggs), Orchard Books, 1996, ISBN 1-85213-935-8
    • The Mellion Moon Mystery (illustrated by Patrice Aggs), Orchard Books, 1996, ISBN 1-85213-936-6
    • The Secret of the Terrible Hand (illustrated by Patrice Aggs), Orchard Books, 1996, ISBN 1-86039-370-5
    • Quasar Quartz Quest (illustrated by Patrice Aggs) Orchard Books, 1996, ISBN 1-85213-938-2
  • The Longman Book Project (with translations to Welsh):
    • Rachel versus Bonecrusher the Mighty, Longman, 1994, ISBN 0-582-12151-5
    • Rachel and the Difference Thief (illustrated by Kim Harley), Longman, 1994, ISBN 0-582-12152-3
    • Crazy Crocs (with Alexander McCall Smith and Sally-Ann Lever), Longman, 1994, ISBN 0-582-12208-2
  • Elaine You're a Brat! [22] (illustrated by Doffy Weir), Orchard Books, 1991, ISBN 1-85213-365-1
  • My Friend's a Gris-Quok (illustrated by Philip Hopman), Scholastic, 1994, ISBN 0-590-55864-1
  • Grandma Gertie's Haunted Handbag (illustrated by David Price), Heinemann, 1996, ISBN 0-434-97225-8
  • Space Race (illustrated by Colin Mier), Corgi Children's, 1997, ISBN 0-552-54542-2
  • Fangs (illustrated by Tony Blundell), Orchard Books, 1998, ISBN 1-86039-734-4
  • Snow Dog (illustrated by Sabrina Good), Corgi Children's, 2001, ISBN 0-552-54703-4
  • The Monster Crisp-Guzzler (illustrated by Saynab Abdalla), Corgi Children's, 2002, ISBN 0-552-54783-2
  • Sinclair, Wonder Bear (illustrated by Deborah Allwright), Egmont Books, 2003, ISBN 1-4052-0589-X

Picture books

  • That New Dress [23] (illustrated by Rhian Nest James), Hodder Wayland, 1991, ISBN 0-7500-0442-8
  • Mrs Spoon's Family (illustrated by Jan McCafferty), Andersen Press, 1995, ISBN 0-86264-582-4
  • Dizzy's Walk (illustrated by Pamela Venus), Tamarind, 1999, ISBN 1-870516-41-9
  • Marty Monster (illustrated by Kim Harley), Tamarind, 1999, ISBN 1-870516-42-7
  • I Want a Cuddle! (illustrated by Joanne Partis), Orchard Books, 2001, ISBN 1-84121-823-5
  • Jessica Strange (with Alison Bartlett), Hodder Children's Books, 2002, ISBN 0-340-77963-2
  • Contributed to A Christmas Tree of Stories, Scholastic Press, 1999, ISBN 0-439-01192-2

Television scripts

Her novel Operation Gadgetman! was also adapted into a 1996 TV movie directed by Jim Goddard and starring Marina Sirtis.

Stage plays

  • The Amazing Birthday
  • Noughts and Crosses

Radio scripts

  • Noughts and Crosses

Awards and nominations

Body of work

Novels

For Hacker (1995)

For A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E (1997)

  • 1997, Stockport Children's Book of the Year Award (Key Stage 3 category).[6]
  • 1997, Stockton-on-Tees Children's Book Award (shortlisted).[7]
  • 1998, Sheffield Children's Book Award (highly commended).[7]
  • 2001, Stockport Schools Book Award (shortlisted).[7]

For Pig-Heart Boy (1997)

For Tell Me No Lies (1999)

  • 1999, Stockport Children's Book Award (shortlisted) (Key Stage 4 category).[6][7]

For Dead Gorgeous (2002)

  • 2003, Calderdale Book of the Year (shortlist).[7]
  • 2003, Salford Children's Book Award (shortlist).[7]

For books in the Noughts & Crosses series

For Cloud Busting (2004)

  • 2004, Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Silver Award) (6–8 years category).[6]
  • 2005, Redbridge Children's Book Award (shortlist).[7]
  • 2005, Stockport Schools Book Award (shortlisted).[7]
  • 2006, Nottingham Children's Book Award (shortlist) (10–11 years category).[7]
  • 2006, West Sussex Children's Book Award (shortlist).[7]

Television adaptations

For Pig-Heart Boy

References

  1. ^ "Malorie Blackman". Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). Booktrust. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  2. ^ a b c d Blackman, Malorie (1995–2007). "Malorie Blackman". Penguin UK Authors. Penguin Books Ltd. Archived from the original on 19 April 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f Craig, Amanda (January 2004). "Malorie Blackman: the world in photographic negative". The Times. Times Newspapers Limited. Archived from the original on 2 December 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Malorie Blackman". 40 artists, 40 days. Tate Online. 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  5. ^ a b "Full Record". British Library Integrated Catalogue. The British Library Board. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "Malorie Blackman". Contemporary Writers. British Council. 2007. Archived from the original on 11 April 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "Awards and Prizes". Kids at Random House. Random House Children's Books. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  8. ^ a b "Malorie Blackman – Children and Young People's Writer". Blast. BBC. Retrieved 23 March 2007. [dead link‍]
  9. ^ "No. 58729". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2008. p. 9.
  10. ^ Martin Chilton, "Malorie Blackman is new Children’s Laureate", The Telegraph, 4 June 2013.
  11. ^ Michelle Pauli, "Malorie Blackman is the new children's laureate", Children's Books, The Guardian, 4 June 2013.
  12. ^ Preface to Tell Me No Lies.
  13. ^ Verna Wilkins, Malorie Blackman – Author Black Stars series, Tamarind/Random House, 2008.
  14. ^ Masters, Tim (17 March 2014). "Campaign over gender-specific books gains support". BBC News. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  15. ^ "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories | Politics". theguardian.com. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  16. ^ Also published as Black & White, Simon Pulse, 2007, ISBN 1-4169-0017-9
  17. ^ Also published in Noughts & Crosses, Corgi Children's, 2006, ISBN 0-552-55570-3
  18. ^ Originally published 1997.
  19. ^ Also published as 4u2read.ok Hostage, Barrington Stoke, 2002, ISBN 1-84299-056-X, and as a "Close Look, Quick Look" photocopiable version for teachers, Barrington Stoke, 2004, ISBN 1-84299-236-8
  20. ^ Originally published separately as Whizziwig, 1995, and Whizzywhig Returns, 1999
  21. ^ "Malorie Blackman pens Seventh Doctor and Daleks story | Articles | Doctor Who". Doctorwho.tv. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  22. ^ Also published as Ellie, and the Cat!, Orchard Books, 2005, ISBN 1-84362-391-9
  23. ^ Also published as A New Dress for Maya, Gary Stevens Publishing, 1992, ISBN 0-8368-0713-8
  24. ^ Flood, Alison (13 February 2014). "Ruth Ozeki beats Thomas Pynchon to top Kitschie award". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
Cultural offices
Preceded by Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom
2013–2015 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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