Polari Prize

The Polari Prize is an annual UK literary prize for LGBTQ+ literature. Established by Paul Burston and the Polari salon, the prize has been awarded annually since its launch in 2011.[1]

  • The Polari First Book Prize is restricted to first books by writers who were born or work in the UK and Ireland.[2]
  • In 2019 a further award was introduced, the Polari Prize for Book of the Year.[3]
  • In 2024 a Polari Children’s & YA Prize was awarded to The Fights That Make Us by Sarah Hagger-Holt, published by Usborne Books.

Polari First Book Prize

Year Author TItle Publisher Notes
2011 James Maker AutoFellatio Inkandescent
2012 John McCullough The Frost Fairs Salt Publishing
2013 Mari Hannah The Murder Wall Pan Macmillan
2014 Diriye Osman Fairytales for Lost Children Angelica Entertainment
2015 Kirsty Logan The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales Salt Publishing
2016 Paul McVeigh The Good Son Salt Publishing
2017 Saleem Haddad Guapa Europa Editions
2018 Fiona Mozley Elmet John Murray [4]
2019 Angela Chadwick XX Dialogue Books [3]
2020 Amrou Al-Kadhi Life as a Unicorn Fourth Estate [5]
2021 Mohsin Zaidi A Dutiful Boy Square Peg [6]
2022 Adam Zmith Deep Sniff Watkins [7]
2023 Jon Ransom The Whale Tattoo Muswell Press [8]
2024 Nicola Dinan Bellies Penguin [9]

Polari Prize for Book of the Year

Year Author Title Publisher Notes
2019 Andrew McMillan playtime Jonathan Cape [3]
2020 Kate Davies In the Deep End HarperCollins [5]
2021 Diana Souhami No Modernism Without Lesbians Head of Zeus [6]
2022 Joelle Taylor C+nto & Othered Poems The Westbourne Press [7]
2023 Julia Armfield Our Wives Under the Sea Pan Macmillan [8]
2024 Jon Ransom The Gallopers Muswell Press [10]

References

  1. ^ "Polari Prize". polarisalon. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  2. ^ "Polaris Salon". Polarisalon. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  3. ^ a b c "Chadwick, McMillan win 2019 Polari Prizes". Books+Publishing. 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  4. ^ "'Elmet' wins 2018 Polari First Book Prize". Books+Publishing. 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  5. ^ a b "Davies, Al-Kadhi win 2020 Polari Prizes". Books+Publishing. 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  6. ^ a b "Souhami, Zaidi win 2021 Polari Prizes". Books+Publishing. 2021-11-01. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  7. ^ a b "Taylor, Zmith win 2022 Polari Prizes". Books+Publishing. 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  8. ^ a b Creamer, Ella (2023-11-24). "Julia Armfield and Jon Ransom win the Polari prizes for LGBTQ+ books". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  9. ^ Knight, Lucy (2024-11-29). "Jon Ransom wins second Polari prize in two years with The Gallopers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  10. ^ Knight, Lucy (2024-11-29). "Jon Ransom wins second Polari prize in two years with The Gallopers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-02.