Author John Boyne has shared his thoughts on the protest from authors and judges concerned about his inclusion in the the longlist for the 2025 Polari Prize.
In a lengthy statement posted online the author said he’d been the victim of bullying and intimidation over his views about transgender people.
Boyne has hit back at the his fellow nominees who have withdrawn from the awards, and other prominent authors who’ve voiced alarm at his inclusion, saying they have forgotten that he is a victim of sexual assault. He described those protesting his inclusion as having being bullied into taking part in the boycott.
The Polari Prize, now in its fifteenth year, copped a stream of criticism when it announced the long list of nominees for their 2025 awards. Each year the British prize awards works of literature with LGBTIQA+ themes, it’s two main awards are the Polari Prize and the Polari First Book Prize for a debut publication which focusses on new authors.
Not long after this year’s list of 12 novels in contention for each award was announced a slew of author’s asked for their books to be removed from consideration, alarmed that the judges had included Boyne’s latest novella Earth. Two of the awards judges also announced their resignation.
Boyne, a gay author best known for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, has previously written articles about his views against transgender inclusion, and voice his support for fellow author J.K. Rowling – describing himself as a fellow TERF. The acronym stands for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist. Boyne has also been criticised over his previous novel My Brother’s Name is Jessica in which character’s ‘dead name’ and misgender the title character.
As the days passed, more authors asked for their works to be removed from consideration from the awards. Soon the First Book prize only had three of its original twelve works still in the race. While the main prize had dropped to nine out of the twelve nominated works.
Boyne said he was the victim in the boycott.
“To the writers who withdrew from the prize and those who organised petitions, I say this: You may have meant well. You may have thought you were doing the honourarable thing. But you forgot one crucial fact.” Boyne said in his social media post.
“The novelist you’re protesting, and the novel you tried to exclude, is part of a sequence about sexual abuse from a gay man who endured that very trauma at school, was denied justice because my abuser died in the months leading up to the trial, and is still coping with not getting my day in court.”
Boyne said his views of transgender people were simple.
“All human beings should have the same rights, but if the rights of trans women come into conflict with the rights of what you ‘cis’ women, the latter must take precedence.” Boyne said.
The writer said if every author who had withdrawn their work from the awards agreed to rescind their protest he would ask that his book not be considered for the upcoming nominee short list.
“I am not withdrawing from the longlist. However, should the debut writers all return, I would respectfully ask the judges not to consider Earth for the shortlist.” he declared.
“I came very close to the edge this week because of the endless harassment at the hands of both strangers and fellow writers. I’ve remained silent throughout but there’s been a few moments where I thought it would be easier to not go on. There’s really only so much abuse one person can take.” Boyne wrote. “However, I’m still here. Because I have too many books in me that I still want to write.”
The author said he’d spent his career helping and elevating other writers, rather than “tearing them down”.
He closed off his statement saying “online bullying has to stop”.
The organisers of the prize have announced they’ll be reviewing their processes ahead of the 2026 outing of the award, but will be forging forward with this year’s short list of nominees.
So far none of the authors who withdrew their work have opted to take up Boyne’s offer.
Do you need some support?
If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, support and counselling are available from:
QLife: 1800 184 527 / qlife.org.au (Webchat 3pm – midnight)
QLife are a counselling and referral service for LGBTQIA+ people.
DISCHARGED: info@discharged.asn.au / discharged.asn.au
Discharged is a trans-led support service with peer support groups for trans and gender diverse folks.
Lifeline: 13 11 14 / lifeline.org.au
Beyondblue: 1300 22 4636 / www.beyondblue.org.au
