In Our Own Words: A Queer Arab Glossary

Check ticket info for this event below, incl. information about access - and please note this event no longer includes a cabaret component, more on that to follow!

Marwan Kaabour joins us for a celebration of The Queer Arab Glossary, bringing from the page to the stage this gorgeous collection of queer Arabic slang!

Within the pages of this publishing first, Kaabour has captured the lexicon of the queer Arab community in all its differences, quirks and felicities. Featuring fascinating facts and anecdotes, it contains more than 300 terms in both English and Arabic, ranging from the humorous to the harrowing, serious to tongue-in-cheek, pejorative to endearing.

Here, leading queer Arab artists, academics, activists and writers offer insightful essays situating this groundbreaking glossary in a modern social and political context - and we have its editor with us to unpack its magic with Mohamed Tonsy!

Our speaker:

Marwan Kaabour is a graphic designer, artist and writer, and the founder of Takweer – an online archive of queer narratives in Arab history and popular culture. His interdisciplinary practice builds pathways between communication and publication design, curation, pedagogy and political activism. Alongside his independent projects, Kaabour works with non-profit institutions, companies and individuals in the art and culture sector, such as the V&A, Art Basel, National Gallery, Serpentine Galleries, Hayward Gallery and Banksy. He designed the much-celebrated Rihanna book, a Time magazine Best Photo Book of 2019. Kaabour was born in Beirut and currently lives and works in London.

*Please note that masks will be required at this event (as with all Lighthouse events).

*Accessibility: All events will be professionally filmed & livestreamed. The Roxy is wheelchair accessible (including toilets) and we'll have provisions for neurodivergent guests including stims, quiet space and colour-coded lanyards.

*Events are £6 or free -we completely understand paying for one or two events and then getting free spots for others. The Radical Book Fair is entirely bookshop run and ticket sales are vital to keeping the fair sustainable and paying all our speakers so all support is heartily welcome!

*Featured books: The book & ticket option will select the most recently published book at any given event, if you’re not sure which book you want or don’t want that featured book, then buy a £6 voucher ticket that can be used for any of the books below.

*If you'd like to help make the book fair accessible to more folks, please consider adding to our pay-it-forward fund HERE.