Polari at Writing on the Wall

London’s award-winning LGBTQ+ literary salon comes to WoWFEST 2024.  

The inimitable Polari founder and author Paul Burston, presents a dazzling line up of award-winning talent; the multi-talented Rosie Garland, Irish word smith Ciaran Hodgers and the legendary Gerry Potter. 

Paul Burston founded Polari in 2007. The salon has been welcomed at the Southbank Centre, The British Library, at book festivals, bars, museums, nightclubs and theatres across the UK and beyond.  

Inspired by the gay slang of the same name, Polari is a celebration of LGBTQ+ words and voices – whether written, spoken or sung. The salon also runs The Polari Prize awards – the UK’s book awards for LGBTQ+ writing.  

Paul Burston is the author of six novels and four non-fiction books and the editor of two short story collections. He’s the curator and host of award-winning LGBTQ+ literary salon Polari and founder of The Polari Prize book awards for LGBTQ+ writers, based at The British Library.  In 2016, he featured in the British Council’s Global List of ‘33 visionary people promoting freedom, equality and LGBT rights around the world.’ His memoir, We Can Be Heroes, is published by Little A and has been described by Russell T. Davies as “brutally honest… wonderful” and by Bernardine Evaristo as “a compelling a hugely enjoyable memoir about a fearless life lived to the full.” 

Based in Manchester, Rosie Garland writes poetry, short and long fiction, song lyrics and things that fall in between and outside. She sings with post-punk band The March Violets. Her poetry collection What Girls Do in the Dark (Nine Arches Press) was shortlisted for the Polari Prize 2021. Val McDermid has named her one of the most compelling LGBT+ writers in the UK today. In 2023, she was flabbergasted to be made a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature. Her latest book is The Fates (Quercus). 

Ciarán Hodgers is a multi-award-winning Irish spoken word poet. Winner of the Sean Dunne Young Writers Award 2010, the International Pangaea Poetry Slam 2015 and the Word War 3 Slam Champ 2017, he was billed as one of Lingo’s 2016 ‘Powerhouse Poets at the top of their game’.  He’s been widely published in journals and anthologies and commissioned by Edinburgh Book Festival, WoWFEST, Compass Presents, Apples and Snakes and more. He was shortlisted for the 2017 OutSpoken Prize for Page Poetry and the 2018 OutSpoken Prize for Performance. 

Gerry Potter is a performance poet, actor, writer, director and now first-time memoir-novelist with his full prose book, 6A Blackstock Gardens. With eight books of genre defying poetry under his belt and more on the way, Gerry uses language and situation to both decorate reality and imagination equally.  Hailing from Liverpool’s prestigious Everyman Theatre, he’s soon to be starting work on the ninth part of his genre defying opus ‘Sex and Violence – Theatre Like Life’, hoping to release it early next year.

This event is part of the Polari Prize National Showcase funded by Arts Council England. 

Wednesday 15th May, 7.30pm

One Fine Day & Little Leaf, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L3 9BS 

£8 

*These are difficult times. We know some people may struggle to afford full price tickets. If you would like to attend this event but can’t afford to, please contact info@writingonthewall.org.uk. All queries will be treated in confidence.   

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