Memoir, non-fiction, and critically acclaimed literary fiction from a mixture of independent presses and larger publishers dominate the dynamic shortlists for this year’s Polari Prize and Polari First Book Prize, the UK’s only dedicated awards for LGBTQ+ literature.

“The quality of long-listed titles this year was so exceptionally high, a number of much-loved titles didn’t make the shortlists. Taken together, this year’s shortlists are a powerful testament to the quality and diversity of LGBTQ+ writing in the UK and Ireland today. From dazzling debuts to writers delivering on their earlier promise and really upping their game, these are books to entertain, enrich and inspire” commented Paul Burston the Founder of the Prize.

2023 SHORTLISTS

2023 Polari Book Prize (non-debut)

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield 

All Down Darkness Wide by Seán Hewitt 

Here Again Now by Okechukwu Nzelu

Fire Island by Jack Parlett 

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart 

The Schoolhouse by Sophie Ward 

2023 Polari First Book Prize

None of the Above by Travis Alabanza 

Rising of the Black Sheep by Livia Kojo Alour

The New Life by Tom Crewe

A Visible Man by Edward Enninful

Love from the Pink Palace by Jill Nalder 

The Whale Tattoo by Jon Ransom 

Adam Zmith, Polari First Book Prize judge, said: “The titles on the shortlist for this year’s Polari First Book Prize wrestle with history and the present moment in engaging and empathetic ways. I loved reading these books, and feeling the queer power in them and their authors’ visions.”

Chris Gribble, Polari Book Prize judge, said: “This year’s Polari Prize shortlist lays out the joys, challenges and complexities of contemporary and historical LGBTQ+ lives in a brilliant array of fiction and non-fiction that will leave no one in any doubt that our stories are worthy of their places on every book shelf and in every library. These writers are working at the peak of their powers and if you haven’t read their work yet, you have a real treat in store.”

The Polari First Book Prize is awarded annually to a debut book that explores the LGBTQ+ experience, and has previously been won by writers including John McCullough, Kirsty Logan, Diriye Osman, Amrou Al-Kadhi, Mohsin Zaidi and last year’s winner Adam Zmith, for his keenly-researched history of poppers, Deep Sniff.

The Polari Book Prize awards an overall book of the year, excluding debuts, and previous winners include Andrew McMillan (Playtime), Kate Davies (In At the Deep End), Diana Souhami (No Modernism Without Lesbians) and last year’s winner Joelle Taylor for her remarkable collection C+nto & Othered Poems which explores butch lesbian counterculture in London.

The Polari Prize will return to the British Library for a second year for the winner ceremony on Friday 24th November 2023. A showcase event for a selection of shortlisted authors will also take place at the British Library on Tuesday 24th October.

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