#219: Jacqueline Wilson, novelist

Always Take Notes

In this episode, recorded in conjunction with Hay Festival, Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Jacqueline Wilson. Born in 1945, Jacqueline wrote her first (unpublished) novel, "Meet the Maggots", when she was nine and has since gone on to write more than 100 books; her novels have been translated into 34 languages and have sold more than 40m copies in Britain alone. Jacqueline started her career as a journalist for DC Thomson in Dundee—the bestselling teen magazine Jackie was reportedly named after her—and she published her first story for children, "Ricky's Birthday", in 1973. She is the author of several bestselling children's titles, including "The Story of Tracy Beaker", "Double Act", "Vicky Angel", and several popular series, such as "Girls", "Hetty Feather" and "Sleepovers". Jacqueline has won many literary prizes and was the British Children’s Laureate from 2005-07. In the 2025 New Year Honours List she was awarded the Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. We spoke to Jacqueline about starting out in magazines while in her teens, breaking out in children's books in 1991 with "Tracy Beaker" and writing for adults, most recently in "Think Again".

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