Author interview
Malorie Blackman talks to Ella Dove about resilience and racism and explains why her memoir, Just Sayin’, was so hard to put to paper
With a career spanning 30 years, Malorie Blackman has shaped the landscape of children’s literature. To date, the former Children’s Laureate has written more than 70 books, including the bestselling Noughts & Crosses series. Set in a dystopian world where dark-skinned Crosses rule over fair-skinned Noughts, the books cover themes of racism, power, love and family. The series was initially a trilogy, but went on to span six books, two stage adaptations, including one from the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a hit BBC One series.
Along the way, Malorie has had her fair share of challenges. From her dad leaving when she was 13 and her home being repossessed to her health struggles with sickle cell disorder and the streams of rejection letters she received when starting out, cultivating determination has been crucial to her success. Now aged 60, she has published her memoir, Just Sayin’, in which she explores how the highs and lows of her life have shaped the person she is today.
Malorie lives in Kent with her husband, Neil, and has one adult daughter, Liz.
Turning 60 was the catalyst for writing my memoir.
I’d been thinking about writing an autobiography for a number of years, but that milestone birthday felt like the right time to take stock.
I’d assumed writing a memoir would be easy – but it was the hardest thing I’ve ever written.
In my novels, I could imagine the lives, thoughts and feelings of my characters by empathising with them and walking in their shoes for a while, but then I could take off those shoes. Yet with my own life, there was nowhere to hide. It was incredibly hard living through the tougher times in my life again.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved words.
I loved getting lost in books, and I remember sitting in the classroom in infant school while my teacher held up flashcards and the joy I felt deciphering the words on them. I had such a love of stories that I wanted to create my own, so I started writing them in my English workbooks. I was lucky my teachers didn’t say, ‘Don’t waste school paper!’
Growing up, I was always asking, ‘What if?’
When I was seven or eight, I had a tooth extracted at the dentist and, as they put me under, I had a near-death experience of floating outside my body. It led me to question what would have happened in a parallel world if my heart had stopped and I’d died in the dentist’s chair. From then on, ‘What if?’ became a favourite phrase. To this day, it forms the basis of my stories.
I initially wanted to become an English teacher.
I loved the idea of tryin
