Polari prize nominees withdraw over inclusion of 'terf' John Boyne

[QAOPspaceman]

A third of the nominated authors and a judge have withdrawn from the Polari prize because John Boyne, apparently a self-confessed terf (!) and friend of JK Rowling (!!!), is nominated. He wrote The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and has previously said "while I will happily employ any term that a person feels best defines them... I reject the notion that someone can force an unwanted term on to another" so is clearly a fascist.

Have never read his stuff but am tempted to order his complete works immediately.

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/polari-prize-will-review-processes-after-a-third-of-nominated-authors-withdraw-books-from-longlist

https://archive.ph/J39nH

“Invisible furries” is a brilliant typo.

Who took away our laughing emoji FGS. We are not trusted with fun obv.

@DworkinWasRight 😂😂😂

If John Boynes books are of the same quality of his apology to Glinner they'll be brilliant. I should definitely try them out.

I read The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas with my class. Excellent book, hit hard.

I loved BITSP

Joking aside, I reckon @QAOPspaceman‘s suggestion of “The Man In The Pooey Nappies” could also hit hard. It’s not “just want to pee” or “being my authentic self” it’s much much more.

I so hope he wins. 😂

It sounds like a bunch of would be writers realising they don't stand a chance against a real writer, so they're pulling out and trying to make out it's all because of the hurty feelz.

The more of them that cancel themselves the better, less dross taking up room on the shelfs in bookshops means more room for the good stuff. 😁

When Kiran Millwood Hargrave withdrew from a Mslexia judging panel because a writer who had defended JKR was also on it (Amanda Craig), Mslexia booted out Craig as a response. Maybe that's what this lot think they can engineer. I hope the prize organisers have the guts to not crap on Boyne.

John Boyne is a brilliant author. Get reading if you haven’t already.

The Hearts Invisible Furies is only 99p on kindle at the moment.

Based on the glowing recommendations here, I'll be giving it a go on my hols next week

Judging from the title of her book, A Bookshop of One's Own, the Jane Cholmeley who is hanging in there is the woman who set up the iconic and ground-breaking women's bookshop in Islington, Silver Moon in... the 1980s? I'm not sure.

Bravo to the Remainers

Gotta love John Boyne!

More publicity for John, an amazing writer, & more chance he’ll win, yay!

Also another chance for onlookers to see this authoritarian, thought stopping ideology for what it is.

I have a distinct dislike for the boy in the striped pyjamas. Putting a fictional German officer's child at the centre of someone else's all too real genocide felt really off key.

But all due respect to John, a spontaneous apology is a rare and wonderful thing. We should all be ready to change our minds when presented with new information or improved understanding.

I hated The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but at least I've heard of Boyne. I've never heard of the rest.

I disliked the whole premise behind Boy in the Striped Pyjamas because it softened and falsified the reality and horror of the history.

But I think he did that out of naivety not malice, he has tried to address it further, AND more importantly he has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to look and listen and read and learn and to change his mind on things (all sorts of thing), and to apologise when he thinks he was wrong in the past.

Those two qualities shouldn't be rare, but they are, and I have come to admire him greatly for them.

Except it’s very selective. The same adults who want JK Rowling are very quiet on the subject of Neil Gaiman.

I wonder why that could be?

I’ve read 2 of his titles - one I really enjoyed “ The Hearst Invisible Furies” and one I didn’t rate as much “ House of Special Purpose” set in Russia during the Revolution. Much preferred the Irish domestic setting for the former. But like others I’ve never heard of the other writers other than Alan Hollinghurst.

Really? Not in my experience. Most of the feminists I know have been pretty robust in their defence of Rowling and condemnation of Gaiman.

Tbf, from what I can gather the protesting writers are from the shortlist for the "first book" award, so are likely to be unknown ( and possibly to feel under more pressure to conform, although I'm not sure about that, is it harder to lose something you never had?) so it's not really surprising we've not heard of most of them. I'd be interested to know the age and sex split of those who've opted out and those who have, so far, held firm.

I am not sure where you've been looking, because that is definitely not what I've observed in my corner of the world.

I suspect there's a missing word there - maybe adults who want Rowling condemned, or cancelled.

Ah yes, that makes more sense!

It is a rare gift to be able to write for children and adults. It is a gift he shares with JKR. No wonder his competitors are keen to cancel him.

Does anyone have an accessible version of the Irish Independent article where he actually makes the pro-JKR comments? I can only find paywalled versions.