This is a conversation with writer Saleem Haddad, author of the novel Guapa and the director of the short film Marco, now available on YouTube.

We spoke about both Guapa and Marco as well as his contribution to the science fiction anthology Palestine+100. We also spoke about his connection to Fernando Pessoa’s the Book of Disquiet while living in Pessoa’s city, Lisbon. We spoke about identity and its relationship to languages, the circumstances around his move to Lisbon from London, his struggle with his own Queer Arab identity and our complicated relationship to what we call ‘home’. Saleem also asked me about my passion for James Baldwin which I was happy to answer.

Quick disclaimer: our conversation on Marco contains spoilers so I’d urge you all to first watch it on YouTube. It’s around 20 minutes long and I promise you that you’ll enjoy it. Another disclaimer is that the Pessoa essay that Saleem wrote contains mention of suicide so please take your mindset into consideration when reading it, which you definitely also should!

You can follow the podcast on Twitter @FireTheseTimes.

If you like what I do, please consider supporting this project with only 1$ a month on Patreon or on BuyMeACoffee.com. You can also do so directly on PayPal if you prefer.

Patreon is for monthly, PayPal is for one-offs and BuyMeACoffee has both options.

• Marco on Youtube (21:58)
• Saleem Haddad’s interview on BBC Arabic
• Saleem’s essay on Fernando Pessoa
• The 2020 ‘The Amazing James Baldwin‘ course
• James Baldwin’s interview in Amsterdam
• My review of Palestine+100 which includes Saleem’s short story