Best known as the author of the Crongton series of young adult novels, Alex Wheatle, who has died aged 62 of prostate cancer, was a writer, speaker and activist whose well-observed stories based on his own life gave a painful and vivid picture of his tough early years and adolescence in south London.
His experiences, of growing up in an abusive care system, police brutality and a spell in prison, shaped Alex’s worldview and he wanted others to know about them; his passion and anger were tempered but never dulled by his subsequent success as a writer. Known as the Brixton Bard, he wrote fiercely but with understanding, energy and humour in a series of adult novels, starting with Brixton Rock (1999), before switching to young adult (YA) fiction.
