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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Matthew Weaver

John Boyne says LGBTQ+ fiction prize backlash brought him ‘close to the edge’

John Boyne in white shirt looking pensive
John Boyne says he has experienced ‘endless harassment’ online over the Polari prize row. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

The gender-critical Irish novelist John Boyne has said he has been brought “very close to the edge” by the backlash to his inclusion on the longlist for a literary prize for LGBTQ+ authors.

Ten authors and two judges withdrew from the Polari prize and more than 800 writers and publishing industry workers signed a petition calling on Polari to remove Boyne’s novella Earth from its longlist.

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