{{Short description|Welsh journalist and writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Use British English|date=July 2012}} {{BLP sources|date= January 2011}} {{Infobox person | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per WP:DOB. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = York, North Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_place = | occupation = Writer and journalist | years_active = | known_for = Polari salon, Polari Prize | notable_works = | website = {{Official URL}} }} '''Paul Burston''' is a Welsh journalist and author. He worked for the London gay policing group GALOP and was an activist with ACT UP before moving into journalism. He edited, for some years, the LGBT section of ''Time Out'' and founded the Polari Prize.
== Biography == Born in York and raised in South Wales, Burston attended Brynteg School and studied English, Drama and Film Studies at university. He worked for the London gay policing group GALOP and was an activist with ACT UP before moving into journalism.<ref name="DHH biog">{{cite web |url=http://www.dhhliteraryagency.com/paul-burston.html |title=Paul Burston |publisher=D H H Literary Agency |access-date=28 August 2022 }}</ref><ref name="Queer Review">{{cite news |url=https://thequeerreview.com/2022/08/12/theatre-review-riot-act-digital-edition/ |title=Theatre Review: Alexis Gregory’s ''Riot Act'' ★★★★★ |first=Emily |last=Garside |work=The Queer Review |date=12 August 2022 |access-date=28 August 2022 }}</ref> He edited, for some years, the gay and lesbian (later LGBT) section of ''Time Out'' magazine and was a founding editor of ''Attitude'' magazine.<ref name="DHH biog"/> He has also written for publications including ''The Guardian'', ''The Independent'', ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times''.<ref name="DHH biog"/>
His first novel ''Shameless'', published in 2001, was praised by ''The New York Times''<ref>{{cite news |last=Schillinger |first=Liesl |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/27/books/scuse-me-while-i-kiss-this-guy.html |title='Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy – Review |newspaper=The New York Times |date=27 June 2004 |accessdate=2010-03-15}}</ref> and shortlisted for the State of Britain Award.<ref name="DHH biog"/> His third novel ''Lovers & Losers'', published in 2007, was shortlisted for a Stonewall Award.<ref name="DHH biog"/>
In 2007, Burston became the founder and host of award-winning LGBT literary salon Polari,<ref name="DHH biog"/> which began in a bar in Soho before moving to the Southbank Centre. He was also the founder, in 2011, of The Polari Book Prize for new and established LGBTQ+ writing, which is now based at the British Library.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.polarisalon.com |title=Official website of award-winning literary salon |work=Polari |access-date=3 July 2019 }}</ref> In 2016, he was featured in the British Council's Five Films 4 Freedom Global List of 33 "inspiring people who use culture to promote freedom and equality and provoke debate, or who are risking their lives to promote the rights of LGBT communities".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britishcouncil.org/fivefilms4freedom/lovies/ |title=fiveFilms4freedom 2016 |publisher=British Council |date=17 March 2016<!-- https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-press-release-five-films-4-freedom-announces-first-global-lgbt-influencers-list-2016-03-17.pdf --> |access-date=28 August 2022 }}</ref>
Burston's novel ''The Black Path'' was published by Accent Press in September 2016 and was long-listed for ''The Guardian''{{'s}} "Not The Booker Prize".<ref name="DHH biog"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Jordison |first=Sam |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/aug/02/not-the-booker-prize-very-longlist-2016-votes-please |title=Not the Booker prize (very) longlist 2016: votes, please! |work=The Guardian |date=2 August 2016 |access-date=3 July 2019 }}</ref>
By October 2018, five novels and two short story collections by Burston had been published. In that month, ''The Bookseller'' reported that his sixth novel ''The Closer I Get'' was published by Orenda Books as part of a two-book deal.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cowdrey |first=Katherine |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/orenda-signs-burtstons-disturbingly-relevant-psych-thriller-874286 |title=Orenda signs psychological thriller from Paul Burston in Frankfurt deal |work=The Bookseller |date=15 October 2018 |access-date=3 July 2019 }}</ref> ''The Closer I Get'', published in July 2019, was partly inspired by the author's experience of online harassment.<ref>{{cite news |last=Burston |first=Paul |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/03/nightmares-flashbacks-and-constant-fear-how-a-stalker-brought-me-to-my-wits-end |title=Nightmares, flashbacks and constant fear: how a stalker brought me to my wits' end |work=The Guardian |date=3 July 2019 |access-date=3 July 2019 }}</ref>
In December 2021, ''The Bookseller'' announced that his memoir ''We Can Be Heroes'' would be published by Amazon imprint Little A in June 2023.<ref>{{cite news |first=Sian |last=Bayley |title=Little A acquires 'powerful' memoir from Polari Prize founder Burston |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/little-scoops-powerful-memoir-polari-prize-founder-burston-1294559 |work=The Bookseller |date=9 December 2021 |access-date=28 August 2022 }}</ref>
With New Yorker Michael-Anthony Nozzi and 1970s alternative drag performer Lavinia Co-op, Burston was interviewed by Alexis Gregory for his 2018 verbatim theatre work ''Riot Act''.<ref name="DHH biog"/><ref name="Queer Review"/><ref name="Lancashire Post">{{cite news |url=https://www.lep.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/riot-act-alexis-gregorys-hilarious-and-moving-exploration-of-lgbt-history-through-real-life-stories-comes-to-blackpool-3755982 |title=''Riot Act'': Alexis Gregory’s hilarious and moving exploration of LGBT history through real-life stories comes to Blackpool |first=Jack |last=Marshall |work=Lancashire Evening Post |date=8 July 2022 |access-date=28 August 2022 }}</ref>
==Bibliography==
===Non fiction=== * ''A Queer Romance: Lesbians, Gay Men and Popular Culture'', Routledge, 1995. {{ISBN|0-415-09618-9}} * ''What are you Looking at? Queer Sex, Style and Cinema'', Continuum International Publishing, 1995. {{ISBN|0-304-34300-5}} * 'Confessions of A Gay Film Critic' in ''Anti-Gay'' Freedom Editions, 1996 (ed. Mark Simpson) * ''Gutterheart: Life According to Marc Almond, 1981–1996'', Dunce Directive, 1997, {{ISBN|0-9522068-6-2}} * ''Queens' Country, A Tour Around the Gay Ghettos, Queer Spots and Camp Sights of Britain'', Little Brown, 1998. {{ISBN|0-349-11178-2}}
===Fiction=== * ''Shameless'', Abacus, 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-349-11479-8}} * ''Star People'', Little, Brown, 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-7515-3849-6}} * ''Lovers and Losers'', Sphere, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-7515-3864-9}} * ''The Gay Divorcee'' Sphere, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1-84744-208-6}} * ''The Black Path'' Accent Press, 2016, {{ISBN|9781786150455}} * ''The Closer I Get'' Orenda Books, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1912374779}}
===Edited works=== * ''Boys & Girls'' Glasshouse Books, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-907536-09-0}} * ''Men & Women'' Glasshouse Books, 2011, {{ISBN|978-1-907536-11-3}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website}} * [http://www.timeout.com/london/books/features/1764.html Interview] in ''Time Out'', 31 July 2006 * [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/paul-burston-gay-londons-jane-austen-1689019.html Interview] in ''The Independent on Sunday'' * [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diriye-osman/paul-burstons-polari-the-_b_5667880.html] in ''The Huffington Post''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burston, Paul}} Category:Living people Category:People from Bridgend Category:English male journalists Category:People educated at Ysgol Brynteg Category:English male non-fiction writers Category:Welsh LGBTQ rights activists Category:Writers from York Category:Year of birth missing (living people)