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Saleem Haddad’s Guapa named in shortlist for Polari First Book Prize

Six LGBT authors from across countries and genres have been tipped for the award.
Six LGBT authors from across countries and genres have been tipped for the award. Six LGBT authors from across countries and genres have been tipped for the award.

Six LGBT authors from around the world have been shortlisted for the prestigious Polari First Book Prize.

The line-up includes Saleem Haddad’s lauded debut novel, Guapa, about a gay man struggling with politics and shame as he grows up in a post-Arab Spring dictatorship – a story that the aid worker last year told the Guardian newspaper was partly based on his own background.

Among the other finalists are Chitra Ramaswamy’s meditation on pregnancy in Expecting, Crystal Jean’s 1990s coming-of-age story The Vegetarian Tigers Of Paradise and Jules Grant’s female gang thriller, We Go Around In The Night And Are Consumed By Fire.

The list is split evenly between female and male writers of all genres and also includes Matthew Todd’s Straight Jacket, and Orlando Ortega-Medina’s Jerusalem Ablaze.

It was selected by a panel of judges made up of authors Paul Burston, Rachel Holmes and VG Lee, literary critic Suzi Feay and actor Alexis Gregory.

Burston, standing as chairman, said: “We are delighted with the breadth and strength of the work this year, which spans such a broad range of countries, cultures and experiences.

“Choosing six books from such a strong long list was extremely difficult, but in the end the judges came up with a shortlist we all agreed upon, and one which reflects the ethos of the prize.

“These six books are exceptionally well written and wonderfully diverse – together they contain a wealth of insights about what it means to be LGBT today.”

The overall winner of the prize will be unveiled on October 13, during the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre.

It will coincide with the Polari Salon, which will this year mark its 10th anniversary with Burston’s biggest LGBT literary tour to date.

Stretching from September to December, it will host a number of events across the country and showcase more than 80 writers, such as Val McDermid and Paul Flynn.