Alex Alphonso Wheatle MBE (3 January 1963) is an award winning black British novelist of Jamaican heritage, sentenced to a term of imprisonment after the Brixton riots.
Wheatle spent much of his childhood in a Surrey children's home. At 16 he was a founder member of the Crucial Rocker sound system; his DJ name was Yardman Irie. He wrote lyrics about everyday Brixton life. By 1980 Wheatle was living in a social services hostel in Brixton, South London. He participated in the 1981 Brixton riots and aftermath. While serving his resulting sentence he read authors such as Chester Himes, Richard Wright, C. L. R. James and John Steinbeck.
He has since spoken about the Brixton riots, most prominently in the 2006 BBC programme "Battle for Brixton".[1] His early books are based on his life in Brixton as a teenager and his time in social services care.[2]
Wheatle was awarded London Arts Board New Writers Award for East of Acre Lane.[3]
In the Queen's Birthday Honours 2008, Wheatle was awarded the MBE for services to literature.[4]
He now visits various institutions facilitating creative writing classes and making speeches. He has also narrated an audio guide to the streets of Brixton.
He is a member of English PEN.
Wheatle's debut novel, Brixton Rock, was adapted for the stage and performed at the Young Vic in July 2010.[5]
He wrote and performed UPRISING, a one man play based on his own life at TARA ARTS STUDIOS, Wandsworth, London. In 2011 he took UPRISING on tour and performed it at the Writing On The Wall Festival, Liverpool; Oxford Playhouse; Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Ilkley Playhouse and the Albany Theatre, Deptford.
Wheatle lives in London.
Wheatle’s published works include:
His books have been translated into French and Italian.