Tareq Baconi: Fire in Every Direction

Telling the story of three generations of displacement, Fire in Every Direction recounts Baconi’s grandmother’s flight from Palestine as a child, his family’s escape from Lebanon in the midst of civil war, and his own awakening as a queer man within a culture of silence in Jordan.

Balancing humour and loss, nostalgia and hope, this extraordinary book explores how queerness, shame, dispossession and desire intersect in one life – and how we can reclaim ourselves when the world teaches us to hide. Hosted by Antoun Issa.  

In a world currently shaped by unease, fracture and division, PEN Melbourne looks to writers whose writing expands our horizons and speaks across borders.

In partnership with PEN Melbourne