Award-winning author, poet and filmmaker Dean Atta comes to The Black-E, held 6 Oct ’26

Join award-winning author, poet and filmmaker Dean Atta for a special event celebrating the publication of his adult literary debut, Big Man — a tender, funny and deeply moving novel about love, identity, ageing, family and the lasting impact of trauma.

Big Man follows Big, a middle-aged Black British gay man living a gentle life in East London with his boyfriend, Little. Their world is one of friendships, holidays, yoga at home and runs along the Hackney canals. But when Big reconnects with Mother — an African American trans woman who provided a refuge for queer young people during his youth — he is forced to confront a long-repressed experience from his past.

Full of warmth and gentle humour, Big Man explores what it means to grow older as a queer person, and the ways in which friendship, love and community can sustain us. It is also a love letter — sometimes complicated, sometimes joyful — to the people and places that shape who we become.

Dean Atta is a multi-award-winning author and poet, as well as a BAFTA-winning and BIFA-nominated filmmaker. His books include the Stonewall Book Award-winning YA novel The Black Flamingo, the memoir Person Unlimited: An Ode to My Black Queer Body, and the poetry collections I Am Nobody’s Nigger and There is (still) love here. His poetry has appeared on the BBC, BET, Channel 4 and MTV.

Come and hear Dean discuss the inspiration behind Big Man, writing across poetry, memoir and fiction, and the importance of telling stories about queer lives in all their complexity, tenderness and joy.

Venue: The Black-E
Tickets £5 – £3 with discount code for network members: https://tinyurl.com/4u6w8jhe