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Award-winning London LGBT+ literary salon Polari hits Manchester for the Manchester Literature Festival next month. This precedes a natonal tour of the salon that will see local authors reading and performing alongside established heavyweights.
Polari, like so many great queer moments before it, began life in November 2007 in the upstairs room of a Soho bar. After growing significantly – and pulling in audiences that wouldn’t fit through the door – the monthly event moved to its current home at the Southbank Centre.
The salon has received a slew of accolades, including the LGBT Cultural Event of the Year prize from the Co-op Respect Awards, and was described as ‘always fun, always thought-provoking’ by Sarah Waters. Paul Burston, the salon’s founder and a highly respected LGBT+ author and journalist in his own right, now also runs the Polari First Book Prize to champion new queer voices in publishing.
This special edition of the salon for the Manchester Literature Festival will take place at Contact on Oxford Road and will be hosted, as usual, by the fabulously attired Burston. The event will feature performances from scriptwriter and novelist Jonathan Harvey (The Girl Who Just Appeared, Beautiful Thing, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Coronation Street), author and playwright Neil Bartlett (The Disappearance Boy), comedian and writer VG Lee (Always You, Edina) and local author Rosie Garland (Vixen, The Palace of Curiosities), who won the inaugural Mslexia Women’s Novel Competition in 2011.
Manchester Literature Festival 2014 celebrates the best contemporary writing from across the world from 6-19 October 2014.
The show is suitable for over 16s and is BSL interpreted by Andy Jackson.
Find out more at polariliterarysalon.co.uk.
