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Tash Walker

@tashwalker85

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Writer + poet + audio producer
📚The Log Books @faberbooks
Director @auntnell_
Trustee @galopuk
DJ @sohoradio @getinherears
Agent @cwagencyuk

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Introducing The Log Books, an intimate history of LGBTQ+ life over four decades, discovered in a stash of forgotten, handwritten notes.

‘A fantastic journey through an overlooked archive bursting with humanity and real life on every page.’ Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy)

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. Swipe to see some excerpts over the past five decades and photos from the archive.

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. 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. Out 29 January 2026 and available to pre-order now.

@switchboardlgbt is still open today, operating as the national LGBTQIA+ listening service. You can contact Switchboard from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., 365 days a year:

Phone: 0800 0119 100
Email: hello@switchboard.lgbt
Instant Message: switchboard.lgbt

Cover design: @designbyfaber
Photo credits: Switchboard Archive, Bishopsgate Institute by @tashwalker85

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a year ago

Fort Road Hotel @14poems

I wrote this poem in February, mid-tour for The Log Books, in a hotel room in Margate. I was exhausted in a way I hadn’t expected. The particular exhaustion of putting your own story into a book that holds so many of our silenced histories, then standing up night after night and doing it again out loud.

But Margate gave something back. The sea, the @margatequeerlibrary, an evening at the wonderful @campmargate hosted by @themargatebookshop. And how it feels to let yourself be cared for by those close to you. That weekend made me feel held in exactly the way the work asks so much of you and rarely returns.

I’ve thought a lot since about tidal pools, thanks to the Walpole Bay Tidal Pool. How they only become themselves at low tide, sheltered just long enough before the sea takes them back. I think that’s what those moments of care did for me on the tour, when I allowed them in. They held me enough to carry me to the next city, to the next sea.

This poem is for that weekend. For salt water and free wine and a bath big enough to forget my edges at @fortroadhotel. For the reminder that even mid-exhaustion, mid-unravelling, there are still people and places that will hold you 💙

Thank you to the wonderful @14poems & editors @troycabida & @helen.bowell for publishing this poem, and in such excellent company.

Grab your copy now — link in bio 🌊

Special shout out to Margate queers:

@elouisefarley_
@sophie_stirling_
@kittenspit
@sea_mali
@shellygrotto
@rubyrare
@ellen__jones by @tashwalker85

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a month ago

by @tashwalker85

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12 hours ago

East-end Lou the lesbian - 026

We’re joined in this episode by Lou, a potty-mouthed truth teller, compassionate friend, loving mother, proud feminist and iconic lesbian. Lou told us about her life in east London and what it meant to take a community approach to processing grief when it struck her friendship circle.

Also mentioned in this episode:
Metric anxiety is fueling a dangerous decline in quality queer journalism, by Amelia Hansford on QueerAF

——

The Log Books is hosted and produced by @tashwalker85 and @Adam.Zmith

The assistant producer is @mmiiaax
Music from Soundstripe
Original artwork by Natalie Doto
Thanks to the dreamboats at @acast

#TheLogBooks #QueerHistory #lgbtq #eastender by @tashwalker85

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2 days ago

Do you know about daylighting??? ✨

Ghost rivers - 025

Tash entertains Adam with ghost rivers - natural waterways that get diverted or covered by cities. It’s a subject that has fed into Tash’s recent poetry and other writing, linking the natural world with queer experience and city life

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The Log Books is hosted and produced by @tashwalker85 and @Adam.Zmith

The assistant producer is @mmiiaax
Music from Soundstripe
Original artwork by Natalie Doto
Thanks to the dreamboats at @acast

#TheLogBooks #QueerHistory #lgbtq #daylighting #ghostrivers by @tashwalker85

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4 days ago

Tales of the overground 🤮

——

The Log Books is hosted and produced by @tashwalker85 and @Adam.Zmith

The assistant producer is @mmiiaax
Music from Soundstripe
Original artwork by Natalie Doto
Thanks to the dreamboats at @acast

#TheLogBooks #QueerHistory #lgbtq #ghostrivers #daylighting by @tashwalker85

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5 days ago

The Portsmouth Pride Community Festival is fast approaching and we're so excited to share some of the amazing programme that we've organised with our wonderful partners alongside the 80+ traders, makers, and creators who will be there on the day.

We're extremely excited to be welcoming the first 'In Conversation With' series from our partners at @portsmouthuni, a series of free talks as well as a book signing with @pigeon_books and relaxed crafting, all taking place in The Council Chamber on Saturday 10th October. This is very special as the Council Chamber is usually off-limits for events, so it will give attendees a great chance to hear from amazing speakers in a beautiful part of @portsmouthguildhall.

Remember, you need a FREE ticket to get into the Portsmouth Pride Community Festival. Head to our LinkTree to get yours now! by @tashwalker85

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12 days ago

What is F*Choir to you, today?

The power of singing together, with F*Choir - 023

Tash interviews Jenny Moore and Bianca Stephens from F*Choir, one of London’s longest running queer choirs, as the project prepares to wind down after a decade. It’s a bittersweet conversation about singing, memory and queer bodies.

Mentioned in this episode:
Sing it Pink podcast series about the Pink Singers
While I’m Here, Doc - podcast on trans healthcare with Dr Max Kelen (hosted by Dr Tom McWaters)
CONGREGATIONAL by Fatt Butcher: on tour this autumn/winter

LISTEN: link in bio
——

The Log Books is hosted and produced by @tashwalker85 and @Adam.Zmith

The assistant producer is @mmiiaax
Music from Soundstripe
Original artwork by Natalie Doto
Thanks to the dreamboats at @acast

#TheLogBooks #QueerHistory #lgbtq FCHOIR by @tashwalker85

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18 days ago

some summer landscapes 🌱 by @tashwalker85

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a month ago

Ionian Sea, Lefkada, Greece on 5th September 2026 – by @tashwalker85 #fieldrecording by @tashwalker85

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a month ago

Do you know about the tapes under the floor?

Tash interviews Lynne Gerber who is the host and producer of the podcast series When We All Get to Heaven. We hear how Lynne found boxes of old cassettes from decades ago that reveal a forgotten queer history of the Metropolitan Community Church in San Francisco.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Animal Joy by Nuar Alsadir

Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation by Jim Downs
——
The Log Books is hosted and produced by @tashwalker85 and @Adam.Zmith

The assistant producer is @mmiiaax
Music from Soundstripe
Original artwork by Natalie Doto
Thanks to the dreamboats at @acast

#TheLogBooks #QueerHistory #sanfran #lgbtq by @tashwalker85

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a month ago

Some summer portraits 💙 by @tashwalker85

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a month ago