An ex-Oxford University student is nominated for a first book prize in the UK’s only literary awards for LGBTQ+ literature.
Mohsin Zaidi, 36, is nominated for the Polari First Book Prize in the 2021 Polari Prizes for his book A Dutiful Boy, a memoir about growing up in a strict Muslim family in a poor part of London, while coming to terms with the fact that he is gay.
He was the first person from his school to go to Oxford University and his memoir recounts how while at university he was ‘confronted with the broken parts of his identity and seeks a way to reconcile seeming irreconcilable worlds’.
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Mr Zaidi, who lives in East London and is an award-winning author, commentator and lawyer, said: “The book is fundamentally about modern identity in Britain. For long when we talk about identity we talk about it as either as something about race or class or sexuality and I in writing this book wanted to move firmly away from this binary narrative.”
He cited Audrey Lorde’s famous quote ‘there is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives’ as relating to his experiences, stating that experiences personified the idea of ‘intersectionality’.
On advice to young LGBTQ+ people, Mr Zaidi said it is ‘ok to be scared’ but ‘one day it will not feel so scary and a day will come when you will feel pride’. He added that young people should ‘not do it alone’ and it is important to find people ‘to be your family’, especially if your own family is unable to support you.
The Polari First Book Prize was launched in 2011 and six other books are nominated for this year’s awards which ‘explore the meeting points of class, race and sexuality’.
The other books nominated for the prize are Paul Mendez’s novel Rainbow Milk, Kevin Maxwell’s Forced Out, Tomasz Jędrowski’s Swimming in the Dark, Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain and Andreena Leeanne’s poetry collection Charred.
Six authors are also nominated for the Polari Prize, an award for overall Book of the Year.
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Author, Polari Prize founder and chair of judges, Paul Burston said: “This year’s shortlists are our most diverse ever, with a wide variety of writers working across different genres to explore the intersections between sexuality, gender, race, class, religion and more.
“These 12 remarkable books include tales of resilience and celebration, love and pride, exploring the LGBTQ+ experience with emotional honesty, humour, passion and joy.”
The winner of the 2021 Polari Prizes will be announced at an in-person event at the Southbank Centre on 30 October.
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