Novelist and poet Paul Bailey dies at 87

The twice Booker prize-shortlisted author was best known for his novels, which included At the Jerusalem and Gabriel’s Lament

The twice Booker-shortlisted writer Paul Bailey died on Sunday aged 87, his agent has confirmed. He was best known for his novels At the Jerusalem, Peter Smart’s Confessions and Gabriel’s Lament.

As well as fiction, Bailey published poetry and nonfiction, including his 1990 memoir An Immaculate Mistake, about growing up gay in a family who believed he was “not natural”, and a 2001 biography of three gay entertainers from the 20th century, Three Queer Lives. Across genres, Bailey’s work often considers what it means to be an outsider: on the fringes of society or shunned by family. He is sometimes seen as part of the “Catholic novel” tradition, after converting as an adult.

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