PolarI BOOK prize
Amrou Al-Kadhi and Kate Davies win 2020 Polari Prizes
Amrou Al-Kadhi and Kate Davies have tonight (Oct 15) been announced as the winners of the 2020 Polari Prizes, the UK’s only award celebrating literature that explores the LGBTQ+ experience.
Al-Kadhi becomes the 10th winner of the Polari First Book Prize, established in 2011, for their remarkably honest, funny and moving memoir Life As A Unicorn (Fourth Estate), whilst Kate Davies scooped the Polari Prize for non-debut talent for her frank and funny novel In At The Deep End (Borough Press).
The winners were announced in a digital ceremony in association with the Southbank Centre, hosted by author and founder Paul Burston who described this year’s winning titles as “exceptionally good reads - original, genre-defying, hugely entertaining and unapologetically queer.”
Al-Kadhi’s memoir Life as a Unicorn is an honest, heart-breaking and often hilarious account of the author’s journey from god-fearing Muslim boy enraptured with their mother, to a vocal, queer drag queen estranged from their family. Commenting on the winner, the 2020 judges said that Life as a Unicorn offered a “unique perspective at the intersection of gender, race and sexuality whilst being highly emotive and deeply moving.” It becomes the 10th winner of the Polari First Book Prize following in the footsteps of former winners including Fiona Mozley, Kirsty Logan, Paul McVeigh and Mari Hannah.
Davies’ In At The Deep End, a frank and funny novel exploring sex, love and self-understanding, triumphed against work by authors including Dustin Lance Black, Juno Roche, Niven Govinden and Robert Hamberger. Announcing the winner, poet and judge Andrew McMillan described it as an “open, generous, bold and unashamedly commercial novel that deals quite rarely with lesbian love, lesbian sex and lesbian eroticism.”
Judges for the First Book Prize are Angela Chadwick, who won in 2019 for her dystopian thriller XX, alongside Rachel Holmes, Cerys Evans, and Keith Jarrett. The winner receives a cheque for £1,000 from prize sponsors FMcM Associates.
Judges for the Polari Prize are inaugural prize winner Andrew McMillan, who won the 2019 award for his intimate poetry collection Playtime, alongside Suzi Feay, Chris Gribble, and VG Lee. The winner receives a cheque for £2,000 from prize sponsors D H H Literary Agency.
Both prize panels are chaired by founder, journalist and author Paul Burston.
The Polari First Book Prize 2020 shortlist :
Queer Intentions: A Personal Journey through LGBTQ+ Culture - Amelia Abraham
Life As A Unicorn - A Journey From Shame to Pride and Everything In Between - Amrou Al-Kadhi
Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide - 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
The Polari Prize 2020 shortlist :
Mama’s Boy: A Story from Our Americas - Dustin Lance Black
In At The Deep End - Kate Davies
This Brutal House - Niven Govinden
Blue Wallpaper - Robert Hamberger
Trans Power: Own Your Gender - Juno Roche
Things We Say in the Dark - Kirsty Logan
Judges for the First Book Prize are Angela Chadwick, who won in 2019 for her dystopian thriller XX, alongside Rachel Holmes, Cerys Evans, and Keith Jarrett.
Judges for the Polari Prize are inaugural prize winner Andrew McMillan, who won the 2019 award for his intimate poetry collection Playtime, alongside Suzi Feay, Chris Gribble, and VG Lee.
Both prize panels are chaired by founder, journalist and author Paul Burston.
The Polari First Book Prize is sponsored by award-winning arts communications company FMcM Associates, with the winner receiving a cheque for £1,000. The submission fee is £15.
The Polari Prize is sponsored by D H H Literary Agency, with the winner receiving a cheque for £2,000. The submission fee is £25.
Writers must be born or based in the UK and Ireland.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About the Polari First Book Prize
• The Polari First Book Prize was launched in 2011.
Previous winners include –
Angela Chadwick (XX)
Fiona Mozley (Elmet)
Saleem Haddad (Guapa)
Paul McVeigh (The Good Son)
Kirsty Logan (The Rental Heart)
Diriye Osman (Fairytales for Lost Children)
Mari Hannah (The Murder Wall)
John McCullough (The Frost Fairs)
James Maker (Autofellatio)
About the Polari Prize
• The Polari Prize was established in 2019 and awards an overall Book of the Year. It is open to writers at any stage of their career (except debuts). The 2019 prize was won by Andrew McMillan (Playtime).
• The Polari Prize is sponsored by D H H Literary Agency, with the winner receiving a cheque for £2,000.
For all media enquiries please contact Ashton Bainbridge at FMcM Associates - 0207 405 7422 /
PAST SHORTLISTS
2019
POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE
XX - Angela Chadwick
The House on Half Moon Street - Alex Reeve
The Unexpected Love Objects of Dunya Noor - Rana Haddad
Soho - Richard Scott
Attend - West Camel
POLARI PRIZE
Playtime - Andrew McMillan
Take Nothing With You - Patrick Gale
A Simple Scale - David Llewellyn
Prodigal - Charles Lambert
Ghost Wall - Sarah Moss
POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE
2018
Elmet - Fiona Mozley
Mussolini’s Island - Sarah Day
Little Gold - Allie Rogers
Trans Mission - Alex Bertie
Pansy Boy - Paul Harfleet
Carnivore - Jonathan Lyon
2017
Guapa - Saleem Haddad
We Go Around In The Night And Are Consumed By Fire - Jules Grant
Straight Jacket - Matthew Todd
Jerusalem Ablaze - Orlando Ortega-Medina
Expecting - Chitra Ramaswamy
Vegetarian Tigers of Paradise - Crystal Jeans
2016
The Good Son - Paul McVeigh
Physical - Andrew McMillan
Blood Relatives - Stevan Alcock
Trans - Juliet Jacques
Different for Girls - Jacquie Lawrence
Sugar and Snails - Anne Goodwin
2015
The Rental Heart - Kirsty Logan
Self Portrait with The Happiness - David Tait
Straight Expectations - Julie Bindel
Everything Must Go - LaJohn Joseph
The Informant - Susan Wilkins
The Gift of Looking Closely - Al Brooks
2014
Fairytales for Lost Children - Diriye Osman
The Rubbish Lesbian - Sarah Westwood
Petite Mort - Beatrice Hitchman
God's Other Children - Vernal W. Scott
I Am Nobody's Nigger - Dean Atta
2013
The Murder Wall - Mari Hannah
The Tale of Raw Head & Bloody Bones - Jack Wolf
Catching Bullets - Memoirs of a Bond Fan - Mark O’Connell
Tony Hogan Bought Me An Icecream Float Before He Stole My Ma - Kerry Hudson
The Sitar - Rebecca Idris
2012
The Frost Fairs - John McCullogh
Becoming Nancy - Terry Ronald
Exit Through The Wound - North Morgan
Modern Love - Max Wallis
Grrl Alex - Alex Drummond
2011
Autofellatio - James Maker
Love, Hope & High Heels - Clare Campbell
Homo Jihad - Timothy Graves
Julian Corkle is a Filthy Liar - DJ Connell
London Triptych - Jonathan Kemp
