HistFest 2026: The Log Books – Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline that Listened

This event, originally titled ‘The Log Books – Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline that Listened’, took place on 19 April 2026. The information below is correct as of the publication date.

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.

Join The Log Books authors Tash Walker and Adam Zmith as they explored this precious archive of queer life at HistFest 2026, in a session chaired by historian Dan Vo.

This event took place as part of HistFest 2026.

About HistFest:

HistFest is a dynamic history festival that celebrates the brightest and the best in the world of history over an exciting weekend of talks, discussions, performance and music.

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Speaker Bios:

Tash Walker is a writer, podcast producer and community organiser. A founding director of Aunt Nell production company and a queer historian, they have worked with the likes of the Barbican, BBC, The National Archives, Bishopsgate Institute and Queer Britain. Tash was co-host and co-producer on the award-winning podcast The Log Books (2018-21), as well as co-producing the critically acclaimed Black and Gay, Back in the Day (2022) and Queer Roots and Routes (2023). In 2021 they were named one of top 101 LGBTQ+ Trailblazers by Attitude Magazine, and in 2022 were included in Stonewall and DIVA’s Pride Power List featured in The Guardian.

Adam Zmith is a writer and multi-format producer whose work focuses on sex, queer identity, LGBTQ+ lives, history, art and desire. 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. Adam is co-director of the production company Aunt Nell, where he has worked on The Log Books (2018-21), Queer Roots and Routes (2023) and more. He is the editor of And The Sissy Lived, by George Hodson (Polari Press, 2024), and he co-edited the anthology Unreal Sex with So Mayer (Cipher Press, 2021).

Dan Vo is a historian, media producer and freelance museum consultant. He founded the award-winning volunteer-led V&A LGBTQ+ Tours and was Course Leader of ‘A Queer History of Objects’ at V&A Academy. He has also developed LGBTQ+ programmes for other UK museums, including the National Gallery, National Galleries of Scotland, National Museum Wales and the Fitzwilliam Museum. Dan was the inaugural winner of the Museums Association 'Radical Changemaker Award' in 2018 and shared the 'Best Small Museum Project' award with the Queer Britain team in 2022.

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