Event | Salon

March 26, 2026, 6:00 pm - March 26, 2026, 7:30 pm

Salon – A Queer Scrapbook

Join us for the second Manchester Histories Salon, and find out more from two of the authors who created this beautifully illustrated compendium of LGBTIQ+ life.

Manchester Histories Hub, lower ground floor Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square, M5 2PD

A beautifully illustrated compendium of LGBTIQ+ life.

A queer scrapbook offers a treasure trove of LGBTIQ+ histories from across Britain and Ireland. Packed with materials, from interviews and newspaper articles to photographs and flyers, the book explores urban, rural and regional queer life since 1945.

Commentaries and short essays introduce a changing queer landscape, spotlighting four broad themes: home and family, socialising and sex, arts and culture, and activism and community. The book delves into the meaning and experiences of domesticity and parenting and explores the sometimes unexpected places LGBTIQ+ people met to have fun. It examines the importance of creative work and shows how people fought injustice and advocated for equal rights.

Collecting has been a way for the marginalised to explore and assert identity and community. A queer scrapbook vividly illustrates the diversity of queer and trans lives across the British and Irish isles since the Second World War.

Matt Cook is the Jonathan Cooper Professor of the History of Sexuality at Mansfield College, University of Oxford.
Rebecca Jennings is a Professor of Modern Gender History at University College London.

Square promotional graphic on a pink background featuring the book cover A Queer Scrapbook: Britain and Ireland since 1945 with author names along the top, plus two circular headshots to the right.

A salon is an informal, hosted gathering where people come together to share ideas and conversation. Traditionally, salons mix short talks with open discussion, bringing different voices and topics together.

For our programme, a salon is an early-evening hybrid event: a relaxed talk and conversation with guest speakers on a range of themes, with time for audience questions and discussion both in-person and online.

Reserve your ticket on Eventbrite to join us online or in person.

This event was organised in collaboration between Manchester University Press and Manchester Histories.

Front cover of the book A Queer Scrapbook: Britain and Ireland since 1945 photographed on a grey background.