Overview

• Prize leaders apologised for the hurt caused and said they are consulting authors, judges, stakeholders and funders after the dispute over John Boyne’s inclusion.
• Sixteen of 24 longlisted authors and two judges withdrew, and a statement signed by more than 800 writers and industry workers urged Boyne’s removal.
• Boyne had described himself as a 'TERF' in a July Irish Independent column defending JK Rowling, a declaration that intensified objections to his longlisting for Earth.
• Polari initially defended its selection on merit before reversing course, pausing this year’s competition and announcing a governance and management review.
• Boyne criticised the cancellation as 'self-cancellation' and said he would ask judges not to consider his book if other authors returned, while trans nominee Dr Avi Ben‑Zeev called the pause 'heartbreaking' and described it as another form of erasure.