Books For, By, & About Black British LGBTQ+ People

What better way and celebrate LGBTQ+ people than through literature? Books are a wonderful way to learn about the lives and cultures of other people, but it’s also essential to see yourself represented there too. And with the publishing industry still being 90% white in the UK, this stark figure is also sadly mirrored in books in the UK, making it even more necessary to uplift literature archiving the stories of Black queer people who are often left out of the canon.

While the works of Black LGBTQ+ writers such as Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, and Roxanne Gay are well known, the UK also has it’s own array of brilliant Black authors and writers who are telling the stories – both fiction and nonfiction – of Black LGBTQ+ people right here.

From tense period dramas involving Black queer women to heartwarming coming-of-age tales that explore what it's like to grow up Black and gay in the UK, these books will have you laughing and weeping – and their stories will stay with you long after you've finished reading.

Below are fiction and non-fiction books for, by, and about Black LGBTQ+ people that you should get stuck into this LGBT History Month.