Glasgow-based author Kirsty Logan is the recipient of the 2015, Polari First Book Prize for her critically acclaimed debut short story collection, The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales.
Now in its fifth year, the Polari First Book Prize celebrates the best debut books that explore the LGBT experience, whether through poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction.
The collection prevailed over a shortlist of books traditionally comprising five titles, but this year stretched to six due to the strength of submissions, including Straight Expectations by Julie Bindel; The Gift of Looking Closely by Al Brookes; Everything Must Go by LaJohn Joseph; Self-portrait with The Happiness by David Tait; and The Informant by Susan Wilkins.
Already the winner of the Scott Prize, The Herald: Book of the Year 2014, Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Collection, and shortlisted for the 2014 Green Carnation Prize, The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales is a lyrical collection of twenty short stories on lust and loss, compiled of radical retellings of classic tales, modern-day fables.
Judges included author, journalist and host of Polari literary salon, chair Paul Burston; Rachel Holmes, author and former Head of Literature & Spoken Word at the Southbank; literary critic, Suzi Feay; writer, critic and broadcaster, Bidisha; author and comedian, VG Lee; and writer and editor Alex Hopkins.
Chair of the judges Paul Burston, said: “The shortlist for this year’s Prize was one of the strongest we’ve ever seen, a great reflection of the breadth and depth of LGBT literature today. However, the judges were enormously impressed with Logan’s command of language and skillful story telling. She writes from a variety of queer perspectives, showing us a range of outsider’s viewpoints. Her characters are compelling, alienated, and trying to find a place themselves in a world with which they are at odds. For a first book The Rental Heart and Other Fairy Tales is remarkably assured. Each tale feels like a work of art in miniature, a controlled experiment in transformative storytelling.”
Kirsty Logan has been published in literary magazines and anthologies all over the world, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, displayed in galleries, and translated into French, Japanese and Spanish. She has received fellowships from Hawthornden Castle and Brownsbank Cottage, and was the first writer-in-residence at West Dean College.
Polari First Book Prize is sponsored by Societe Generale. Partners include WH Smiths Travel and Square Peg Media, publishers of g3 and Out In The City.
You must be logged in to post a comment.