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]
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Books | [9] |
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | [9] |
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Sarah Hagger-Holt | The Fights That Make Us | Usborne | [10] |
In August 2025, after the inclusion of John Boyne’s Earth on the Book of the Year longlist, Nicola Dinan resigned as a judge of the Prize and several authors requested they be withdrawn from the longlist. [11] [12] [13] As of 15 August 2025, [update] 10 of the 12 nominees for the First Book Prize, [12] [13] 6 of the 11 other Book of the Year nominees [13] and two of the judges [12] had requested their withdrawal, with two further Book of the Year nominees criticising Boyne's inclusion but stating that they will not be withdrawing. [13] Boyne had previously described himself in the Irish Independent , with reference to J. K. Rowling, as a "fellow TERF". [14] An open letter and petition by authors Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin and Emma van Straaten called on the prize to withdraw Boyne from the longlist was signed by over 800 writers and people in the publishing industry; [15] other authors speaking out against Boyne's longlisting included Patrick Ness. [16]
On 18 August 2025, the organisers announced they would "pause" the prize for 2025. In a statement, the organisers said they "condemn all forms of transphobia" and would now "increase representation of trans and gender non-conforming judges on panels and undertake a governance and management review". [17] [18] In an op-ed in The Daily Telegraph the following day, Boyne expressed disappointment that nobody from the Polari Prize had contacted him throughout what he described as a "literary scandal". [19]
Author Sacha Coward has asked for his book Queer as Folklore to be removed, as has Mae Diansangu who was included for her debut novel Bloodsongs. Jason Okundaye has withdrawn his work Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain, and Amy Twigg author of Spoilt Creatures pulled her book from contention too.