Alex Alphonso WheatleMBE (3 January 1963 – 16 March 2025) was a British novelist, who had been brought up in a children's care home from the age of two, his education subsequently suffering from numerous suspensions and expulsions from school. His connection with the written word was bolstered during a prison sentence he was serving after the 1981 Brixton riot in London, when his older Rastafarian cellmate introduced him to the writings of many impactful writers, as well as engaging him in discussions about African history.[1]
Wheatle went on to become the author of many books, beginning with his 1999 debut novel, Brixton Rock. In the 2008 Birthday Honours, Wheatle was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to literature. Other recognition and awards he won included the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Wheatle's life story features in Steve McQueen's 2020 historical drama film Alex Wheatle, part of the television miniseries Small Axe, about the West Indian community in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s.
Life and career
Born on 3 January 1963 in London,[2][3] to Jamaican parents,[4] Wheatle spent much of his childhood in the Shirley Oaks Children's Home in Croydon.[5] As he much later recalled: "Although my education had stalled, with numerous suspensions and three expulsions, I had always had the ability to read well. When I was five, I started to read the comics and magazines that were sometimes discarded on my dormitory floor. Little did I know that it was boosting my aptitude for the written word."[1]
Wheatle spoke about the Brixton riots, most prominently in the 2006 BBC programme Battle for Brixton.[9] His early books are based on his life in Brixton as a teenager and his time in social services' care.[10] Wheatle featured aspects of his life in his books, such as East of Acre Lane characters Yardman Irie and Jah Nelson.
Wheatle received the London Arts Board New Writers Award in 1999 for his debut novel Brixton Rock,[11] which was later adapted for the stage and performed at the Young Vic in July 2010.[12]
Wheatle lived in London. He was a member of English PEN, and he visited various institutions facilitating creative writing classes and making speeches. He also narrated an audio guide to the streets of Brixton.[14]
Wheatle died from prostate cancer on 16 March 2025, at the age of 62.[15] Having been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023, he campaigned for Prostate Cancer UK.[8]
His young-adult novel Liccle Bit was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal in 2016.[5]
His 2016 book Crongton Knights won the 50th Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. S. F. Said, one of the judging panel, said of the book: "Wheatle's writing is poetic, rhythmic and unique, remaking the English language with tremendous verve. Though Crongton is his invention, it resonates with many urban situations, not only in Britain but around the world. Crongton Knights is a major novel from a major voice in British children's literature."[17][18] A 10-part television adaptation of the Crongton books aired on BBC Three in March 2025.[19]
Wheatle's life story features in Alex Wheatle, the fourth film in Small Axe, a 2020 anthology of five films by Steve McQueen about the West Indian community in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s. Alex Wheatle depicts Wheatle's life up to and just after the Brixton uprising.[20][21][22]
In March 2024, the Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur, the German national section of IBBY, nominated Cane Warriors in the category Jugendbuch for the 2024 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis.
