Alex Wheatle - MBE
There are some writers who arrive on the scene with a huge splash of publicity, a fancy book cover and not much else. Often they are backed up by a publisher with a huge marketing budget and lots of media contacts. They may be feted by the mainstream and get invited to every literary festival around. Though it is not usually Black writers that experience this kind of treatment, it sometimes is. I’ve seen them over the years, but what I have also noticed is that for many of them as quickly as they appear they disappear. Maybe the book sales didn’t match the hype. Maybe they decided the writing game wasn’t for them. Or maybe, just maybe their writing really wasn’t good enough and when it came to demands for another book they couldn’t come up with the goods.
Then there are the writers who just quietly get on with the job of writing. Even when snubbed by publishers they will simply carry on writing and try to find another one. Often such writers are involved in local community work too. They’ll do the rounds of the schools, prisons and libraries. They’ll slog away, plugging their books and any message they want to get across anywhere they can. I think they are the writers I admire the most.
One such writer is South London’s Alex Wheatle. Awarded an MBE as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours, it is an honour long overdue. His latest book, The Dirty South, deals with the hard-hitting issues of youth violence and drug dealing. I managed to get to speak to him recently about his book, his award and why he thinks he has been overlooked for so long.
So were you surprised to get the MBE?
I think shocked is more the word. I just thought ‘Me..an MBE?’ Then I thought again and said ‘yeah why not me?’ It is great recognition.
Why do you think you were chosen for an award?
I don’t even know who makes these decisions but I would guess it is for the things I write about, my community. I write about how I see things have developed in the black community and South London in particular over the last 30 or 40 years.
In terms of such awards it looks like Black literature is finally getting some great recognition.
True. The children’s writer Malorie Blackman and playwright Roy William’s have just been awarded OBE’s, something that should definitely be applauded. I know that Benjamin Zephaniah turned down an OBE very publicly when it was offered to him. But I think really it is a personal choice. I see my MBE as recognition of me and my subject matter.
Long overdue recognition perhaps?
I don’t want to sound bitter but I am often overlooked. In the last ten years of writing I have probably been invited to just two literary festivals.
Why do you think you have been overlooked by the mainstream?
I write about black people. I write about working class people. The literary elite don’t seem impressed with that at all. It wasn’t always that way though, years ago writing about the working class was celebrated – look at Charles Dickens and what he wrote about.
Will you always write about blacks in South London?
I am motivated to tell stories about black people. That is what I have always done. Yes I always seem to return to South London too but that may change in the future. I must say my latest book had been very well received – I have had more positive feedback than any of my other books.
What are you working on next?
For the last year I have been trying to write a teenage fantasy novel. I think we need to see more black people as heroes. If you look at what is out there where are the black heroes? Malorie Blackman is about the only person that has done anything like that.
I am also working on a sit-com – that’s in its early stages. There is interest in turning my novel Island Songs into a TV series too. There are quite a few things on the go. What I do and I have always done is to keep on knocking on doors. That’s the only way to keep yourself out there.
posted by Andrea Enisuoh @ 2:53 PM
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