novelist beverley naidoo visits
the ilkley literature festival

Beverley Naidoo was born in South Africa. She grew up under the apartheid laws that favoured whites. As a result of her resistance to apartheid, she was imprisoned and, at one stage, spent an eight week period in solitary confinement. Such issues inform her work. Her novel 'The Other Side of Truth' is about two refugee children and received the Carnegie Medal.

The group of mainly Year 9 pupils who heard speak as part of the Ilkley Literature Festival enjoyed listening to the political stories of her childhood.

Beverley had a black nanny who cared for her as a young girl. Questioning the injustice in society, Beverley related how these early influences continue to be explored in her work. Beverley has her own website and her books are available in the Library.