This is an in-person only event in the British Library Pigott Theatre.

Tonight, the winners of this year’s Polari Prize awards are announced. Host Paul Burston is joined by previous winners Julia Armfield and Jon Ransom and special musical guests David McAlmont and ‘Hifi Sean’ Dickson.

The Polari Prize - the UK’s only book awards for LGBTQ+ writing was founded in 2011 by author and activist, Paul Burston. This year there are three prizes - for first book, for the book of the year (excluding debuts), and for a Children’s/YA title. The prizes are run by Polari literary salon, which is currently touring the UK, showcasing prize winners past and present, together with nominees from the prizes’ 14-year history.

You can find a list of the longlisted titles and their authors on the Polari Salon website.

Julia Armfield is a fiction writer who lives in London. Her debut collection, salt slow, was longlisted for the Polari Prize 2020 and the Edge Hill Prize 2020 and was shortlisted for the London Magazine Prize for Debut Fiction 2020. Her novel Our Wives Under The Sea was shortlisted for the Foyles Fiction Book of the Year Award 2022 and won The Polari Prize 2023. Her new novel is Private Rites, published by Harper Collins.

Jon Ransom is the author of The Whale Tattoo, which won the Polari First Book Prize 2023, and was named a Guardian Best Fiction of 2022. His second book The Gallopers was published by Muswell Press in January 2024. He lives in Hardwick.

David McAlmont and ‘Hifi Sean’ Dickson first collaborated on Dickson’s 2016 solo album Ft, where McAlmont lent his sublime vocals to the track Like Josephine Baker. Their debut album Happy Ending was voted one of the best albums of 2023. In August they released a second album Daylight. Tonight they’ll be treating us to an exclusive preview of their forthcoming third album.

Supported by the Vogel-Denebeim Family.

Doors and Bar open at 18:00. If you’re attending in person, please arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start time of this event.

Half price tickets available for Members, Students, Under 26 and other concession groups.

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