A Dutiful Boy: In conversation with Mohsin Zaidi
Notes & Changes
Please note that registration is now close. If you would like to contact the organisers, please email equalityanddiversity@law.ox.ac.uk.
In celebration of LGBT+ History Month, the Faculty of Law is excited to welcome alumnus Mohsin Zaidi to talk about his recently published memoir, A Dutiful Boy: A Memoir of a Gay Muslim’s Journey to Acceptance.
The evening will host a conversation between Mohsin and Nicholas Bamforth, Associate Dean for Equality and Diversity. Together, they will explore Mohsin's journey and the many themes that spring out of it.
About the book
A Dutiful Boy is a coming of age memoir (published by Penguin) about Mohsin, a Muslim boy growing up in a poor part of London in a strict religious household who has to come to terms with the fact that he is gay. He becomes the first person from his school to go to Oxford University and then goes on to become a criminal barrister. In young adulthood, Mohsin fights for a place in his family and ultimately finds it. At its heart, the story is one of family love, with parents overcoming the religious and cultural barriers that stand between them and their son. As well as faith and sexuality, the book addresses issues of race and class in a subtle but sophisticated manner.
A Dutiful Boy has been named one of the best books of the year by The Guardian, GQ, The New Statesman and Mr Porter. It has been described by The Guardian as 'a profound meditation on the power of the human heart to transcend the contradictions of diverse cultures and create something new...utterly compelling...providing a lesson of acceptance for us all, and for the future of our multicultural society'. The Times says it is a book that will save lives. Mohsin was recently on Elizabeth Day's 'How to Fail' podcast and she has said the book is 'deeply moving and profoundly important'.
About the author
Mohsin Zaidi was the first person from his school to go to Oxford University where he read law. Having grown up in social housing within a devout Muslim community in East London, at university he struggled with his mental health before coming to terms with his sexuality. Mohsin has worked at a UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague and the UK's Supreme Court. Today he is a criminal barrister at 6 King's Bench Walk - College Hill, one of the top chambers in the country, and works and has worked on several high profile cases such as the public inquiry into undercover policing. He is an advocate for LGBT rights, BAME representation and social mobility. He is on the board of Stonewall, the UK's biggest LGBT rights charity and is also a governor of his former secondary school.