If you’re searching for something new to read, look no further…
Saleem Haddad has been awarded the Polari First Book Prize 2017 for his first novel Guapa, and was handed the honour during a ceremony held at London’s Southbank Centre as part of the London Literature Festival.
“Guapa offers an intimate, complex portrait of gay life in the Arab world, a subject rarely explored in fiction,” said chair of judges Paul Burston.
“It’s poetic, politically daring, beautifully written and marks the arrival of an exciting new voice.”
The annual prize is awarded to a writer “whose first book explores the LGBT experience, whether in poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction.”
Guapa faced tough competition from an impressive shortlist, which included Expecting by Chitra Ramaswamy, We Go Around In The Night And Are Consumed By Fire by Jules Grant, Straight Jacket by Matthew Todd, The Vegetarian Tigers of Paradise by Crystal Jeans, and Jerusalem Ablaze by Orlando Ortega-Medina.
Haddad’s win coincides with Polari Salon celebrating 10 years of championing LGBT voices with a series of literary events.
Their 10th Birthday Party will take place at Being a Man Festival at the Southbank Centre in London on 24 November.
