The Polari Prize awards were founded in 2011 with The Polari First Book Prize.
The Polari Prize for non-debut books was launched in 2019 and the bi-annual prize for Children's and YA books in 2022.
Past prize judges include Amrou Al-Kadhi, Sophia Blackwell, Bidisha, Bernardine Evaristo, Keith Jarrett, John McCullough, Joe Storey Scott and Mohsin Zaidi.
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2023
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POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2023 - SHORTLIST
WINNER - The Whale Tattoo - Jon Ransom (Muswell Press)
None of the Above - Travis Alabanza (Canongate)
Rising of the Black Sheep - Livia Kojo Alour (Polari Press)
The New Life - Tom Crewe (Chatto and Windus)
A Visible Man - Edward Enninful (Bloomsbury)
Love from the Pink Palace - Jill Nalder (Wildfire)
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POLARI PRIZE 2023 - SHORTLIST
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WINNER - Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield (Picador)
All Down Darkness Wide - Seán Hewitt (Jonathan Cape)
Here Again Now - Okechukwu Nzelu (Dialogue Books)
Fire Island - Jack Parlett (Granta Books)
Young Mungo - Douglas Stuart (Picador)
The Schoolhouse - Sophie Ward (Corsair)
2022
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POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2022 - SHORTLIST
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WINNER - Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures - Adam Zmith (Repeater Books)​
These Great Athenians - Valentine Carter (Penguin Random House/Imprint 27)
Lessons in Love and Other Crimes - Elizabeth Chakrabarty (Indigo Press)
All the Things She Said - Daisy Jones (Hachette/Coronet Books)
This Much Is True - Miriam Margolyes, (Hachette/John Murray Press)
POLARI PRIZE 2022 - SHORTLIST
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WINNER - C+nto and Othered Poems - Joelle Taylor (Saqi Books/Westbourne Press)
Address Book - Neil Bartlett (Inkandescent)
Valentine Ackland - Frances Bingham (Handheld Press)
The Origins of Iris - Beth Lewis (Hodder & Stoughton)
Rocksong - Golnoosh Nour (Verve Poetry Press)
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POLARI CHILDREN'S / YA PRIZE 2022 - SHORTLIST
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WINNER - Nen and the Lonely Fisherman - Ian Eagleton & James Mathew
The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. - Jen Carney
Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating - Adiba Jaigirdar
Not My Problem - Ciara Smyth
Grandad's Camper - Harry Woodgate
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2021
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POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2021 - SHORTLIST
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WINNER - A Dutiful Boy - Mohsin Zaidi
Swimming In The Dark - Tomasz Jędrowski (Bloomsbury)
Charred - Andreena Leeanne (Team Angelica)
Forced Out - Kevin Maxwell (Granta)
Rainbow Milk - Paul Mendez (Dialogue Books)
Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart (Picador)
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POLARI PRIZE 2021 - SHORTLIST
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WINNER - No Modernism Without Lesbians - Diana Souhami (Head of Zeus)
Dragman - Steven Appleby (Vintage)
The Air Year - Caroline Bird (Carcanet)
The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle - Neil Blackmore (Windmill)
What Girls Do in the Dark - Rosie Garland (Nine Arches Press)
The Ministry of Guidance - Golnoosh Nour (Muswell Press)
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2020
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POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2020 - SHORTLIST
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WINNER - Life As A Unicorn - Amrou Al Kadhi
Queer Intentions : A Personal Journey through LGBTQ+ Culture - Amelia Abraham

Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide - a graphic guide to lesbian and queer history 1950-2020 - Kate Charlesworth
Tell Me I’m Forgiven: The Story of Forgotten Stars Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney - 
Alison Child
The Confessions of Frannie Langton - Sara Collins
The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney - Okechukwu Nzelu

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POLARI PRIZE 2020 - SHORTLIST​​
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WINNER - In At The Deep End - Kate Davies
Mama’s Boy: A Story from Our Americas - Dustin Lance Black
This Brutal House - Niven Govinden
Blue Wallpaper - Robert Hamberger
Trans Power: Own Your Gender - Juno Roche
Things We Say in the Dark - Kirsty Logan
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2019
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POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2019 - SHORTLIST
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WINNER - XX - Angela Chadwick (Dialogue Books)
Attend - West Camel (Orenda Books)
The Unexpected Love Objects of Dunya Noor - Rana Haddad (Hoopoe)
Soho - Richard Scott (Faber & Faber)
Next Lesson - Chris Woodley (Aurora Metro Books)
The House on Half Moon Street - Alex Reeve (Raven)
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POLARI PRIZE 2019 - SHORTLIST
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WINNER - Playtime - Andrew McMillan (Cape Poetry)
Ghost Wall - Sarah Moss (Granta)
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway - Kate Bradbury (Bloomsbury)
Take Nothing With You - Patrick Gale (Tinder)
Prodigal - Charles Lambert (Gallic)
A Simple Scale - David Llewellyn (Seren)
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POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE SHORTLISTS
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2018
WINNER - Elmet - Fiona Mozley (John Murray)
Mussolini’s Island - Sarah Day (Tinder Press)
Little Gold - Allie Rogers (Legend Press)
Trans Mission - Alex Bertie (Wren & Rook)
Pansy Boy - Paul Harfleet (Barbican)
Carnivore - Jonathan Lyon (HQ)
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2017
WINNER - Guapa - Saleem Haddad (Europa Editions UK)
We Go Around In The Night And Are Consumed By Fire - Jules Grant (Myriad)
Straight Jacket - Matthew Todd (Bantam)
The Vegetarian Tigers of Paradise - Crystal Jeans (Honno)
Jerusalem Ablaze - Orlando Ortega-Medina (Cloud Lodge)
Expecting - Chitra Ramaswamy (Saraband)
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2016
WINNER - The Good Son - Paul McVeigh
Physical - Andrew McMillan
Blood Relatives - Stevan Alcock
Sugar and Snails - Anne Goodwin
Trans - Juliet Jacques
Different for Girls - Jacquie Lawrence
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2015
WINNER - The Rental Heart - Kirsty Logan (Salt)
Straight Expectations - Julie Bindel (Guardian Books)
The Gift of Looking Closely - Al Brookes (Self-published)
Everything Must Go - LaJohn Joseph (ITNA Press)
Self-portrait with The Happiness - David Tait (Smith/Doorstop books)
The Informant - Susan Wilkins (Pan)
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2014
WINNER - Fairytales for Lost Children - Diriye Osman (Team Angelica)
The Palace of Curiosities - Rosie Garland (Harper Collins)
The Rubbish Lesbian - Sarah Westwood (Mimwood Press)
Petite Mort - Beatrice Hitchman (Serpent’s Tail)
God's Other Children - Vernal W. Scott (self published)
I Am Nobody's Nigger - Dean Atta (Westbourne Press)
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2013
WINNER - The Murder Wall - Mari Hannah (Pan Macmillan)
The Tale of Raw Head & Bloody Bones - Jack Wolf (Chatto & Windus)
Catching Bullets - Memoirs of a Bond Fan - Mark O’Connell (Splendid Books)
The Sitar - Rebecca Idris (self published ebook)
Tony Hogan Bought Me An Icecream Float Before He Stole My Ma - Kerry Hudson (Chatto & Windus)
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2012
WINNER - The Frost Fairs - John McCullogh (Salt)
Becoming Nancy - Terry Ronald (Transworld)
Exit Through The Wound - North Morgan (Limehouse Books)
Modern Love - Max Wallis (Flap)
Ey Up and Away - Vicky Ryder (Wandering Star Press)
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2011
WINNER - Autofellatio - James Maker (self published)
Homo Jihad - Timothy Graves
Love, Hope & High Heels - Clare Campbell
London Triptych - Jonathan Kemp
Julian Corkle is a Filthy Liar - DJ Connell
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