Affairs, personal ads, vampires, lesbian mums and love in a cold climate

Another great evening's entertainment at Polari last night - and this time I took two "Polari virgins" with me, Paul and Jim. They were unsure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised by the prestigious venue, and by the friendliness of people. We were joined at our table by one of the regulars, the lovely Jeannie (who as far as I know is not gay and just stumbled across Polari one night, living as she does on the South Bank nearby).

Paul, resplendent in maroon shiny suit and top hat, introduced our opening reader, the brand new writer Adair Murray. Reading from his first published novel 1-4-3, the story of a loving gay couple who have been together for four years yet are both actually in relationships with others, young Mr Murray evoked some nods of recognition as he described the passion - and the dilemma - the boys experience. It moved our Paul to buy a copy of the book, which Adair duly signed. Available from Lulu publishing website.

Next up was a familiar favourite of mine Val [V.G.] Lee, author of one of my favourite collections of short stories As You Step Outside, which I read last year. Val is not just an excellent author, but also a very funny lady - regaling us with her experiences of lesbian life in Hastings, and of writing and answering personal ads in the specialist and rather dour Kenric magazine (the network of social groups for "women who play pool"). She chose to read an extract from her early novel Diary of a Provincial Lesbian, a very funny piece about Margaret and her sometimes stressful relationship with Georgie as they approach their tenth anniversary. Add into the pot a long-lost (and as it turns out should have remained so) schoolmate who comes to stay - with unpleasant consequences. Hilarious! The Diary of a Provincial Lesbian is available from Foyles.

Changing the tone somewhat, Paul read an extract from a short story he contributed to a new compilation called Bloody Vampires. Taking a slight twist on the genre, his story The Gift deals with another blood-related subject HIV - excellent stuff! Read more at Glasshouse Books.



After the break it was the turn of Oldie columnist and writer Sam Taylor. Her new novel East of Islington was described by the Independent thus:

Prudently labelled as "fiction", Sam Taylor's sketches from the fringes of inner London life have all the offbeat appeal of an urban Archers crossed with Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City.

East of Islington is peopled with darkly comic creations, many based on real-life denizens of the media. It offers a hilarious view of a generation of students who are - twenty years later - waking up to the fact that their lives remain east of where they'd like to be.

She certainly captures the "types" brilliantly! Our audience was in fits of laughter at her tale of the straight couple who decide that the term "special friends welcome" in a Sitges hotel advert must mean they can bring their dogs (one of whom is appropriately named "Cruiser"). You can imagine the rest... Buy a copy of East of Islington

Our headline reader was quite a significant "first", even for "London's peerless gay literary salon". Described by Beryl Bainbridge, no less, as "One of our great writers, of the calibre of Graham Greene and Nabokov", Francis King CBE is a veteran author of fifty novels over eight decades - his first was published in 1946. For some years he was drama critic for the Sunday Telegraph and he reviews fiction regularly for the Spectator. He is a former winner of the Somerset Maugham Prize, of the Katherine Mansfield Prize and of the Yorkshire Post Novel of the Year Award, and was long-listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize.



A distinguished and stately man, he enthralled us with some background to his new novel Cold Snap (set, as the title suggests, in the long hard winter of 1946/7) and about attitudes to homosexuality and relationships in general at than time. His extract told the story of a young student Michael and his cousin Christine, and their relationship with German prisoners of war from a nearby camp. The story of Michael's love for the mortally ill Klaus was poignant and illustrated perfectly the sheer frustration gay people had at the time. Cold Snap is available from Foyles.

I loved it, the boys loved the evening - and a very full house appreciated this master of literature making a rare and welcome appearance! I can't wait to see how Mr Burston is going to try and top this one!

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