London's award-winning LGBTQ literary salon comes to Exeter for a night of queer storytelling.
Known for its high energy, entertaining performances, Polari is a literary cabaret in which the performers happen to be writers.
Founded in 2007, Polari has appeared at bars, book shops and book festivals, libraries, nightclubs and theatres across the UK and beyond.
Tonight's event is hosted by author and Polari founder Paul Burston with Natalie McGrath, Joshua Jones, VG Lee and Nicholas Pegg.
Paul Burston is the author of six novels and five non-fiction books and the editor of two short story collections.
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 and hugely enjoyable memoir about a fearless life lived to the full” and by ES Magazine as “probably the gay book of the year”
VG Lee has published five novels and two collections of short stories. Her writing has appeared in numerous and diverse publications including Poetry Review, Diva Magazine, Beyond Bedlam (Anvil), The Lady Magazine and more recently The Guardian.
In 2012 she was nominated for a Stonewall Award, 2014 brought the Ultimate Planet Award for Best Established Author; and in 2017 she was runner up for Diva/YLVA Publishing Literary Prize for Fiction. In 2022 she was long-listed for the BBC National Short Story Award
VG Lee is a judge for the prestigious Polari Book Prize and also the Hastings Literary Festival Short Story Prize.
She is in the process of completing her sixth novel, a psychological thriller.
Joshua Jones (he/him) is a queer, autistic writer and artist from Llanelli, South Wales. He was a Literature Wales Emerging Writer (2023) and a Hay Festival's Writer at Work (2024). Local Fires, his first work of fiction, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and is shortlisted for The Polari First Book Prize 2024. He has published various pamphlets of poetry, including A Fistful of Flowers in collaboration with Caitlin Flood-Molyneux (2022), Three Months in the Zebra Room (Hello America Stereo Cassette, 2024), and The City on Film (Bread and Roses, 2024).
Natalie McGrath (she/her) is a Playwright, Dramaturg, sort of Poet, and a Co-Director of Dreadnought South West and Queering the Museum project's in the South West, including Out and About at RAMM.
Writer and Dramaturg for Shaper/Caper's Small Town Boys, currently touring Scotland. The Beat of Our Hearts, was produced by Exeter Northcott Theatre, available to stream online and published by Salamander Street. We'll Meet In Moscow was a digital commission for the Traverse Theatre at Edinburgh Fringe, Coasting for Bristol Old Vic, Metal Remains for Theatre West, Oxygen and The Cause for Dreadnought South West South tours, published by Methuen & Co. Her work has toured across the South West region and beyond.
Pink Plates and Shipwrecks is her new writing initiative for LGBTQIA+ people impacted by cancer in Exeter. She is also writing her first book. Natalie is a proud member of Polari Salon’s Writer’s Group.
Nicholas Pegg is a writer, actor and director, and one of the world’s leading authorities on the life and work of David Bowie. He is the author of The Complete David Bowie, described by the artist’s longtime producer Tony Visconti as “the best Bowie reference book one could ever hope for”. Nick has acted as a consultant and contributor to numerous Bowie projects, including Brett Morgen’s BAFTA-nominated film Moonage Daydream, the V&A exhibition David Bowie Is, the Royal Mail’s commemorative Bowie stamps, and the BBC’s acclaimed Five Years documentaries.
Away from the world of David Bowie, Nick’s writing credits include theatre shows, audio plays, short stories, and the concept album Decades, a collaboration with songwriter David Palfreyman. Nick’s acting credits range from Shakespeare to Pantomime, Scottish Opera to Doc Martin, and regular appearances as a Dalek in Doctor Who. His latest screen role is Judge Barrowcliffe in the forthcoming drama series Gandhi, due to air in 2025.
This event is part of the Polari Prize National Showcase, funded by Arts Council England.