London’s award-winning LGBTQ+ literary salon comes to Blackpool.
Founded in 2007 by author Paul Burston, Polari has appeared at the Southbank Centre, The British Library, Heaven nightclub and at book festivals, bars, museums, nightclubs and theatres across the UK and beyond.
Inspired by the gay slang of the same name, Polari is a celebration of LGBTQ+ words and voices – whether written, spoken or sung. The salon also runs The Polari Prize awards – the UK’s book awards for LGBTQ+ writing.
Hosted by Paul Burston, with Hook, Stephen May and Joelle Taylor.
PAUL BURSTON is the author of six novels and four non-fiction books and the editor of two short story collections.
His memoir ‘We Can Be Heroes’ is published by Little A and has been described by Russell T. Davies as “brutally honest” and by Bernardine Evaristo as “a compelling, hugely enjoyable memoir about a fearless life lived to the full.”
In 2016, he featured in the British Council’s Global List of ‘33 visionary people promoting freedom, equality and LGBT rights around the world.’
In 2026 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
HOOK (they/them) is a northern based, trans, neurodivergent, multidisciplinary artist creating queer-led work at the intersection of cabaret & theatre. They are particularly driven to craft imaginative, transformative trans worlds where artists and audiences are invited inside to play, question, and dream. Hook is a specialist artist with York Theatre Royal, a recent Soho Writing Labs Alumni, and is currently developing their new play Panic Arcadia, a messy, queer forest fantasy turned horror inspired by the god Pan.
STEPHEN MAY is the author of six novels including Life! Death! Prizes! which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and The Guardian Not The Booker Prize. He has also been shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year and is a winner of the Media Wales Reader’s Prize. He has also written plays, as well as for television and film. His latest novel is Green Ink.
JOELLE TAYLOR is the author of four collections of poetry and one novel. Her collection ‘C+NTO & Othered Poems’ won the 2021 T.S. Eliot Prize, and the 2022 Polari Book Prize for LGBT authors. She is a co-curator and host of Out-Spoken Live at the Southbank Centre and tours her work nationally and internationally. Her new collection ‘Maryville’ was published by Bloomsbury in 2025 and has been longlisted for the 2026 Forward Prize for Best Collection.