Just Sayin': My Life In Words

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I watched the Alan Yentob interview whilst reading the book and it gave me images to go alongside the narrative, for example the homeless shelter she moved to whilst at grammar school. I highly recommend this too.

This book is an account of that journey, from a childhood surrounded by words, to the 83 rejection letters she received in response to sending out her first project, to the children's laureateship. It is an illuminating, inspiring and empowering account of the power of words to change lives, and the extraordinary life story of one of the world's greatest writers. Short story in the multi-author collection The Crew and Other Teen Fiction, Heinemann Library, ISBN 0-431-01875-8The long-awaited autobiography of one of the world's greatest children's writers, and an empowering and inspiring account of a life in books. There are so many: Dorothy Koomson, Patrice Lawrence – anything Patrice does. Elle McNicoll; I thought her A Kind of Spark was a brilliant, brilliant book. And I do love my graphic novels: I really enjoyed BB Alston’s Amari and the Night Brothers, and I want to read his latest one. Mainly: Thank God I lived long enough to finish it! And: Thank God that’s done! OK, to be serious about it, it’s been a hell of a journey, which I’m really grateful for because it’s been 20-odd years. But I really do feel with the end of Endgame that really is it. And anyone who’s read it will know why. If there are more books written in that series, they won’t be by me.

Join Malorie as talks with author, journalist and TV presenter Candice Brathwaite to share how she gravitated to imaginary worlds and realms to escape her complicated childhood. Alan Yentob retraces Stuart’s remarkable journey in New York where he was now able to be open about his sexuality, having faced isolation and homophobia growing up in Glasgow. However, despite his astonishing success in the high end fashion world, he had not processed the memories of his youth. In 2009 he started writing the early drafts of Shuggie Bain as he travelled on the subway into work.Just Sayin’ is published by #Merky B ooks, the imprint launched by the musician Stormzy and Penguin Random House with an aim to “own – and change – the mainstream”. Was that something you wanted to get behind?

How are you with managing distractions such as social media when you write? I’m guessing, with your productivity, pretty good… Through a poverty-riddled adolescence, through first jobs and educational experiences (I was cringing and angry at what a careers adviser had to say), to eventual discovery and d*mned hard work towards a dream, Malorie shows that what you want doesn't just drop into your lap. She's worked hard to learn, to become a master of her craft, to hone skills and earn a reputation and success.The sixth and final book in the Noughts & Crosses series, Endgame , came out last year. How do you feel now that’s over? For over thirty years, her books have helped to shape British culture, and inspired generations of younger readers and writers. The Noughts and Crosses series, started in 2000, sparked a new and necessary conversation about race and identity in the UK, and are already undisputed classics of twenty-first-century children's literature. Yeah, I think so. You’re so wrapped up in the grief of it and going through the bereavement process. It’s very much something that my husband and I went through, and you don’t appreciate that others have gone through it too and could offer insight and support. Or just that hand on the shoulder or a smile to say, I know exactly what you’re going through. And it means such a lot.

The Amazing Adventures of Girl Wonder (illustrated by Lis Toft), Barn Owl Books, 2003, ISBN 1-903015-27-8Noughts & 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.