ALAN GIBBONS was bullied at school for only three weeks, but he never forgot what it was like and it was enough to fuel his passionate antipathy for social injustice.
As an award-winning British author of more than 40 books with sales of almost half a million, Gibbons has fought back with prose. 'I despise cruelty, I hate intimidation. Bullying in some shape or form is the cornerstone of everything I write,' he said during a recent visit to Sha Tin Junior School.
He is convinced that literature can play a central role in promoting and shaping a better deal for the downtrodden. His books are populated by asylum seekers, alcohol and drug abusers, families with horrendous difficulties and characters coping with fundamental social and personal crises. His Shadow of the Minotaur won the Blue Peter Book Award in 2000 and he was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal in 2001 and 2003.
But despite his determined advocacy, Gibbons is no blinkered zealot. 'I agree that authors are in the 'Once Upon A Time' business and not lecturing. Writers need a good story, but it is an abdication of responsibility just to be in it for the market or self-gratification. Authors have a responsibility. I am in it to change the world,' said Gibbons, 52, who was a teacher for 17 years and still spends the bulk of his time in schools in east Merseyside.
He says the visits keep him grounded and maintain his focus, and estimates that up to a quarter of students are persistently bullied at some time in their school life.
'When I see a kid bullied week in, week out for the whole of their school career I wonder what the hell it does to their self-esteem. I want to see kids who suffer recognise that there is someone who cares for them, even through fiction,' he said.
