POETRY

These are the lesbian, bi and queer authors on the 2021 Polari Prize shortlists

Published on : 28 July 202128 July 2021 Published by : EDITOR

Meet the women in the running for the the Polari Prize and the Polari First Book Prize BY DIVA STAFF Diana Souhami, Caroline Bird, Rosie Garland, Golnoosh Nour and Andreena Leeanne are among the names in the running for the 2021 Polari Prizes, the UK’s only literary awards for LGBTQIA+ literature. This year’s shortlists, announced [….]

This TEDx video about overcoming depression might be the most important thing you watch today

Published on : 8 March 20218 March 2021 Published by : EDITOR

“Remember that somewhere, a flower is breaking out of concrete and you will too” BY CARRIE LYELL I first met poet, writer and illustrator Bethany Rose in 2014, when I profiled her in a feature about the finest spoken word artists on the UK scene. She inspired me as we spoke, on a chilly Hampstead [….]

This new film about the word lesbian is a sucker punch to the heart

Published on : 5 February 20218 February 2021 Published by : EDITOR

Written by poet Lisa Luxx and directed by Rosemary Baker, Lesbian is an urgent call to arms to reclaim a word so many of us have tried to run from

Marylyn Tan: “Writing is pretty much the only line I have to community”

Published on : 14 January 202115 January 2021 Published by : EDITOR

The Singaporean published poet talks all things poetry, religion and the queer scene of her city BY YAIZA CANOPOLI Singaporean poet and artist Marylyn Tan made the news in August last year with a historic win. Not only is she the first woman to win the Singapore Literature Prize for English poetry, but her collection [….]

“The difficulties and the knock-backs make you graft harder”: What it’s like to be a queer poet

Published on : 8 January 20218 January 2021 Published by : EDITOR

Amy Tollyfield, a published writer and performance poet, tells us all about their career BY SOPHIE GRIFFITHS, IMAGE BY SIMON HOLLIDAY Amy Tollyfield is a published performance poet and the author of two poetry collections – Toy Soldiers and The Suicide – both published by Olympia Publishers. Based in the UK, Amy lives in Bath, [….]

Queer poetry 101

Published on : 13 May 202013 May 2020 Published by : Editorial Team

Get lit with some of our favourite queer poets during lockdown BY SOPHIE GRIFFITHS, IMAGE VIA ISTOCK Since so many of us have bags of time on our hands right now, it’s the perfect time to brush up on your LGBTQI literature. Here’s nine queer poets to make you cry, laugh and think about anything [….]

The long read: Mary Jean Chan

Published on : 30 April 202030 April 2020 Published by : EDITOR

Danielle Mustarde speaks to the award-winning writer about her debut collection Flèche and the journey that led her to it BY DANIELLE MUSTARDE Born and raised in Hong Kong, poet Mary Jean Chan has been living in London for some six years and now holds a post as lecturer in creative writing at Oxford Brookes [….]