First off, if you’re on this page, let me start by thanking you for taking the time to find out a bit more about this little project we’ve got going here.
In simple terms, Gate37 is the first imprint of Keeward Publishing, and it is ostensibly a publishing house aimed at spreading creative projects, mainly writing, by those who have grown up in cross cultural backgrounds, those commonly known as Third Culture Kids.
This idea didn’t emerge in a vacuum. So here’s a bit of a back-story. I grew up in London, to Lebanese parents. Now, that in itself is deeply uninteresting. What is slightly more interesting is that my whole life I never quite figured out where the hell I was from. I mean, I spent hours obsessing over this notion of home, belonging and identity. I wrote academic theses on the subject. Granted the essays were rushed and poorly researched, much like most of my graduate education, but I was obsessed. Then one day someone told me about this concept of Third Culture Kids, TCKs. The idea that there was a sizable chunk of society that felt as rudderless as I did, and for the same reasons, gave me a peace of mind I’d never really experienced before. At the time I was working as an advertising copywriter, and fiddling about with a blog, so I didn’t know what to do with this newfound information, beyond talk about it around me.
A couple of years later I had published my first book, very much informed by the TCK experience, and started work at Keeward, a media company genuinely interested in changing the approach to a bunch of traditional media industries. I was also surrounded by people who understood what it meant to be disillusioned and deeply thankful at the same time. For the first time, I was surrounded by TCKs. So one day, during a chat with Cyril, my CEO, we were discussing ways to start an English-language publishing house.
I was blunt. I said I was obsessed with making it happen, but I didn’t want it to happen in Beirut, because the readership would be too small. I wanted New York. I said this half-jokingly, completely conscious that the mere suggestion of it was slightly ludicrous. But Cyril didn’t flinch. He’s one of those dreamer types, you see. He agreed. I told him we needed to stand for something though. Something big. I told him about my obsession with TCKs, with their inability to belong, and I wanted to start something where that was exactly what they could do: Belong.
Gate37 has been a labour of love. It’s been slightly delayed, but then again, any project worth doing suffers a set-back or two. So, here’s the plan for Gate37, and how I hope you’ll be involved. It’s starting as this rough draft of a website, and we’ll be producing e-books, videos and digital writing as we’re honing our voice. Does that make us a publishing company? Well, today, yes. Publishing has always been about the production and dissemination of information and culture, and there’s no reason why in 2014, our message can’t be relayed through a series of different mediums. The story is same, whether its coming through your eyes, or your ears, or your gut. The story is the same.
Thank you for being interested in us. If you feel you fit into this category of people who can’t answer a question as simple as “Where is Home?” Get in touch. If you’re a photographer, a filmmaker, a musician. Get in touch. If you’re none of those, get in touch. That’s what it’s all about.
Nasri
Gate37, Founder.
