Polari Prize Longlist 2023
Selected by the Bookshop
Open to all genres and forms, the Polari Prize is the UK and Ireland’s only prize dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ literature. Browse the longlist below, and find out who’s made the Polari First Book Prize longlist here.
From the publisher:
'A gothic fairy tale, sublime in its creepiness' Florence WelchWhen Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended in catastrophe, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Whatever happened in that vessel stranded on the ocean…
From the publisher:
'Like a superheated kernel of corn, the world has gone Pop... Drag has become mainstream. Being gay became cool. From being the criminal outsider, being queer has even become representative of the way the outsider voice is common to us…
From the publisher:
Caroline Bird is one of Carcanet's most popular poets. Her startling instinct for metaphor, the courage of her choice of subjects and the integrity of her witness, set her apart: a poem is a risk, and it has to be a risk worth taking for…
From the publisher:
'Tender, evocative' TLS'Richly engaging' SpectatorA Radio 4 Serial Fiction Book of the Week'A characteristically tender novel about a young man growing up in the shadow of one war and the whispers of the next' Observer'A…
From the publisher:
‘A quietly devastating novel about our failings and how we cope’ Patrick GaleIt’s Minneapolis in the 1970s, and two women meet in the Women’s Coffeehouse. Marge is a bus driver, and Peg is training to be a…
From the publisher:
A luminous memoir from the prize-winning poet - a story of love, heartbreak and coming of age, and a tender exploration of queer identity.'Beautiful' Colm Toibin'Rapturous' New York…
From the publisher:
‘Flayingly authentic and sensationally compelling … one of the best books of the year.’ ANTHONY CUMMINS, THE OBSERVERFrom the author of Mrs Engels and The Sisters Mao, an intimate family memoir…
From the publisher:
‘A beautiful exploration of grief and family, written in exquisite prose and told with compassion and tenderness.’ Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half‘Tender and honest, pulsing with love. Nzelu is the future…
From the publisher:
Fire Island: a slim strip of land off the coast of New York, and a place of hedonism, reinvention, liberation.Arriving on the island after a break-up back home in England, scholar and poet Jack Parlett was beguiled by what he found. Here…
From the publisher:
'Delicate and devastating. Up there with the best of them.' HANNAH LOWE, WINNER OF THE COSTA PRIZE 'Roche is a charming, unflinchingly honest guide on a journey that's as funny as it is heart-breaking.' JUNO DAWSON How does an untrained eye…
From the publisher:
The Number One Sunday Times Bestseller'Prepare your hearts, for Douglas Stuart is back. After the extraordinary success of Shuggie Bain, his second novel, Young Mungo, is another beautiful and moving book, a…
From the publisher:
'A compelling, fast-moving narrative . . . delivers real emotional impact' Telegraph'A literary provocateur' GuardianIsobel lives an isolated life in North London, where she works at a nearby library. She feels safe, so long as…
Latest booklists
Latest booklists
