Events
Author Event
10 Oct
17:00
Until
10 Oct, 18:00
1h
Dean Atta - Big Man
The Heath Bookshop
Organized by
The Heath Bookshop
The Heath Bookshop
Dean Atta will be joining us at The Heath Bookshop to talk about his new book, ‘Big Man’. Dean will be in conversation with Zakariye.
Dean Atta is a multi-award-winning author, poet, and BAFTA-winning and BIFA-nominated filmmaker. His books include the young adult novel The Black Flamingo (winner of the Stonewall Book Award), the memoir Person Unlimited: An Ode to My Black Queer Body, and poetry collections I Am Nobody’s Nigger and There is (still) love here. His poetry has featured on the BBC, BET, Channel 4, and MTV. Big Man is his adult literary debut.
A tender and daring novel about queer love, trauma, and aging, and the adult debut from award-winning YA author Dean Atta.
BIG MAN follows the life of Big, a middle-aged, Black British gay man who lives a gentle life with his boyfriend, Little, in their home in East London. Big and Little enjoy evenings out and group holidays with friends, as much as practising yoga together at home, and running side by side along the Hackney canals.
Big came of age in the club scene under the watchful eye of Mother, an African American trans woman who made a home and a name for herself in London, her house a refuge for wayward queer youth like Big. When he finds out Mother is releasing a memoir, the two reconnect after decades of distance, and Big finds himself having to confront a long-repressed assault that opens old – and new – wounds.
A tender, daring novel full of gentle humour, BIG MAN explores themes of identity, aging, sex, family, and trauma, turning a lens on what it means to age as a queer person, while being a double-edged love letter to the people and places that make us.
‘Original and beautifully written’ Harry Lighton, writer and director of Pillion.
Zakariye’s debut pamphlet, Pulling Faces, has been longlisted for the Jhalak Poetry Prize and was published by Bad Betty Press. In 2022 his short poetry film Cages was broadcast on BBC 4 and BBC iPlayer. In 2025 he turned the short film into a play, also titled Cages, which had a 3 show run at the Roundhouse. His latest play Pretend like it’s Calm played at the Birmingham Hippodrome as part of their Origins Festival in 2026. He was a Roundhouse and Hayati Resident Artist and has performed his work at the likes of Westminster Abbey, Hay Festival and TEDx.
This event will take place at The Heath Bookshop and tickets are on sale now.
We look forward to seeing you.
Catherine & Claire
Buy Tickets
10 Oct
£4.50
Age Group
All