Lenny Henry

The son of Jamaican immigrants, Lenny Henry was born in Dudley in the West Midlands in 1958 and burst onto the scene in 1975, when his comic impersonations saw him win the television talent show New Faces.

As one of Britain's first major black TV stars, he was a regular on programmes like Tiswas and Three of a Kind.

In addition, his stand-up comedy performances, honed in working men's clubs, became a staple of the 1980s alternative comedy scene. Lenny Henry’s programme will focus on diversity in politics, culture and media.

As well as starring in a host of TV series, including The Lenny Henry Show, Chef! and Hope and Glory, Henry has been a major supporter of the Comic Relief charity.

After having already taken on a number of straight acting roles, Henry drew both popular and critical praise for his lead performance in the 2009 Northern Broadsides production of Othello.

Since then, he has examined Shakespeare's works in the BBC Radio 4 series Lenny and Will, as well as making his Royal National Theatre debut in 2011 as Antipholus of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors. In 2014 he was named best actor at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards for his role in a production of the August Wilson play, Fences.

As a guest editor he will also examine how comic book heroes are changing, what lies behind the enduring popularity of jazz and what constitutes the black literary canon.