Obituary: Alex Wheatle, writer
Alex Wheatle, author, playwright and screenwriter, at the Hay Festival 2024 on May 25, 2024 in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.
Dubbed the Bard of Brixton, British writer Alex Wheatle was an award-winning novelist, playwright, and youth mentor. Born in London to Jamaican parents and raised in care, Wheatle turned his life into thinly disguised fiction, documenting the realities of black British life with unparalleled depth and authenticity. Imprisoned after the 1981 Brixton riots, Wheatle's Rastafarian cellmate encouraged him to read and changed his life. Wheatle's books, including Brixton Rock, East of Acre Lane, Crongton Knights and Cane Warriors, gave voice to the struggles and triumphs of young black people navigating a complex world. In 2008, he was awarded an MBE for services to literature. Alex Wheatle died on March 16 aged 62. — APL/agencies
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