Polari Prizes 2024 winners announced
In the UK, the winners of the 2024 Polari Prizes have been announced.
The winners in each category are:
Polari Book Prize (£2000; A$3908)
- The Gallopers (Jon Ransom, Muswell Press), a story of a ‘tense and mesmerising love triangle’
Polari First Book Prize (£1000; A$1954)
- Bellies (Nicola Dinan, Penguin), a ‘tale of young love and transformation’
Polari Children’s and YA Prize (£1000; A$1954)
- The Fights That Make Us (Sarah Hagger-Holt, Usborne), a ‘heart-warming tale of acceptance which draws on LGBTQ+ history’.
Paul Burston, founder and chair of judges, said of the two adult prize winners: ‘At first glance, this year’s prize-winning novels couldn’t be more different—one contemporary, the other historical; one urban, the other rural; one exploring the trans experience from a modern British, cross-cultural perspective, the other looking at working class gay lives in 1950s Norfolk. But both push the boundaries of LGBTQ fiction; both feature the formal device of a play within the main narrative; and both explore the loves and lives of queer characters in surprising new ways. Beautifully written, deeply moving and dazzlingly original, these are novels destined to become modern classics.’
The Polari First Book Prize is awarded annually to a debut book that explores the LGBTQ+ experience and the Polari Book Prize recognises an overall book of the year, excluding debuts. The biennial Children’s & YA Polari Prize is awarded to a LGBTQ+ book that is aimed at children and young people of all ages, published in the last 24 months.
More information about the Polari Prizes is available from the Polari website.
Category: Awards International news
