Miriam Margolyes and Joelle Taylor are named in this year’s Polari Prize Shortlists celebrating small presses and diverse forms.
Memoir, fiction, and vibrant poetry collections from a mixture of small presses and larger publishers are all recognised in the shortlists for this year’s Polari Prize and Polari First Book Prize, the UK’s only dedicated awards for LGBTQ+ literature. 2022 saw a record number of submissions of an incredible breadth and quality, showcasing a wide constituency of talent in LGBTQ+ writers.
THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE SHORTLIST 2022:
These Great Athenians
Valentine Carter (Twenty Seven)
Lessons in Love and other Crimes
Elizabeth Chakrabarty (The Indigo Press)
All The Things She Said
Daisy Jones (Coronet)
This Much is True
Miriam Margolyes (John Murray)
Deep Sniff
Adam Zmith (Repeater Books)
THE POLARI PRIZE SHORTLIST 2022:
Address Book
Neil Bartlett (Inkandescent)
Valentine Ackland
Frances Bingham (Handheld Press)
The Origins of Iris
Beth Lewis (Hodder)
Rocksong
Golnoosh Nour (Verve Poetry Press)
C*nto and Othered Poems
Joelle Taylor (Saqi Books / The Westbourne Press)
Paul Burston, Polari Salon founder and Chair of Judges said: “This year’s shortlists are our strongest yet – a reflection on the enormous rise in submissions and the quality and diversity of books entered this year. There are many genres represented – poetry and prose, fiction and nonfiction. Each book speaks to the ethos of the prize, exploring aspects of the LGBTQ+ experience past or present. Each book is of the highest quality. Deciding on the winners is going to be a tough call.”
To mark both the salon’s 15th birthday and the 11th anniversary of the Polari Prize, it will move to its new home at the British Library in 2022, beginning with a shortlist showcase event on 15th September at the British Library.
Tickets and further information are available here: https://www.bl.uk/events/polari-prize-shortlist-showcase
