Selamlik

By Khaled Alesmael, Leri Price (Translated by)

An unflinching story about Arab masculinity and homoeroticism 

Furat, a Syrian in his early 20s,visits Sibki Park in Damascus, one of the city’s most popular cruising areas. Therehe learns about the hammams, secret meeting places for gay men locatedthroughout the old city. Inside these public baths, the air is thick with thescent of bay laurel soap, and naked men hide in the steam. Furat faces sometimesviolent disapproval from all levels of society—regime, religion, the man in thestreet—and yet he manages to find the love he’s been seeking just before hisworld collapses and he’s forced to flee. Selamlik is the story of Furat’sjourney, along with that of other refugees. It’s a journey in which they facephysical and economic hardship, draconian migration laws, and the unwelcomegrief, shame, and hatred they’ve carried with them from their ever more distantpasts. Despite everything, Furat remains steadfast in his pursuit of passion, pleasure,and love.