home All News open_in_new Full Article

Why I withdrew my book from an LGBTQ+ literary prize | Jason Okundaye

The Polari first book prize claims to promote trans rights and trans voices. But when I saw the longlist, I had to actLast week, I withdrew my nomination from the longlist for the Polari first book prize. The awards had become mired in controversy due to the nomination of the Irish author John Boyne, best known for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, for the main prize for his novel Earth. Four days before the longlist announcement, Boyne had written in the Irish Independent, celebrating JK Rowling “as a fellow terf” and saying of women who had “pilloried” her for her gender activism: “For every Commander Waterford, there’s a Serena Joy standing behind him, ready to pin a handmaiden down as her husband rapes her.”I think such a viewpoint is abhorrent, but Boyne is free to hold whatever views he wants. What was unacceptable was a statement from the Polari prize addressing the backlash, emphasising its commitment to “support trans rights and amplify trans voices”, but defending Boyne’s in...


today 3 w. ago attach_file Politics

attach_file Sport
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Sport
attach_file Politics
attach_file Events
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Events
attach_file Events
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Economics
attach_file Events


ID: 232889570
Add Watch Country

arrow_drop_down