Black History: Reclaiming and Retelling

Black writers are boldly reclaiming and reimagining Black histories, in a world where those histories have too often been buried, erased and distorted. Join four extraordinary queer Black writers and artists for a vital conversation about memory, resistance, and the power of telling our own stories.

Paula Akpan is a journalist, historian and public speaker. A sociology graduate from the University of Nottingham, her work mainly focuses on blackness, queerness, social politics and our relationship with technology. She regularly writes for a variety of publications including Vogue, Teen Vogue, The Independent, Stylist, VICE, i-D, Bustle, Time Out London and more. Paula has also interviewed the likes of Oprah, Lupita Nyong’o, Reese Witherspoon, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Syd, Ray BLK and more. Her articles can be found here. Graduating with a distinction in her Masters in Black British History, Paula has an interest in mapping out the lives and activism of Black lesbians and queer women in Britain between the 70s and 90s. Her debut, When We Ruled, published by Trapeze (2025), traces the lives and legacies of twelve African queens and warriors who contributed to the shaping of the continent.

Coral Wylie is a writer, performer and theatre maker from West London. Their work finds its voice in the natural world (most often bugs..), playing in the overlaps of science and art.  Coral is a founding member of the Bush Theatre’s Young Company, a graduate of the Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers’ Group and an alumnus of Soho Theatre Writers Lab.  Their first full length play ENTOMOLOGY was longlisted for the Tony Craze Award in 2022. Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2023, before premiering at the Bush in February 2025 as Wylie’s professional playwriting debut.

Jacob V Joyce’s work ranges from afro-futurist world-building workshops to mural painting, comic books and performance art. They are currently a doctoral candidate researching the history of Black British arts education at Westminster University. Joyce has self-published several zines and illustrated international human rights campaigns for Out Proud African LGBTI, Amnesty International, Global Justice Now and had their comics in national newspapers. TFL Arts Grant awardee and former artist in residence at Gasworks, Serpentine, The Museum of Homelessness, Nottingham Contemporary and Tate Galleries Education department, Joyce is a non-binary artist amplifying historical and nourishing new queer and decolonial narratives.

Chair Sue Lemos is a historian. Her intellectual work stems from exploring political uses of the past and questioning ‘what is history?’. Her community and public history work includes contributing to the Young Historians Project, Haringey Vanguard, speaking at the London Museum Docklands, a Brixton-based QTBPOC history walk and creating the QTBPOC Archives series held at the Bishopsgate Institute, Black Cultural Archives and Feminist Library. She is currently undertaking a PhD in History at the University of Warwick. Her project uses oral history and archival collections, including the rukus! archive and the Haringey Vanguard, to write a ‘usable past’ of what was termed the Black Lesbian and Gay Movement. The Institute of Historical Research awarded her essay on the London Black Lesbian and Gay Centre the inaugural Olivette Otele Prize. At the University of Oxford she was mentored by Matt Cook, the first Professor of LGBTQ+ History.