Paul Burston
Paul Burston is an author, activist and founder of the Polari Literary Salon and Polari Prizes. A founding editor of Attitude magazine, he has written for many publications including the Guardian, Time Out, Times and Sunday Times.
He is the author of several non-fiction books, the editor of two short story collections and the author of six novels, including Lovers and Losers, which was shortlisted for the Stonewall Award. In 2016, he featured in the British Council’s Global List of ‘33 visionary people promoting freedom equality and LGBT rights around the world.
Karen McLeod
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 In Search of the Missing Eyelash in hotel rooms across the globe while working as cabin crew. Coming full circle, her memoir, Lifting Off (Muswell Press, June 2024) is about the years she worked, and went into free-fall, 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.
Jon Ransom
Jon Ransom is the author of The Whale Tattoo, winner of the Polari First Book Prize 2023, and named a Guardian Best Fiction of 2022. His second book, The Gallopers, was published in January 2024.
He was a mentee on the 2019 Escalator Talent Development scheme at the National Centre for Writing. Ransom's short stories have appeared in many anthologies and journals including Queer Life, Queer Love amongst others. He has been awarded an Arts Council grant to develop The Gallopers.
