Trans Polari Prize nominee ‘heartbroken’ over decision to ‘pause’ awards

The only trans author to be included on this year’s long list for the Polari Prize has been left “heartbroken” by the decision to “pause” the 2025 awards.

Calling My Deadname Home author Dr Avi Ben-Zeev told PinkNews the move to “pause” the competition “feels like another form of erasure”.

Polari Prize organisers confirmed on Monday (18 August) that this year’s competition was being halted following backlask over the inclusion of a book by author and self-proclaimed “TERF” John Boyne on the long list.

Boyne described himself as a “TERF” – a trans exclusionary radical feminist – in a column in the Irish Independent last month, where he defended fellow author JK Rowling’s views on trans issues.

A number of authors had already withdrawn from the competition in protest at Boyne’s inclusion, with Queer as Folklore‘s Sacha Coward writing on X/Twitter that he could not “continue in good faith” to participate in the event.

Ben-Zeev, who chose to remain in contention for the Polari Prize amidst the withdrawals, said his memoir had now also effectively been “put on pause” by the decision to halt the awards this year.

“I am heartbroken that this year’s Polari Prize has been cancelled”, he told PinkNews, adding: “My memoir has now been ‘put on pause,’ which feels like another form of erasure.”

In his column, Boyne claimed that “grown women” who publicly disagreed with Rowling were “astonishingly complicit in their own erasure”. He compared them to characters in The Handmaid’s Tale who were “ready to pin a handmaiden down as her husband rapes her”.

The refusal by Polari bosses to remove Boyne, best-known for his Holocaust novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, from the competition prompted criticism from other nominated authors, including Mae Diansangu, Jason Okundaye, Amy Twigg and Sanah Ahsan, all of whom refused to allow their works to go forward.

Two judges also withdrew, and more than 800 writers and publishing-industry workers signed a statement calling for Boyne’s entry, Earth, to be removed from the list, according to The Guardian.

Ben-Zeev told PinkNews earlier this month that, while he objected to Boyne’s rhetoric, he felt withdrawing would, itself, be a form of erasure. “There’s nothing more trans-exclusionary… than to see people like me disappear,” he said, making clear that he supported the decision of those who pulled out and still stood “in solidarity with… my trans and non-binary siblings”, adding: “My existence is not up for debate. I’ll only get louder and more joyous.”

Announcing the Polari Prize decision, a spokesperson said organisers planned to review policies to better support LGBTQ+ authors.

“Many discussions have been undertaken over the [past] two weeks, with authors, judges, stakeholders and funders, about the impacts and ramifications of the long-listing of John Boyne’s novel and how we can learn from this experience and move forwards,” they said.

“We extend our heartfelt apologies to everyone affected this year, for the disappointment and despair this has caused.”

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