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A third of the nominated authors and a judge have withdrawn from the Polari prize because John Boyne, apparently a self-confessed terf (!)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

How is something that would never have happened and tries to get the audience to sympathise with a Nazi extermination camp commander "excellent"?!

Thanks for the tip-off about the 99p Kindle offer, which I might not have found for myself because I'm not currently looking. Every book I've bought on a 99p Kindle offer has ended up being a gateway to the rest of the author's works.

I hope John Boyne sits tight and serene in the midst of all the rainbow rage.

I've just bought Boyne's 'Furry'😁 book of Amazon. Thank you for the tip. It's at the end of a massive tbr though.

I just happened across this article

https://archive.ph/XDnsN

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/adam-szetela-interview-that-book-is-dangerous/

It's tangential to the subject of the thread. I wasn't sure if it belonged here or on the Edinburgh book thread. There's no mention of gender in the article and I'm curious about Adam's views on it. He refers 'cisgender' but in the context that could mean anything. If an author has written a tin earred or offensive stereotype of a character outside their direct experience, criticise them for that. Don't 'cancel' them for using their imagination and empathy for stepping outside their own bubble.

John Boyne is a wonderful author and his apology to Glinner made me cry. Someone who can admit they got something wrong is a rare thing.
His books are all brilliant, especially The Heart's Invisible Furries 😀
The Boy in striped pyjamas was an allegory that got taken up wrong by many and became something it really wasn't. This is very well handled in the sequel.

Tbf, whilst I respect Boyne for both his principled stand and his public apology, I find it very hard to stomach unequivocal praise for TBITSP. Anyone with any engagement with holocaust education should know how problematic it is. DOI: Jewish.

I don't know if this has already been posted

Boy in the Striped Pyjamas author John Boyne cancelled by trans zealots https://share.google/UkKpJs14FVEDXWu2M link to archive of the Telegraph article

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/news/terf-author-tearing-publishing-apart/

The tras are going after Paul Burston who founded the prize. He's standing firm for the moment although sounds a bit wobbly for next year. I suspect the Arts Council is probably taking some stick. They seem to be pressuring the ones remaining on the list, if they drop out just leaving Boyne it'll prove...something. That tras create nothing, they just appropriate what others have made. If they can't do that they'll try to burn it down and salt the earth leaving nothing but wasteland and desolation.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the writers who remain on the lists,” says another author who is friends with both Boyne and Burston. “They’re nutters. It’s just a pile-on, and they just want to destroy everything. It’s terrifying. It’s like we are living in the McCarthy era.”

From the Telegraph article.

If well-known men start speaking out and using words like 'McCarthy-era', will people who have been unable to hear women's squeaky little bat voices saying the same thing for the last decade suddenly notice what has happened?

Any (terf) fans of John Boyne should read The Echo Chamber, it shines a light on the ridiculous nature of the trans movement.

I am nearly finished it on audio book right now. It's great, and best of all its narrator is Richard E Grant. 😊

John Boyne is the perfect example of the trans ally to terf pipeline.

Glad he embraced his inner terf eventually (he even came to Mumsnet to talk to us directly at one point, iirc!) and I hope he wins the prize (it’ll be a perfect transactivist shooting they/themselves in the foot moment and a sweet end to Boyne’s ‘radicalised by terves’ arc).

Boyne generously apologised to Glinner. Who in turn apologised to Count Dankula. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was a certainly based on a very flawed premise.

Fiction is tricky like that . It's basically stories that didn't happen. Some people find that whole idea problematic. People like Osama bin Laden. And the new Puritans , the liberal Ayatollahs. But this latest fatwa isn't going to work.

Paul Burston nailed his colours to the sex realist mast years ago. The Arts council may well decide to defund the prize though - which would be quite a statement, as Burston was the LGB correspondent for Time Out London back in the 90s and done a huge amount of work writing about gay history and culture. Talk about the modern “queer” movement traducing its elders.

Yep, sorry, I missed the word “cancelled” from my post. The same TRA types who scream blue murder for the cancellation of a successful female writer who’s given millions to charity, are really keen to “separate the artist from the work” when it comes to Gaiman.

Not sure this is saying anything:

https://www.scenemag.co.uk/polari-prize-issues-update-after-being-plunged-into-controversy-following-inclusion-of-terf-author-john-boyne-on-2025-longlist/

A grovelling apologies to the bullies but at least they're not backing down, 🙄

Let the cry bullies tantrum. The Arts at this point are becoming an embarrassment, which is a tragedy.

A bit off topic but did the original statement really say "intaking a full review of the prize"?

Rather than 'undertaking'?

'Intake' isn't even a verb in any dictionary I have.

@Chersfrozenface Older posters will remember the School Certificate you used to get upon finishing primary school. Most of these twits would have failed the exam.

https://x.com/johnboynebooks/status/1955917315029262792?s=46&t=ZX_bLozRqm8etdGICMcAvA

JB has responded on X.

Attached his letter for those unable to see.

The statement as shown on the page of that link says 'undertaking'. When it is quoted below they use 'intaking'. I'm not sure that attention to detail is these people's strong suit. [Or dress. Or whatevs.]

Bloody hell he's a decent sort!

Well, he can't say fairer than that really, can he? More gracious about it than most of us would be.

Thanks @Justme56 . A very succint and clear letter from John there. So this latest attempted cancellation has been got up by an Irish novelist called Niamh ní Mhaoileoin. John Boyne gave her debut a fair review in the Irish Times but criticised her over use of the term Queer. A lot of gay people do find that problematic.

Oddly enough I've just been trying to find out about Irish witch trials. They were few and far between. The most famous being Alice le Kyteler in Kilkenny and the Carrickfergus trial. These were conducted by Normans and Scots Presbyterians respectively. Actual native Irish people don't seem to have been that bothered.

So now we are making up for it big time! I've never read anything by Niamh or her fellow witch finder Emma van Straaten and now I guess I never will. Would it be paranoid of me to suspect a lot of these snitches are just trying to take down the competition?

I felt very emotional reading his statement. It was so dignified and fair. These bullies are vile. I wonder how many of the authors withdrew in protest and how many withdrew because they didn't want to be subject to the same treatment themselves?

It's never a good idea to take on someone who can afford to be gracious. Nice work, Mr Boyne.