Naidoo's fictional books are built on a foundations of experience and research. In addition to the research files that complement each of her typescript novels we also have material for her non-fiction work. Her first published work 'Censoring Reality' analysed the image of South Africa being presented to school children in the 1980s. Naidoo found misleadingportrayalsof South Africa, racist perceptions and a very limited, one sided view of a country under apartheid law. The files we hold for 'Censoring Reality' demonstrate Niadoo's active stance against biasedliteraturefor children, working towards an informedportrayalofworld issues and equality. These principles form the basis of Beverley's fictional writing. The sun rose higher. On they walked. The heat sank into them and they felt the sweat on their bodies. On they walked. Alone again… My first illustrated response to Journey to Jo’burg in 1985, thanks to a schoolboy Jeffrey Cooper

This month's mode of transport isn't technically a mode of transport but it does get people to where they need to be. Walking is a very prominent feature in Beverley Naidoo's Journey to Jo’burg, a story that delivers a subtle and powerful message about apartheid South Africa. From the first notes to the last batch of fan letters it has been a long journey for Naledi and Tiro. It has been a political journey, a one of social history and opinion, and hopefully a step towards a more equal world.

She graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in 1963. As a student, Naidoo began to question racism and the idea that white people were superior. Her involvement with the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa led to her being imprisoned in solitary confinement for eight weeks at the age of 21. She left for England in 1965 and studied at the University of York with the help of a United Nations Bursary, training to become a teacher. She taught both primary and secondary children in London for 18 years. She obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Southampton and worked as Adviser for Cultural Diversity and English in Dorset. She has tutored Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and run workshops for young people and adults in Britain and abroad, including for the British Council. [4] was one of the first books to portray life as it actually was in apartheid South Africa. Both then as contemporary fiction and now as a historical novel, it tells the story of children who must show enormous courage in the face of injustice

Creamer, Ella (12 July 2023). "Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it announces 62 new fellows". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 13 July 2023. The Other Side of Truth, published by Puffin in 2000, is a story about Nigerian political refugees in England. For that work she won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. [3] This summer we took a much smaller selection of Journey to Jo'burgmaterial to our Team Creative summer school attendees; this time we only used a selection of Naidoo's research and her drafts. It was a great reminder of how moving the story can be with one of Team Creative explaining to us that the session left him feeling sad and angry that people aren't treated equally. This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. so simple and straightforward that it makes accessible even to quite young children the difficult and the profound.

There are eight full drafts of Journey to Jo'burgin our collection. Most of these drafts include extensive annotation, changes and significant developments which give us insight into how Naidoo works as an author. We may say it a lot on this blog, but everybody has a different approach to writing and Beverley Naidoo's collection is so rich with development work - there are post it notes, letters from her many proof readers and lots and lots of draft material. Another baby has died in the village and Naledi knows that her little sister Dineo might die too. But what can she do? Their grandmother has no money and there are no doctors in their village. So Naledi makes up her mind. She will have to get Mma who works more than 300 kilometres away in Johannesburg. The only way to let her know was to get to the big road and walk. So Naledi and her brother Tiro did just that… Beverley Naidoo grew up in apartheid South Africa. As a student, she protested against it and in 1965 was exiled for her participation. She came to England, her father’s home country, and decided to write Journey to Jo’burg based on the experiences she had seen and lived through. Carnegie Winner 2000). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2012-08-17.