Using her science fiction to explore social and ethical issues, award-winning author, Malorie Blackman OBE, was probably most well-known for her critically and popularly acclaimed ‘Noughts and Crosses’ series, which used the setting of a fictional alternative Britain to explore racism and cultural inequalities.

Exploring love, racism and violence, in a fictional alternative Britain, she described the book as "one of those games that nobody ever plays after childhood, because nobody ever wins. I wanted to show Black children just getting on with their lives,” she said.

“I wanted them to have adventures, and solving their dilemmas, like the characters in all the books I read as a child." Primarily a writer of literature and television drama for children and young adults, she has written more than 60 children's books, including novels and short story collections, and also television scripts and a stage play.

Born in Lewisham, in London, Malorie’s body of work has seen her win more than 15 awards, with her television scripts including episodes of the long-running children's drama Byker Grove, as well as television adaptations of her novels ‘Whizziwig’ and ‘Pig-Heart Boy.’ Originally wanted to be an English teacher, she became the first Black writer to work on the Doctor Who television series and, on top of which, her books have brought her such a worldwide acclaim that many of them have been translated into over 15 languages including Spanish, Welsh, German, Japanese, Chinese and French.

Having been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours, Blackman succeeded Julia Donaldson as the new Children's Laureate, in 2013 and in 2022, was chosen as winner of the PEN Pinter Prize, and becoming the first writer of children's and young adult books to receive the accolade.

Vowing to continue her work to advocate for more diversity in children's books, she said at the time: “We need more books that are specifically about the Black and Ethnic Minority experience in Britain. That's why I bang the drum for getting more diverse books out there, and for getting rid of the idea that if a book contains pictures of a Black or Asian child, it's going to have a limited market.”

Making History for Black writers, Malorie Blackman OBE held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015.