Our Wives Under the Sea van Julia Armfield (Picador) heeft de Polari Prize 2023 gewonnen, de Britse prijs voor LGBTQ+-literatuur. The Whale Tattoo van Jon Ransom (Muswell Press) won de prijs bij de debuten.

Adam Zmith, judge of the Polari First Book Prize and last year’s winner, said: “Jon Ransom’s novel is suffused with salt air and gay longing. It transported me to a life that is not my own, and yet one where I recognised myself, too. Ransom conjures up gorgeously evocative images for his hostile locations and finds love and energy there.”

Joelle Taylor, judge of the Polari Book Prize and last year’s winner, said: “While each of the shortlisted works is a dynamic addition to the LGBT+ literary canon, Our Wives Under the Sea opens up what we believe is possible from queer writing. It is a strange, speculative, poetic and thrilling novel – a heart turner as much as a page turner.”