Stevyn Colgan (born 11 August 1961) is a British writer, artist and speaker.
Colgan was a police officer in London 1980-2010. He was then a researcher and scriptwriter for the BBC TV series QI and the regular QI Annuals, and for QI's BBC Radio 4 sister show
The Museum of Curiosity
''The Museum of Curiosity'' is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham, and later at Solent University). He acts as th ...
until 2018. He co-presents the ''We'd Like A Word'' books and authors
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
.
Career
Police
Colgan joined the
Metropolitan Police Force
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
in 1980. He was awarded the
Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
The Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is a decoration for police officers of the United Kingdom. First instituted in 1951, the medal is presented for twenty aggregate years of service in the police services of the United Kingdom.
Crite ...
in 1993 and the
Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...
in 2003. He retired from the police in February 2010 after completing 30 years' service.
In later service, Colgan was a member of the award-winning Met Police Problem Solving Unit that used
behavioural economics
Behavioral economics studies the effects of psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors on the decisions of individuals or institutions, such as how those decisions vary from those implied by classical economic theory.
...
and creative thinking to tackle issues that did not respond to traditional policing/enforcement methods. He sat on several Home Office working groups and is an expert on
problem-oriented policing
Problem-oriented policing (POP), coined by University of Wisconsin–Madison professor Herman Goldstein, is a policing strategy that involves the identification and analysis of specific crime and disorder problems, in order to develop effective res ...
. He worked closely with the UK Home Office and the UCL Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science. He has lectured and taught extensively throughout the UK and US and elsewhere and now lectures in a private capacity.
He was a judge for the 2013 Transmission Awards for Innovative Thinking.
Illustrator
Colgan's first published illustration work was for the book ''I Remember: Reflections on Fishing and Childhood'' (Summersdale 1995) by
Joe Cowley
Joe Cowley is a columnist writer for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. Cowley, a graduate of Kent State University, served the same role for the ''Sun-Times'' sister publication, the Tinley Park, Illinois, Tinley Park, Illinois ''Daily Southtown'', for ...
,
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick McCarthy Forsyth (born 25 August 1938) is an English novelist and journalist. He is best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', '' The Fourth Protocol'', '' The Dogs of War'', ''The Devil's Alter ...
,
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who.
Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include " My Generation", " Pinball Wizard", " Won't Get Fooled ...
,
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades.
During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...
,
George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...
and others. The book raised money for the
NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity.
History
Victorian era
On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...
. In 2006 he was the official artist for the Autumn National Children's Book Fair organised by Scholastic Books Ltd.
He illustrated several features for the various '' QI Annuals'' and the cover for the 'E, F, G' Compilation Annual in November 2010. His artwork regularly appears on the QI TV series. The ''QI 'H' Annual 2011'' features a two-page spread co-written by himself,
Justin Pollard
Justin David Pollard (born 30 January 1968) is a British historian, television producer, writer and entrepreneur. He is best known for his work on such films as '' Elizabeth'' and ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' and TV series including ''Vikings'' ...
and John Lloyd, called HENJ in which IKEA-style instructions for building Stonehenge are seen. These pages became so popular that they can be found on hundreds of websites and have spawned/inspired many other similar illustrations.
In 2011, Colgan was invited to participate in the annual
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...
Secret Auction alongside such notables as
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
,
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...
and Grayson Perry. He continues to do so every year.
Writer
In October 2008, his first book, '' Joined-Up Thinking'', was published by
Pan Macmillan
Pan Books is a publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany.
Pan Books began as an independent publisher, es ...
Cornish Language Board
Kesva an Taves Kernewek ( Cornish for ''Cornish Language Board'') is an organisation that promotes the Cornish language. It was founded in 1967 by Gorseth Kernow and the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. It is represented on the official lan ...
(Kesva an Taves Kernewek) published '' Henhwedhlow'', a book of Cornish Faerie Stories written and illustrated by Colgan. The book was published in both English and Cornish language on facing pages to aid translation. The stories are modern interpretations of traditional tales plus several brand new stories by the author. The book contains the largest existing body of modern Cornish prose.
In 2013 he launched a new book called '' Constable Colgan's Connectoscope'' with the crowd-funding publisher Unbound.
In 2014 and 2015 respectively, he self-published a novel - ''The Third Condiment'' - and an adult colouring book called ''Colgeroons'' on the Lulu platform.
In 2016 his semi-autobiographical book about Problem Oriented Policing ''Why Did The Policeman Cross The Road?'' was published by Unbound. It tells the story of his tenure with the Problem Solving Unit and carries cover quotes from Stephen J Dubner and Rory Sutherland. Later retitled as ''One Step Ahead: Notes From The Problem Solving Unit'' for paperback release in 2018.
He co-wrote ''Saving Bletchley Park'' with Dr Sue Black OBE, published in 2015.
His first novel, a comedy murder mystery novel called ''A Murder To Die For'' was published in January 2018. It was shortlisted for ''
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.''The Guardian'' ''Not The Booker Prize.'' His second novel ''The Diabolical Club'' was published in 2019 and his third, ''Cockerings'', in 2021.
Media
In 2012 he co-wrote the pilot for a radio series called '' 101 People to Meet Before You (Or They) Die'' with Dan Schreiber. After broadcast, a live show followed featuring on-stage interviews with Marc Abrahams and Dr Jan Bondeson.
Also in 2012, he became one of the researcher/writers for BBC Radio 4's
The Museum of Curiosity
''The Museum of Curiosity'' is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham, and later at Solent University). He acts as th ...
. He was part of the writing team that won the
Rose D'or
The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakes ...
in 2016.
In May 2012 he appeared on an episode of the ''Do the Right Thing'' podcast in the 'Ask the Expert' round and on an episode of Dave Gorman's BBC2 series ''
Genius
Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...
''.
He has appeared on many podcasts including
Freakonomics
''Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything'' is the debut non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and ''New York Times'' journalist Stephen J. Dubner. Published on April 12, 2005, by Will ...
Little Atoms
''Little Atoms'' is a website, podcast and magazine dedicated to ideas and culture. The radio show broadcast weekly from London on Resonance FM 104.4. It is hosted by Neil Denny. The website is edited by Padraig Reidy. The first edition of '' ...
and the online live panel show
Ex Libris
Ex Libris may refer to:
*An Ex Libris (bookplate), a label affixed to a book to indicate ownership
*Ex Libris (band), a Dutch metal band
*Ex Libris (bookshop), a Swiss retail company
* "Ex Libris" (''Charmed''), a 2000 episode of the television ser ...
.
His artwork has been seen on episodes of the BBC TV series QI, and he was name-checked by Stephen Fry in the QIXL episode "Humans" in 2010. He made cameo appearances in the 2014 episode "Location, Location, Location" and the 2018 episode ''Occult''.
In 2016 he made a guest appearance on the QI podcast
No Such Thing as a Fish
''No Such Thing as a Fish'' is a weekly British podcast series produced and presented by the researchers behind the BBC Two panel game '' QI''. In the podcast each of the researchers, collectively known as "The ''QI'' Elves", present their favo ...
.
Since March 2019 he has co-presented with Paul Waters the ''We'd Like A Word'' books and authors
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
Central St Martin's
Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of sho ...
College of Art,
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
,
Brasenose College
Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...
, Oxford,
University of Exeter
, mottoeng = "We Follow the Light"
, established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter)
, type = Public
, ...
, the
Institution of Engineering and Technology
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871, and ...
(IET) and many other academic institutions.
He is currently an Associate Lecturer in Criminal and Forensic Psychology at
Buckinghamshire New University
, mottoeng = By Art and Industry
, established = 2007 – gained university status 1891 – Science and Art School
, type = Public
, staff =
, chancellor = Jay Blades
, vice_chancellor = Nick Braisby
, st ...
.
He has also taught art and lectured on creative thinking and problem solving.
His talks are a mix of science, art, autobiography and comedy. He has performed at venues and events such as
TEDx
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
Ig Nobel
The Ig Nobel Prize ( ) is a satiric prize awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name o ...
Prizes, QEDCon, Aegis Kuala Lumpur and has performed many
Skeptics in the Pub
Skeptics in the Pub (abbreviated SITP) is an informal social event designed to promote fellowship and social networking among skeptics, critical thinkers, freethinkers, rationalists and other like-minded individuals. It provides an opportunity ...
and Science Showoff shows. He has also appeared at the Hay Festival, Latitude, Harrogate International Festival, Salon London and many more.
He also appeared alongside
Hannah Gadsby
Hannah Gadsby (born 1978) is an Australian comedian, writer, and actress. She began her career in Australia after winning the national final of the Raw Comedy competition for new comedians in 2006. In 2018, her show '' Nanette'' on Netflix wo ...
, Eric Lampaert and Alex Edelman performing stand up at the Edinburgh Festival for a show called '' John Lloyd's Curious Edinburgh'', hosted by Lloyd and Dan Schreiber.