Celebrate Pride through literature that crosses borders, languages, and lives.

The French Institute presents a hand-picked selection of queer narratives from across the Francophone world — all available in English. These books span memoir, fiction, and graphic novel, revealing the personal and political threads that bind identity, desire, and belonging.

How to Leave the World, by Marouane Bakhti (Divided Publishing)

Translated by Lara Vergnaud

An experimental narrative blending autofiction, critique, and poetic fragments, exploring the lives of marginalised individuals trying to escape systemic oppression and surveillance.

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Satisfaction, by Nina Bouraoui (Héloïse Press)

Translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins

Set in 1970s Algeria, this sensual, internal novel follows a French woman struggling with desire, identity, and dislocation — all unfolding through her complex relationship with motherhood.

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What I Know About You, by Eric Chacour (Pushkin Press)

Translated by Pablo Strauss 

A moving story of forbidden love in Cairo’s conservative society, where one unexpected connection throws a man’s seemingly perfect life into quiet, irreversible crisis. 

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To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life, by Hervé Guibert (Serpent's Tail)

Translated by Linda Coverdale

This cult classic captures the intimate, darkly humorous experience of living with AIDS, blending candid reflection, social critique, and literary daring.

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Playboy, by Constance Debré (Serpent's Tail)

Translated by Holly James

In sharp, fragmented prose, Debré recounts her radical break from a conventional life to embrace queerness, freedom, and solitude on her own terms.

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George Sand: True Genius, True Woman, by Séverine Vidal & Kim Consigny (SelfMadehero)

Translated by Edward Gauvin 

A vibrant graphic biography of George Sand, celebrating her defiance of 19th-century norms and her enduring literary legacy. 

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Living in Your Light, by Abdellah Taïa (Seven Stories Press UK)

Translated by Emma Ramadan

In this introspective work, Taïa continues his poignant exploration of queer identity, memory, and love, set against the backdrop of Moroccan family life and exile.

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The Inseparables, by Simone de Beauvoir, (Penguin Books)

Translated by Lauren Elkin 

A poignant portrait of girlhood friendship, shaped by love and intellect but strained by social expectations. A lost novel from one of feminism’s most vital voices. 

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