The Polari Prize 2026 shortlists are here, with Joelle Taylor, Roxy Bourdillon and Leon Craig among the writers in contention. Twelve books are competing across two awards, with the winners announced at London’s Heaven on Monday 30 November. Plenty of time to form a fiercely held opinion about your favourite.
Announced on 3 November, the shortlists bring together fiction, memoir, poetry and non-fiction exploring LGBTQ+ experience. For readers, they’re a useful answer to that familiar question: what queer book should I pick up next?
Joelle Taylor returns to the main prize shortlist with Maryville, having previously won in 2022. She’s joined by Leon Craig, Rosie Garland, Sarah Maria Griffin, Martin Sherman and Keio Yoshida, with six titles offering plenty for your next book-club discussion.
Judge Dr Gurmit Singh puts it rather more sharply: “This shortlist represents queer writing at its most dangerous, delicious, and uncompromising.”
“If the longlist proved we have talent, this final six proves we have teeth.”
Consider that fair warning before you lend someone your copy and expect it back.
Who’s on the Polari Prize 2026 shortlists?
Established in 2019, the Polari Book Prize counts Andrew McMillan, Diana Souhami, Julia Armfield and Jon Ransom among its previous winners. This year’s award is sponsored by DHH Literary Agency, with £2,000 going to the winner.
The Polari Book Prize shortlist is:
- The Decadence by Leon Craig (Sceptre)
- Pride and Prejudices: Queer Lives and the Law by Keio Yoshida (Scribe)
- This Is How I Fight by Rosie Garland (Nine Arches Press)
- On the Boardwalk by Martin Sherman (Inkandescent)
- Maryville by Joelle Taylor (Bloomsbury Poetry)
- Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin (Titan Books)
The Polari First Book Prize has been recognising debut books exploring LGBTQ+ experience since 2011. Its past winners include Kirsty Logan, Amrou Al-Kadhi, Mohsin Zaidi and Nicola Dinan.
Sponsored this year by Hastings Crime Writing Festival, the award comes with £1,000 for its winner.
The Polari First Book Prize shortlist is:
- The Ayatollah’s Gaze by Majid Parsa (Neem Tree Press)
- What A Girl Wants by Roxy Bourdillon (Bluebird)
- Summer Hours by Alessandra Thom (Polygon)
- Pig by Matilde Pratesi (Corsair)
- Crowd Work by Sam Furlong (Macha Press)
- Smoke and Silk by Fiona Keating (Headline)
Polari founder Paul Burston describes the final selections as “diverse, provocative and wildly entertaining”, following the judges’ task of narrowing down the longlists.
A literary night out at Heaven
Both winners will be revealed at Heaven on 30 November, with Burston hosting an evening of readings, music and celebration.
Former winners John McCullough and Joelle Taylor will read, while Dee Chanelle and Son of a Tutu provide the musical performances. There’s something rather pleasing about taking a conversation that might start in a bookshop or group chat and bringing it into a queer club.
Pick a favourite, bring a fellow reader and see whose predictions survive the night.
The Polari Prize 2026 ceremony takes place on Monday 30 November 2026 at Heaven, Villiers Street, London, WC2N 6NG (nearest Tube: Charing Cross or Embankment). Doors open at 7pm and proceedings begin at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 to £15, plus booking fees. For ages 18 and over; photo ID is required. Book tickets on OutSavvy.
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