The Log Books: Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline that Listened

by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith (Faber, Jan 2026)

In a crawlspace at the offices of Switchboard, a queer helpline in operation since 1974, lies dozens of log books kept by volunteers describing the phone calls they had taken: a teenager whose parents had kicked them out of home for dressing as the wrong gender; a lesbian terrified of having her baby taken away from her; a man arrested for chatting up another man in a public toilet; a young person wanting to know how to come out.
These logs were traces of tens of thousands of queer lives, a bridge to a past hidden from people like Tash Walker and Adam Zmith in their youth, captured by people who lent an ear to those in need. Walker and Zmith came of age in the time of Section 28, a law which banned councils and schools ‘promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship’. In recovering these logs, they encountered people grappling with feelings, questions and problems both familiar and different, and set out to learn from – and sometimes speak to – those on both sides of the calls.
Charged with joy, gossip, sensuality, humour and sometimes fear, and with a potent relevancy to the world today, these stories are brought together in The Log Books. Walker and Zmith capture queer lives in stunning detail, embarking on a journey of both collective history and self-discovery and propelling it into the very foreground of our national history.

Copies of the book will be available to purchase from bookseller on the day. The event will be followed by a small drinks reception. All welcome but registration is required:

This event has been organised by , a university-wide initiative that brings together UCL staff and students with research and teaching interests in LGBTQ studies, gender and sexuality studies, queer theory and related fields. Join the qUCL mailing list.

Co-hosted by (LESG). A formalised steering committee, LESG is open to all lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer staff and those interested in promoting LGBTQ+ equality at UCL. LESG steers the Out@UCL network of around 600 LGBTQ+ staff and supporters, as well as championing LGBTQ+ equalities within the university more broadly.

Tash Walker is writer, podcast producer and community organiser who has worked with institutions such as the Barbican, BBC, and Queer Britain; they were a member of Switchboard's board for eight years.

Adam Zmith is a writer and multi-format producer; his book Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures won the Polari First Book Prize. He writes theatre shows, talks and podcasts, including Press Play Turn On which won Podcast of the Year at the British Podcast Awards 2024.

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Host or Publisher UCL Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS)