Begin augustus kreeg John Boyne bericht van het University College Dublin (UCD) dat hij de James Joyce Award zou krijgen. Op X publiceert Boyne de begeleidende brief die vol loftuitingen staat. In augustus werd Boyne ook het middelpunt van een actie om hem uit te sluiten van de Polari Prizes, een prijs voor LGBTQ+-literature uit het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Ierland, omdat hij zich eerder solidair had verklaard met J.K. Rowling en zichzelf een fellow Terf (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) noemde. Dat had gevolgen, schrijft Boyne die de organisatie van lafheid beschuldigt:

In early August, I received this letter from UCD, awarding me the James Joyce Award, “the highest honour any student body in Ireland can bestow.” Their reasons for giving me this prize were deeply moving and I felt honoured.

By an unhappy coincidence, the Polari Prize nonsense blew up the following day and, from my very first reply, my messages over the next 6 weeks were completely ignored, as were messages from my agent.

This morning, under threat of legal action, they finally deigned to respond, simply informing me that they were withdrawing the award.

How any organisation can say that my “insistence on empathy, justice, and authenticity is more vital than ever”, that I “confront uncomfortable truths with courage”, and that for “college students navigating questions of identity, belonging, and ethical responsibility, your work is not only moving, it is essential” and then rescind their prize when I demonstrate those very qualities is baffling.

Their cowardice is disappointing, but at least gives me another opportunity to be clear:

Awards are ultimately meaningless. The books matter. Readers matter. And if using one’s platform to defend the rights of women, children, lesbians and gay men means that some plaque doesn’t end up on my wall… well, I won’t be losing any sleep over it.

In 2008 kreeg J.K. Rowling de James Joyce Award.

Hieronder de originele toekenning per brief:

(foto, screenshot van YouTube-account Jaipur Literature Festival)