Munroe Bergdorf, Nicola Dinan and Lex Croucher are among the writers shortlisted for the 2024 Polari prizes for LGBTQ+ literature.
The chosen titles “remind us of the power of queer storytelling at a time when some would see our books and stories banned”, said prize founder Paul Burston.
Bergdorf, a model and activist, has been shortlisted for the Polari first book prize for her memoir Transitional, a “clever, moving book that packs a lot into its 194 pages,” wrote Simon Hattenstone in a Guardian interview with the author. “Yes, this is a story about Bergdorf’s transition from he to she, but more importantly it’s about any number of transitions that we all go through in life – culturally, politically, financially, intellectually, socially, you name it.”
Transition is also a central theme of Dinan’s debut Bellies. The novel is “aflutter with the complex layers beneath interpersonal relationships, while always attentive to the surfaces young people construct and navigate,” wrote Jeremy Atherton Lin in his review.
Also shortlisted for the debut award, worth £1,000, are Neon Roses by Rachel Dawson, Local Fires by Joshua Jones, Greekling by Kostya Tsolakis, and Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth, which was shortlisted for the Nero debut book award.
The “breadth of writing” among the shortlisted titles “makes me want to sing out loud,” said Karen McLeod, who judged the first book prize alongside fellow authors Rachel Holmes and Jon Ransom, and BBC producer Simon Richardson. “Intelligent, playful and emotionally rich, I am wowed by the confidence and boldness in the writing,” McLeod added.
Ransom, who won the debut prize in 2023 with The Whale Tattoo, has this year been shortlisted for the £2,000 Polari book prize, which celebrates the overall book of the year, excluding debuts. The Gallopers “is a lust-drenched, ache-filled gay love triangle of sorts that gnarls into a sly emotional thriller,” wrote Yagnishsing Dawoor in a Guardian review of the shortlisted novel.
Also shortlisted are The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants by Orlando Ortega-Medina; Blue Hunger by Viola Di Grado, translated by Jamie Richards; Forty Lies by David Shenton; Hard Drive by Paul Stephenson; and Killing Jericho by William Hussey, which was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier crime novel of the year.
The shortlist “typifies the wide variety of voices, perspectives and experiences people have come to expect from this singular prize,” said judge Julia Armfield, who won the overall award in 2023 for Our Wives Under the Sea. “I am thrilled with the final decisions and I hope readers will be moved and energised by the books they find here”. Joining Armfield on the judging panel are journalist Suzi Feay, CEO of Norwich’s The Forum Chris Gribble, and author VG Lee, as well as Burston, who is chairing the panels for the overall and debut awards.
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Croucher was shortlisted for the Polari children’s and YA prize for Gwen and Art Are Not in Love. “Smart dialogue drives this outrageously entertaining take on the fake dating trope,” wrote Fiona Noble in the Guardian. Also selected was Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn, Out of the Blue by Robert Tregoning, The Fights That Make Us by Sarah Hagger-Holt and Away With Words by Sophie Cameron.
Judging the children’s and YA category are teacher Rayyan Aboo, librarian Zoey Dixon, as well as writers Erica Gillingham, Sam Sedgeman and judging chair Jodie Lancet-Grant.
The Polari first book prize was founded in 2011, with the overall award launching in 2019 and the children’s and YA category in 2022. Previous winners of the prizes include Joelle Taylor, Andrew McMillan, Terry Eagleton and Mohsin Zaidi. This year’s winners will be announced at a ceremony at the British Library on 29 November.
In June, the Polari prizes announced a three-year partnership with easyJet holidays, which will facilitate a new podcast and series of live events, and include further funding for the annual prize ceremony, giveaways and audience outreach.