Polari Prize relaunches podcast series after three-year hiatus

The Polari Prize is relaunching its podcast after a three-year hiatus in a new partnership with easyJet holidays announced in June 2024. A new episode is set to be released featuring 2023 winners Julia Armfield and Jon Ransom.

In the episode, Polari Prize founder Paul Burston joins poet and host Sophia Blackwell to discuss winning books and nominated authors from previous years as well as inviting authors for interviews about their writing process and craft. The first episode will be available on streaming platforms on Thursday 14th November.

A second episode, featuring interviews with the 2024 winners announced at the British Library on Friday 29th November, will air before the end of the year with a new series scheduled for 2025.

Since the announcement of the partnership with easyJet holidays in June, the podcast is one of the projects launched, "as part of their collective aim to enhance a ’shared commitment’ towards promoting queer voices and stories". The collaboration will also see a series of live events, and further funding for the annual prize ceremony, prize giveaways and audience outreach.

Burston, founder of the Polari Literary Salon and Polari Prizes, said “It’s wonderful to be reunited with Sophia Blackwell for the Polari Prize Podcast. Sophia has been part of the Polari family for many years, both as a performer and as a fellow prize judge. She shares my passion for celebrating LGBTQ+ stories and is a pleasure to work with. In future episodes we’ll be reporting from this year’s prize ceremony at the British Library, talking to this year’s prize winners and catching up with previous winners.”

The Polari Prize was founded by Burston in 2011, and a second category for non-debut books added in 2019, and a third, bi-annual category for children’s and YA books announced in 2022.

Garry Wilson, c.e.o. of easyJet holidays, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the Polari Prizes to further our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We’re proud to be championing this important initiative and we look forward to enhancing and celebrating LGBTQ+ literature in 2024 and beyond.”

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 Kirsty Logan, Amrou Al-Kadhi, Mohsin Zaidi, Adam Zmith and last year’s winner Jon Ransom, for his debut The Whale Tattoo, which explores grief, love and forgiveness.

The Polari Prize winners’ ceremony will take place at the British Library on Friday 29th November.