Founded in 2007 by author and activist Paul Burston, Polari is a multi award-winning LGBTQ+ literary salon. Known for its high energy, thought-provoking performances, Polari is a heady mix of live literature and cabaret, in which the performers happen to be writers.

Described by The Huffington Post as “the most exciting literary moment in London”, the salon also tours regularly, supported by Arts Council England.

Ever adaptable, Polari has appeared at bars, book festivals, libraries, museums, nightclubs and theatres across the UK and beyond. Each event showcases the best in established and emerging LGBTQ+ talent.

Tonight’s event will be a first in Leeds. 

Part of the Polari Prize National Showcase, supported by Arts Council England.
The event is in partnership with Leeds Lit Fest 2024 and is suitable for ages 16+. 
Tickets are Pay As You Feel, with a recommended donation of £8.00.

There will be wine, tea or coffee on arrival. 
Books will be available to buy on the night. 

The line up for the performance is:

PAUL
Paul Burston is the author of six novels and five non-fiction books and the editor of two short story collections. He hosts the award-winning LGBTQ+ literary salon Polari and is the founder of The Polari Prize book awards for LGBTQ+ writers. In 2016 he featured in the British Council’s Global List of ‘33 visionary people promoting freedom, equality and LGBT rights around the world.’

His memoir We Can Be Heroes is published by Little A and has been described by Russell T. Davies as “brutally honest”, by Bernardine Evaristo as “a compelling a hugely enjoyable memoir about a fearless life lived to the full” and by ES Magazine as “probably the gay book of the year”
Born in York and raised in South Wales, he now divides his time between London and Hastings.

Twitter @paulburston
Insta @paulburston1

KAREN
Karen McLeod is a writer, performer, creative writing tutor and writer-in-residence at Bookseller Crow. Her debut novel, In Search of the Missing Eyelash, was published by Jonathan Cape. It won the Betty Trask Award and was translated widely.

She wrote 'The Eyelash' in hotel rooms across the globe while working as cabin crew. Coming full circle, her soon to be published memoir, Lifting Off (Muswell Press, June 2024) is about the years she worked as cabin crew. When she's not writing, or talking about writing, or thinking about writing, she can be found treading the creaky boards at theatres, cabaret clubs and pubs as the self-appointed Poet Laureate of Penge, Barbara Brownskirt.

Twitter - @KarenMcLeod_
Insta @therealkarenmcleod

ADAM
Adam Lowe is the UK's LGBT+ History Month Poet Laureate and was Yorkshire’s Olympic Poet for 2012. He is a writer and performer who grew up in Leeds, though he currently lives on t'other side of the Pennines, in sunny Salford. Adam is sometimes known by his alter ego, Beyonce Holes!

Adam was named one of the ’20 best writers under 40’ in Leeds for the LS13 Awards and his chapbook Precocious was a reader nomination for the Guardian First Book Prize. He was a finalist for the Venture Poetry Awards, Eric Hoffer Award and Lambda Literary Awards, and is a graduate of The Complete Works and Obsidian. His debut full-length collection Patterflash was published by Peepal Tree Press in June 2023.

Twitter / Insta - @adambeyoncelowe

JULIE
Julie Cohen is an award-winning, bestselling author of over 25 novels. She is a popular teacher of creative writing, and a Vice President of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and a founder of their Rainbow Chapter for LGBTQ+ writers. Her latest novel is SUMMER PEOPLE (Orion, 2022) and her first thriller, BAD MEN (Bonner, 2023), written as Julie Mae Cohen, is a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick. She lives in Berkshire, UK with her teenager and a terrier of dubious origin.

www.julie-cohen.com
www.juliemaecohen.com
Twitter: @julie_cohen
Instagram: @juliecohenauthor