Stephen Bourne

Stephen Bourne is a writer, film and social historian specialising in Black heritage and gay culture.

In October 2019 Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo voted Bourne for her Black History Month hero on Facebook. She said: 'Stephen Bourne is a hero of our history, who has published countless books, always accessible to all, on the hidden stories of our presence on these shores. Let's honour Stephen for quietly shining a light on our history.'

Also in 2019 the acclaimed writer Russell T Davies (Queer as Folk, It's a Sin) described Bourne in his foreword to Playing Gay in the Golden Age of British Television as 'one of the soldiers, gatekeepers and champions of our community. I am in awe of his diligence and insight.'

After graduating in 1988, Bourne was a research officer at the British Film Institute on a project that documented the history of Black people in British television. The result was a two-part television documentary called Black and White in Colour (BBC 1992) that is considered ground-breaking. In 1991 Bourne was a founder member of the Black and Asian Studies Association and co-authored his first book Aunt Esther’s Story with Esther Bruce (his adopted aunt), which was published by Hammersmith and Fulham’s Ethnic Communities Oral History Project.

Nancy Daniels in The Voice (8 October 1991) described Aunt Esther's Story as 'Poignantly and simply told, the story of Aunt Esther is a factual account of a Black working-class woman born in turn of the century London. The book is a captivating documentation of a life rich in experiences.'

In 2014 Bourne’s acclaimed book Black Poppies: Britain’s Black Community and the Great War was published by The History Press to coincide with the centenary of Britain’s entry into World War I. For Black Poppies Bourne received the 2015 Southwark Arts Forum Literature Award at Southwark’s Unicorn Theatre. In 2019 a new, revised edition was published.

In 2017 Bourne received a Screen Nation ('Black BAFTA') Special Award; an Honorary Fellowship from London South Bank University; and his book Fighting Proud: The Untold Story of the Gay Men Who Served in Two World Wars was published by I B Tauris.

His latest book is Deep Are the Roots: Trailblazers Who Changed Black British Theatre (The History Press, 2021).

For more information go to www.stephenbourne.co.uk