This Arab Is Queer is a ground-breaking anthology that features the searingly honest and moving memoirs of eighteen queer Arab writers – some internationally bestselling, others using pseudonyms. Here, we find heart-warming connections and moments of celebration, alongside essays exploring the challenges of being LGBTQ+ and Arab.
From a military base in Saudi Arabia to whispers between lovers caught between the bedsheets; and from a concert in Cairo where the rainbow flag was raised in front of a crowd of thousands, to making it happen as a drag queen in exile, this collection celebrates the true colours of a rich, vibrant queer Arab experience.
16 June 2022
£12.99
PBO Demy 288pp
ISBN 978-0-86356-478-9 eISBN 978-0-86356-975-3
About the editor: Elias Jahshan (he/him) is a Palestinian/ Lebanese-Australian journalist, writer and editor. He is a former editor of Star Observer, Australia’s longest-running LGBTQ+ media outlet. His short memoir ‘Coming Out Palestinian’ was anthologised in Arab Australian Other (Picador, 2019), and he has written freelance for outlets including The Guardian, SBS Voices and Jordan- based LGBTQ e-zine My.Kali. Born and raised in western Sydney, he now lives in London and is the social media editor at The New Arab.
About the contributors:
Khalid Abdel-Hadi is the editor-in-chef of My.Kali magazine and a visual artist from Jordan. His work as a global LGBT+ activist includes the Human Rights Watch campaign ‘No Longer Alone’. He was listed as one of the Guardian’s LGBT Ghange Heroes of theYear in 2017.
Amna Ali is the founder of the Black Arabs Collective, a platform that shares and amplifies the stories and voices of Black Arabs. Ali is of Somali and Yemeni descent and lives in the UAE.
Madian Aljazeera is a Palestinian Jordanian bookseller and founder of Amman’s Books at Café, a bookshopcome-internet café. His memoir Are You This? Or Are You This? was published by Hurst in 2021.
Mona Eltahawy is an Egyptian feminist, author and internationally award-winning columnist.
Raja Farah is a queer activist and writer from Lebanon. His first book, 291 Days: Chronicles from Thawra to the Beirut Blast was published in 2021.
Saleem Haddad is a screenwriter, essayist and author of best-selling and Polari-prize-winning novel Guapa.
Zeyn Joukhadar is a writer whose novels include The Map of Salt and Stars and The Thirty Names of Night. His work has appeared in outlets including The Paris Review, and he has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
Amrou Al-Kadhi is a British Iraqi screenwriter, drag queen, essayist and author.Their debut book Life as a Unicorn won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Polari First Book Prize.
Saeed Kayani is an Emirati writer and stand-up comedian who identifies as non-binary.They completed their compulsory military service in the UAE and are currently based in Dubai.
Dima Mikhayel Matta is a genderqueer writer, actor, spoken-word artist and playwright, and the founder of Cliffhangers Storytelling, a discussion series and workshop for emerging playwrights based in Beirut.
Hasan Namir is an Iraqi-Canadian poet and novelist. Namir’s debut novel God in Pink won the Award for Gay Fiction at the 2016 Lambda Literary Awards. His poetry collection War / Torn was shortlisted for a Stonewall Book Award.
Danny Ramadan is an award-winning novelist, public speaker, and LGBTQ-refugee activist. His novel, The Clothesline Swing won the LGBT category at the Independent Publisher Book Awards, the Canada Authors Association Award for Best Overall Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award.
Omar Sakr is a bisexual Australian writer, essayist and poet of Lebanese and Turkish heritage. He is the author of two acclaimed poetry collections and a novel, Son of Sin (Affirm Press, 2022).
Anbara Salam is a Palestinian-Lebanese-Scottish writer. She is the author of Things Bright and Beautiful (Fig Tree/Penguin, 2018) and Belladonna (Fig Tree/Penguin, 2020).
Hamed Sino is the lead singer of the famous Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila.The only out gay singer in the Arab world, Sino advocates for LGBT rights in the Middle East and worldwide.
Tania Safi is a Lebanese-Australian journalist and filmmaker. She is the founder of Shway Shway, an online web series showcasing changemakers in Lebanon.
Ahmed Umar is a Sudanese visual artist who came to Norway as a political refugee in 2008. He is the subject of the documentary feature film The Art of Sin, which won the Best Feature award at the LGBTQ+ Los Angeles Film festival 2021.
