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characters would seem to be white.
BW: Moss Side has become synonymous with black
people but there is a large white working-class population
as well, which gets overlooked I think. There
are other immigrant descendants, like the Irish, my
ancestors, too. I was writing drawing from my own
background, race wasn’t really an issue I was dealing
with. Class on the other hand is.
BG: Is there a straightforward political message in
the book?
BW: Yes, again, class. Tony Blair’s ridiculous lie that
we’re all middle-class now, he clearly never visited
Moss Side. That’s a message I wanted to come over
clear. Alex here is a voice that is otherwise not heard.
BUY Belinda Webb books online from and
BG: You’ve been involved in creative writing
projects with teenagers in both Moss Side and
Brixton. What’s the main advice you would give to
young writers?
BW: I think the fact the way I write is not in a mainstream
voice is the main thing, and I hope this encourages
young people. People should write in their own
voice and not be deflated. My sister went on a creative
writing course and it was – you must write in this way
and that way. If you’re going to write in that way you
may as well be in a factory, dryly sticking different bits
of formulae together. It may sound like a platitude or a
cliché but staying true to your own voice really is the
most important thing in writing. �
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