This week we are delighted to spend some time with the author, playwright, screenwriter, performer and all-around inspiration Alex Wheatle MBE! Alex's first book was 1995's award-winning Brixton Rock and he has followed that with numerous critically acclaimed works for adults, young adults and children with the latest being Cane Warriors. We talked to Alex about the importance of music in his work, being inspired by the Beano, learning to love reading while in prison and the experience of having your life story turned into a film by the Oscar-winning Steve McQueen. You can find the Dialogue Books Black History Month reading list HERE.

BOOKS

Daisy Buchanan - Insatiable

Alex Wheatle - Cane Warriors

CLR James - Black Jacobins

Malcolm X - Autobiography

Alex Haley - Roots

Langston Hughes - Collected Poems

Chester Himes - Rage in Harlem

James Baldwin - Fire Next Time

Mark Twain - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Linton Kwesi Johnson - Selected Poems

Marcia Williams - Baby Mother

Naomi King - OPP

Karline Smith - Moss Side Massive

Courttia Newland - The Scholar

Stephen Thompson - Toy Soldiers

Peter Kalu - Lick Shot

Alex Wheatle - Brixton Rock

Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe

EA Ritter - Shaka Zulu

Alex Wheatle - Liccle Bit

Alex Wheatle - Crongton Knights

Danielle Jawando - And The Stars Were Burning Brightly

Raymond Chandler - Big Sleep

Colleen McCullough - Thorn Birds

Vivien M Goldman - Book of Exodus

Marlon James - Brief History of 7 Killings

Timothy White - Catch a Fire

Steve McQueen - Small Axe

Patrice Lawrence - Eight Pieces of Silva

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