Returning to the British Library for the winners’ ceremony, Jon Ransom and Julia Armfield were announced as the winners of the 2023 Polari Prizes – the UK’s only awards celebrating literature exploring the LGBTQ+ experience. Ransom took home the Polari First Book Prize for his “mesmerising” tale of grief and love, The Whale Tattoo (Muswell Press), and Julia Armfield received the Polari Book Prize for her “hypnotic and haunting” deep-sea romance, Our Wives Under the Sea (Picador).
This year, both winning titles explore complex landscapes and elusive narratives that ask the reader to imagine all possibilities, build new stories and inspire hope; expanding on what LGBTQ+ literature can be.
The Whale Tattoo is a powerful debut from Jon Ransom that explores grief, love and forgiveness. Written with incredible skill and sensitivity, it’s a potent novel that draws readers to Norfolk and introduces them to the characters that call for Joe Gunner, the protagonist, to return home.
Adam Zmith, judge of the Polari First Book Prize and last year’s winner, said: “Jon Ransom’s novel is suffused with salt air and gay longing. It transported me to a life that is not my own, and yet one where I recognised myself, too. Ransom conjures up gorgeously evocative images for his hostile locations and finds love and energy there.”
Julia Armfield’s Our Wives Under the Sea triumphed against work by renowned authors including such as Edward Enninful and Douglas Stuart. In her spellbinding novel, Armfield reckons with love, loss and what life there is in the deep, deep sea.
Joelle Taylor, judge of the Polari Book Prize and last year’s winner, said: “While each of the shortlisted works is a dynamic addition to the LGBTQ+ literary canon, Our Wives Under the Sea opens up what we believe is possible from queer writing. It is a strange, speculative, poetic and thrilling novel – a heart turner as much as a page turner.”
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 and last year’s winner Adam Zmith, for his keenly-researched history of poppers, Deep Sniff.
The Polari Book Prize also awards an overall book of the year, excluding debuts, and previous winners include Andrew McMillan (Playtime), Kate Davies (In at the Deep End), Diana Souhami (No Modernism Without Lesbians) and last year’s winner Joelle Taylor for her remarkable collection C+nto & Othered Poems which explores butch lesbian counterculture in London.
Paul Burston, founder and chair of judges for both categories, said: “In their different ways, both of this year’s winning books expand our understanding of what LGBTQ+ literature can and should be. These are novels which entertain, seduce and provoke thought. They take us out of ourselves and invite us to explore other worlds. They’re also books full of promise. I c an’t wait to see what this year’s winning writers do next.”