Mick Hartley

From the Telegraph:

When the author John Boyne was shortlisted for the Polari Prize – a literary award that champions gay writers – several fellow nominees (as well as two judges) asked for their own work to be removed from contention. One, Jason Okundaye, even said he was “not interested” in the merits of Boyne’s writing, so far was he beyond the pale. It illustrates the vicious culture war that continues to rage in the publishing industry.

Boyne’s crime was to speak up for JK Rowling. Last month, he wrote a piece for the Irish Independent in which he discussed the groups of people who have monstered Rowling for her views on transgender ideology and scepticism of gender politics. Boyne, 54, best known for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, said that he is “in awe” of Rowling’s achievements, has had the “privilege” to meet her and as “a fellow Terf” – aka “trans-exclusionary radical feminist – “I stand four-square behind her”.

Now Rowling herself has waded into the current row…

Indeed she has.

Oh, fuck off. I hope everyone buys twice as many @JohnBoyneBooks, a) because he’s brilliant, and b) to piss off the Gender Taliban. pic.twitter.com/FrTs424kAs

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 9, 2025

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

While Boyne is probably strong enough to withstand the attempts to cancel him, it is a different matter for the Polari Prize. This imbroglio has heaped pressure on Paul Burston, the author and journalist who founded it in 2011….

“Despite these events, we are committed to going forward with the prize this year. However, we will be undertaking a full review of the prize processes, consulting representatives from across the community ahead of next year’s awards, taking on board the learnings from this year.”

The bandwagon keeps rolling, however. “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.”

[Polari was the old theatrical argot generally associated with the gay subculture in London, memorably brought to life in Round the Horne by Kenneth Williams and Hugh Paddick…

Horne would start off usually by mentioning that he had found an advertisement in one of a selection of risqué magazines, which he would insist he bought for innocent reasons. This would lead him, more often than not, to a business in Chelsea starting with the word "Bona" (Polari for "good"). He would enter by saying, "Hello, anybody there?", and Julian (Hugh Paddick) would answer, to a round of applause from the studio audience, "Ooh hello! I'm Julian and this is my friend Sandy!"]

Back when people had a sense of humour.]