This Arab Is Queer

An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers

By Madian Al Jazerah, Tania Safi, Amrou Al-Kadhi, and more

2022

First Published

4.43

Average Rating

216

Number of Pages

6H33M

Audio Length

This ground-breaking anthology features the compelling and courageous 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 the Gulf to loving whispers caught between the bedsheets; and from touring overseas as a drag queen to a concert in Cairo where the rainbow flag was raised to a crowd of thousands, this collection celebrates the true colours of a vibrant Arab queer experience.

Avg Rating

4.43

Number of Ratings

865

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Authors

Amrou Al-Kadhi is the founder of drag troupe Denim and has several TV shows currently in development. Amrou has written an episode for Kumail Nanjiani & Emily V. Gordon’s upcoming series for Apple (US), Little America, as well as for BBC America’s hotly anticipated series, The Watch. Amrou has written and directed four short films and has features in development with Film4, the BFI and BBC films. Their journalism has appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, Gay Times, Attitude, CNN and Little White Lies, among other publications. Unicorn is Amrou’s first book.

Omar Sakr is an Arab Australian Muslim poet born and raised in Western Sydney. His debut collection of poetry, THESE WILD HOUSES (Cordite Books, 2017), was shortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe award and the Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize. His new book, THE LOST ARABS (UQP, 2019) was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, the John Bray Poetry Award, the Queensland Literary Awards, and the Colin Roderick Award. In 2020 he won the Woollahra Digital Literary Award for Poetry. He has been anthologised in Best Australian Poems 2016 (Black Inc), and in Contemporary Australian Poetry (Puncher & Wattmann). His short fiction includes, 'An Arab Werewolf in Liverpool' in 'KINDRED: 12 Queer YA Stories' (Walker Books, 2019), and 'White Flu' in AFTER AUSTRALIA (Affirm Press, 2020). His essays have appeared most recently in MEANJIN (Autumn, 2019), MEET ME AT THE INTERSECTION (Fremantle, 2018) and GOING POSTAL (Brow Books, 2018).

Saleem Haddad

Author · 2 books

Saleem Haddad is a writer and aid worker. He was born in Kuwait City to an Iraqi-German mother and a Palestinian-Lebanese father, and has lived in Jordan, Cyprus, Canada and the U.K. He has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and other international organisations in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, and Egypt. In addition to writing, he currently advises international organisations on humanitarian and development issues in the Middle East and North Africa. He divides his time between the Middle East and London, where he lives with his partner and their greyhound, Jack.

Mona Eltahawy

Author · 3 books

Mona Eltahawy is an Egyptian-American journalist based in New York. She is a feminist.

Anbara Salam

Author · 4 books

Anbara Salam is half-Palestinian and half-Scottish, and grew up in London. She has a PhD in Theology and now lives in Oxford.

Zeyn Joukhadar is the author of The Thirty Names of Night, which won the Lambda Literary Award and the Stonewall Book Award, and The Map of Salt and Stars, which won the Middle East Book Award and was a Goodreads Choice Awards and Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize finalist. His work has appeared in the Kink anthology, Salon, The Paris Review, [PANK], and elsewhere, and has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Joukhadar guest edited Mizna's 2020 Queer + Trans Voices issue, serves on the board of the Radius of Arab American Writers (RAWI), and mentors emerging writers of color with the Periplus Collective.

Danny Ramadan (He/Him) is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker and adovate for LGBTQ+ refugees. His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award, longlisted for Canada Reads, and named a Best Book of the Year by the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star. His children book, Salma the Syrian Chef, won the Nautilus Book Award, The Middle East Book Award, and named a Best Book by both Kirkus and School Library Journal. Ramadan’s forthcoming novel, The Foghorn Echoes (2022), and his memoir, Crooked Teeth (2024), to be released by Penguin Random House. Through his fundraising efforts, Ramadan raised over $250,000 for Syrian LGBTQ+ identifying refugees. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and currently lives in Vancouver with his husband.

Raja Farah

Author · 1 books