Congratulations to Darwin alumnus Dr Paul Stephenson (MPhil European Studies and PhD History, 1998-2002), who has been shortlisted for the Polari Prize 2024 for his poetry collection Hard Drive, published by Carcanet. The prize celebrates the work of emerging and established LGBTQ+ writers.
Paul has an MA in Creative Writing from the Manchester Writing School, has been published widely in poetry magazines and taught online courses for the Poetry School. He has published three pamphlets, and for the past six years has helped to programme the festival Poetry in Aldeburgh. Hard Drive, his debut collection, was published in June 2023. Written in the aftermath of the unexpected loss of his partner, whom he met at Cambridge, it is both a record of the realities and practicalities of grief, and a testament to love.
“It is such an honour to have my book selected by the Polari judges, and for my poems to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award,” says Paul.
“The book reads like a novel in poems and draws on my own story of bereavement. I’m thrilled that the poems are reaching an audience and hope they will speak to anybody who has experienced loss, and perhaps give others permission to write too.”
The winners of the Polari Prize will be announced at an event at the British Library on Friday 29th November.
