Malorie Blackman is the first YA author to win the PEN Pinter Prize

Malorie Blackman has become the first children's/YA author to win the PEN Pinter Prize.

The award goes to writers based in the UK, Ireland, or the Commonwealth who take an “unflinching, unswerving” look at the world, something Blackman has clearly done in her Noughts & Crosses series.

The books tell of a world in which dark-skinned Crosses are in power and light-skinned Noughts serve them.

Judges praised the six-book series for both engaging and challenging young readers.

Blackman is honored to be the first children's/YA author to receive the award, said the Guardian, and she predicts she won't be the last.

Each year, the PEN Pinter winner chooses, from a shortlist, the International Writer of Courage; both that writer and Blackman will be publicly honored at a ceremony in October.

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