Join journalist Afeef Nessouli, who will be in conversation with Marwan Kaabour, the editor of The Queer Arab Glossary, the first published collection of queer Arabic slang. Featuring fascinating facts and anecdotes, The Queer Arab Glossary 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. The book also includes insightful essays from leading queer Arab artists, academics, activists and writers which situate this groundbreaking glossary in a modern social and political context.

‘This gloriously confident book will be an eye-opening, often unashamedly sexual, revelation and education.’ –The Bookseller

‘The spicy guide to queer Arab slang.’ – The Guardian

‘A little masterpiece’ – Owen Jones

‘Language reflects and creates reality and Marwan Kaabour’s revolutionary volume insists on and makes possible a future rooted in the recognition of continuous histories.’ – Sarah Schulman

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:

youtube.com/@bgsqd

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Suggested donation to benefit the Bureau: $10.

All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD

Marwan Kaabour is a graphic designer, artist and writer. His interdisciplinary practice builds pathways between communication and publication design, curation, pedagogy and political activism. Alongside his independent projects, he works with non-profit institutions, companies and individuals in arts and culture sectors. In 2019, Marwan founded Takweer, an online platform and expanding archive of queer narratives in Arab history and popular culture. His debut book, The Queer Arab Glossary, was published in June 2024.

Marwan moved from his hometown Beirut to London in 2011 to pursue a master’s degree in Graphic Design from the London College of Communication, before joining renowned design agency Barnbrook. After more than six years of diverse experience with Barnbrook, first as Designer and later as Senior Designer, he founded his own studio in 2020.

His commissioned design work spans visual identities, publication and exhibition design, marketing campaigns, wayfinding systems and art direction, among others. He has worked with leading cultural institutions, including the V&A Museum, Phaidon, Art Basel, The National Gallery, Thames & Hudson, Serpentine Galleries, Hayward Gallery, Zaha Hadid Foundation and The Mosaic Rooms. He designed the Rihanna book, which was named as one of Time magazine’s best photo books of 2019.

Afeef Nessouli is a journalist who’s currently a producer for The Slow Factory and Everything is Political. He is also an adjunct professor for Parsons School of Design. He has previously worked for Spotify, The Daily Show and The Wall Street Journal. He focuses on queer and Arab stories. Afeef lived through the 2006 Lebanon war and went to jail in Beirut for covering Palestine. You can find his work on social media at @afeefness