Stevyn Colgan

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 until 2018. He co-presents the ''We'd Like A Word'' books and authors podcast.

Career

Police

Colgan joined the Metropolitan Police Force in 1980. He was awarded the Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1993 and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal 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 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. 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, Frederick Forsyth, Roger Daltrey, Bernard Cribbins, George Melly and others. The book raised money for the NSPCC. 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 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 Secret Auction alongside such notables as Yoko Ono, Tracey Emin 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 Books.

In 2010 the Cornish Language Fellowship (Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek) and the Cornish Language Board (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

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