Page 3 Profile: Malorie Blackman, children’s laureate

Malorie Blackman, the author of the bestselling Noughts and Crosses series (Rex features)

The children’s author?

Yes, but that’s not all. Malorie Blackman, the author of the bestselling Noughts and Crosses series, was yesterday crowned as the Children’s Laureate for 2013-2015.

She is the first black woman to be appointed to the position since it was created in 1999, replacing outgoing laureate Julie Donaldson.

Speaking after the presentation in King’s Place in London, where she was presented with a medal and £15,000 bursary, Ms Blackman told i that she would use the position to call on infant and primary school teachers to spend at least 10 minutes every day on storytelling.

“I feel really excited and just a tad daunted,” she said. “I can’t wait to get cracking. I’d like to ensure every child of a primary school age has a library card. Where the parents haven’t got one for their child, the schools will step in and make sure they have one.”

Why was she picked?

The Waterstones Children’s Laureate is handed to an eminent author or illustrator and the prolific producer of child and teenage fiction has enjoyed a meteoric rise into the bestseller list.

Ms Blackman’s desire to write saw her change career from computer programming, publishing her first book of short stories at the age of 28 and later working as a scriptwriter for children’s television drama Byker Grove. She has now written 60 books and cemented herself as one of the most popular writer’s for children and teens. As a result, she has even been referenced by rapper Tinie Tempah, who sang in Written in the Stars: “Look, I’m just a writer from the ghetto like Malorie Blackman.”

“Even my daughter was impressed by that,” Ms Blackman said. “She thinks I’m super uncool but she thought I was cool then.”

And what will she do?

“It’s about making sure no child gets left behind. It’s about making sure every child feels included and has the right to express themselves creatively.”