From The Archives: Malorie Blackman on race, language and the legacy of Noughts & Crosses
5/22/202635 min
From the archives this month, we revisit Dua’s conversation with Malorie Blackman, the former Children’s Laureate and author of the groundbreaking young adult series Noughts & Crosses. The novel follows Callum and Sephy, childhood friends growing up on opposite sides of a violently segregated society, where the ruling Crosses hold power over the oppressed Noughts. More than 20 years after its release, Dua and Malorie discuss Noughts & Crosses’ lasting impact and why its themes of inequality, identity and division remain so relevant today. Together, they explore the lived experiences and inspirations behind the novel, as well as touching on the role of language, prejudice and storytelling, as well as how fiction can challenge the way we see one another. Tune into the full conversation above. Join the club: 📩 Email us your thoughts – books@service95.com 📲 Follow @service95bookclub on Instagram for more author interviews 📚 Subscribe to the Service95 Book Club newsletter – and be the first to discover Dua’s next pick – at service95.com And don’t forget to hit ‘subscribe’ wherever you get your podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDua Lipa· Host0:00
[gentle music] Welcome to the Service 95 Book Club with me, Dua Lipa. Today from the archive, we have Malorie Blackman, who I spoke to in August 2024 about her iconic novel, Noughts and Crosses. We talk about flipping the script on racism, writing for young people with honesty, and creating characters that stay with you forever. My chat with Malorie coming up. [pen scribbling] Malorie, I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be talking to you. I feel like my younger self is literally crying right now.
Malorie Blackman· Guest0:36
[laughs] [laughs] Oh, don't cry. Don't cry.
Dua Lipa· Host0:38
[laughs] [laughs] You've been such an inspiration to so many, and I just wanna start by really thanking you so much for your- Oh ... service to young readers. Um, am I right that you've now, like, published 70 books for young people?
Malorie Blackman· Guest0:54
Yes, I have. My autobiography, Just Saying, was the 70th. So I think it actually was the 71st, but who's counting, you know? [laughs] So.
Dua Lipa· Host1:02
Um, then- But they're not all novels, I hasten to add. Yeah.
Malorie Blackman· Guest1:04
Some are, like, picture books and early- [laughs] ... readers and so on, but yeah.
Dua Lipa· Host1:08
It's incredible. I mean, we're, we're gonna talk about Noughts and Crosses today, which is one of my favorite books of all time. It's the first in the series of six books published over 20 years, which actually brings us right up to date with Brexit and Donald Trump. Um, I found Noughts and Crosses in my school library when I was 11 years old,