First time author Richard Hall from Swindon has just been long-listed for the prestigious Polari First Book Prize. We spoke to Richard back at the launch of his book I’m Fine’ about his book, a year on, and his must read memoir is being recognised by the annual UK literary award launched in 2011 to celebrate debut books by writers born or working in the UK and Ireland that explore the LGBTQ+ experience.
Richard Hall’s I’m Fine, a powerful memoir of trust, betrayal and exploitation, has been long-listed for the Polari First Book Prize.
In 1996, aged just fourteen, Hall met a man who would change his life. More than twenty-five years later, he went to the police. The man was subsequently jailed for twenty-two years.
Hounded at school for being gay, Hall was a vulnerable teenager searching for acceptance and a place to belong. In this frank, moving and unexpectedly humorous memoir, he revisits the events that shaped his childhood and explores the lasting consequences of exploitation, misplaced trust and years of believing that what happened was somehow his fault.
‘Honest storytelling at its finest’ Attitude
‘An incredibly powerful memoir. The courage, fortitude and fire it takes to share a story of
this magnitude is nothing short of miraculous’ Diriye Osman
Richard Hall was born in Kent and grew up in Swindon. He now
lives in Malaysia with his husband and well-travelled cats, the
eldest of which has lived in four different countries.
Having trained as a youth worker and participatory artist, he turned his creative attention to writing during a particularly difficult period of his life. After contributing to a lengthy investigation and court case relating to the abuse he suffered at a young age, he would now like to find ways to support other survivors and victims of sexual and domestic abuse.
Check out the first book of Swindon author, Richard Hall.
I’m Fine is the story of what came before the police: how a teenage boy who had been hounded at school because he was gay walked into a world where he thought he would be safe, but which he was too inexperienced to navigate. In his naivety, he thought what happened next was normal, or somehow his fault.
In a vivid, compellingly readable account, Hall recreates with unnerving frankness – and with surprising bursts of humour – the year in his childhood when the attention of older admirers went to his head, with lasting consequences for the rest of his life.
I’m Fine is not just the intensely moving story of one mixed-up boy’s private hell. It also stands as a powerful warning about predators operating with the impunity conferred on them by ‘community’ status.
Purchase on Amazon – Click HERE.
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