Author Jon Ransom on queer desire and reclaiming labels in his Polari Book Prize-shortlisted novel, ‘The Gallopers’

Ransom explores the world of a young queer man in love in rural England in his latest novel

The winner of the 2023 Polari First Book Prize for his novel Whale Tattoo, Jon Ransom grew up in Norfolk, U.K., the setting of his works — both his debut, and his second novel, The Gallopers (Muswell Press). What connects these two books is their peculiar circumstance — their queer protagonists are working-class men, and the fundamental, personal freedom of being themselves costs them.

Like a funambulist, Ransom balances his writing voice while sketching an engaging storyline that centralises conversations on politics, queerness, and memory efficiently. The Gallopers is on the shortlist for this year’s Polari Book Prize, awarded to LGBTQIA+ literature published in the U.K. and Ireland, the winner of which will be announced on November 29. In an email interview, Ransom discusses the themes and conflicts his works wrestle with. Edited excerpts:

What compelled you to write ‘The Gallopers’?

Landscape is central to my storytelling. I grew up in Norfolk, beneath huge skies that command the restless people who reside there. Their untold stories ebb and flow with a curious rhythm that intrigues me. One such history is of the big North Sea flood of 1953, the aftermath of which became the backbone for The Gallopers. The flood took many lives and othered the land in such a way that it became the ideal setting to explore both the exterior and interior world of a young queer man, who is troubled by his sissy-sounding voice.

Could you take us through the world-building of this book?

Eli Stone lives with his Aunt Dreama alongside a cursed field where the townies have turned against them. Mourning the loss of his mother, who was washed away in the flood, Eli struggles to navigate a world he doesn’t understand, while caught in a complicated relationship with an older man. Then, the showman Jimmy Smart appears, absent from his own life, turning the gallopers, and untroubled by the sound of Eli’s voice. As Eli learns where words really come from, and Jimmy unravels his own queerness, the men find themselves propelled by a desire without a name.

Besides finding oneself placeless, ‘The Gallopers’ is also a story of grief and loss. Your thoughts? 

The Gallopers is very much about grief and loss. Underlying this is a sense of illusion, what is real and imagined. What happens to the disappeared? Eli and Jimmy share much more than their desire; they are both othered by differing circumstances — Eli with his inherent queerness, and Jimmy by his inability to reconcile with the showman’s life, where traditions are unmovable. Their placelessness unites them in unexpected ways.

Often Eli fails to give a name to an expression or a feeling. Was it a way to defamiliarise the familiar? 

Eli is mesmerised by words yet baffled by their sound. Something he believes is on account of his “queer” voice. His understanding of language and emotion often don’t correlate. He’s unable to sense how exactly what he feels can be conveyed to the world with meaning. Jimmy Smart helps Eli unravel the distance between the two, determining his future as a playwright.

Could you discuss the nuanced usage of “sissy” in your books?

‘Sissy’ is an expression Eli both inherited as a young queer man living in 1950s Norfolk and a word he specifically reclaims to describe the sound of his voice, which for a time he sees as the centre of his queerness. He never questions his desire for other men. In both The Whale Tattoo and The Gallopers, the protagonists live in a rural landscape dominated by hypermasculinity — fathers, brothers, and men with rules they don’t understand. If Eli struggles with his voice, Joe (The Whale Tattoo) battles with grief and mental illness, yet neither young man ever really questions his sexuality itself; just the choices and limitations decided by the world around them.

How does it feel to be celebrated by the Polari Prize twice in a row?

The Polari Prize is the only book award in the U.K. specifically for emerging and established LGBTQIA+ writers. As such, it creates an important platform, bringing together diverse voices that often remain in the margins. I’ve been fortunate to have my writing recognised two years consecutively, and the award has certainly carried my work into new creative spaces. Recently, I’ve adapted The Whale Tattoo for the screen. It will be Tom Brittney’s debut directorial feature.

The reviewer is a Delhi-based queer writer and freelance journalist. Instagram/X: @writerly_life

Published - November 15, 2024 09:47 am IST