Bread and Roses Award

Bread and Roses Award
DateAnnual
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented byAlliance of Radical Booksellers
First award2012
Websitebreadandrosesprize.wordpress.com

The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing is a British literary award presented for the best radical book published each year, with "radical book" defined as one that is "informed by socialist, anarchist, environmental, feminist and anti-racist concerns"[1] – in other words, ideologically left books.[2] The award believes itself to be the UK's only left-wing book prize.[2] Books must be written, or largely written by authors or editors normally living in the UK, or international books available for purchase in the UK.[1] Winning authors receive £1,000.[1] The Bread and Roses Award is sponsored by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers and has no corporate sponsorship.[2][3]

Bread and Roses is a phrase from the Bread and Roses strike of 1912 among textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In a song – "Bread and Roses" – commemorating the event, the strikers supposedly struck "for bread, and for roses too."

The inaugural prize was announced 1 May 2012, on International Workers' Day, at the Bread and Roses pub in Clapham, London.[2]

Winners and shortlists

YearAuthorWorkResultRef.
2012 David GraeberDebt: The First 5,000 YearsWon[2]
Tim GeeCounterpower: Making Change HappenShortlisted[4]
Nadia Idle and Alex Nunns (editors)Tweets from Tahrir: Egypt's Revolution as it Unfolded, in the Words of the People Who Made ItShortlisted
Owen JonesChavs: The Demonization of the Working ClassShortlisted
Andy MerrifieldMagical MarxismShortlisted
Laurie PennyPenny Red: Notes from the New Age of DissentShortlisted
Nicholas ShaxsonTreasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the WorldShortlisted
2013 Hsiao-Hung PaiScattered Sand: The Story of China's Rural MigrantsWon[5]
Federico Campagna and Emanuele Campiglio (editors)What We Are Fighting For: A Radical Collective ManifestoShortlisted
Danny DorlingNo-Nonsense Guide to EqualityShortlisted
Donny GlucksteinA People's History of the Second World War: Resistance Versus EmpireShortlisted
Eveline LubbersSecret Manoeuvres in the Dark: Corporate and Police Spying on ActivistsShortlisted
Paul MasonWhy It's Still Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global RevolutionsShortlisted
Daniel Poyner (editor)Autonomy: The Cover Designs of Anarchy 1961–1970Shortlisted
Dan SwainAlienation: An Introduction to Marx's TheoryShortlisted
2014 Joe GlentonSoldier Box: Why I Won't Return to the War on TerrorWon[6]
Rob Evans and Paul LewisUndercover: The True Story of Britain's Secret PoliceShortlisted
Oscar Guardiola-RiveraStory of a Death Foretold: The Coup against Salvador Allende, 11 September 1973Shortlisted
Barry Kushner and Saville KushnerWho Needs the Cuts?: Myths of the Economic CrisisShortlisted
Katharine QuarmbyNo Place to Call Home: Inside the Real Lives of Gypsies and TravellersShortlisted
Andrew SimmsCancel the Apocalypse: The New Path to ProsperityShortlisted
Imogen TylerRevolting Subjects: Social Abjection and Resistance in Neoliberal BritainShortlisted
2015 Helena Earnshaw and Angharad Penrhyn JonesHere We Stand: Women Changing The WorldWon[7]
Ha-Joon ChangEconomics: The User's GuideShortlisted[8]
Malu Halasa, Zaher Omareen, and Nawara MahfoudSyria Speaks: Art and Culture from the FrontlineShortlisted[8]
Tansy E. HoskinsStitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of FashionShortlisted[8]
Ken LoachThe Spirit of '45Shortlisted[8]
Richard SeymourThe Meaning of David CameronShortlisted[8]
S. M. R. AnisThe Left BehindShortlisted[8]
2016 Jeremy SeabrookThe Song of the Shirt: The High Price of Cheap Garments, from Blackburn to BangladeshWon[9]
Phil Chamberlain and Dave SmithBlacklisted: The Secret War Between Big Business and Union ActivistsShortlisted[10]
Kate EvansRed Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa LuxemburgShortlisted
Mel EvansArtwash: Big Oil and the ArtsShortlisted
Rhian E. JonesPetticoat Heroes: Gender, Culture and Popular Protest in the Rebecca RiotsShortlisted
Katrine MarçalWho Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner? A Story About Women and EconomicsShortlisted
2017 Alex NunnsThe Candidate: Jeremy Corbyn's Improbable Path to PowerWon[11]
Dawn FosterLean OutShortlisted[12]
Andrea NeedhamThe Hammer Blow: How 10 Women Disarmed a War PlaneShortlisted
Lara PawsonThis is the Place to BeShortlisted
See Red Members & Sheila RowbothamSee Red Women's Workshop – Feminist Posters 1974-1990Shortlisted
Jack ShenkerThe Egyptians: A Radical StoryShortlisted
Gary YoungeAnother Day in the Death of AmericaShortlisted
2018 Stuart Hall and Bill SchwarzFamiliar Stranger: A Life Between Two IslandsWon[13]
Reni Eddo-LodgeWhy I'm No Longer Talking to White People About RaceWon
Kapka KassabovaBorder: A Journey to the Edge of EuropeShortlisted
Heather McDaid (Editor), Laura Jones (Editor)Nasty WomenShortlisted
Vickie Cooper, David Whyte (editors)The Violence of AusterityShortlisted
Dave RandallSound System: The Political Power of MusicShortlisted
2019 Liz FeketeEurope's Fault Lines: Racism and the Rise of the RightWon[14]
AkalaNatives: Race and Class in the Ruins of EmpireShortlisted
June Eric-Udorie (Editor)Can We All Be Feminists?: Seventeen Writers on Intersectionality, Identity and Finding the Right Way Forward for FeminismShortlisted
Juno Mac and Molly SmithRevolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' RightsShortlisted
Daniel TrillingLights in the Distance: Exile and Refuge at the Borders of EuropeShortlisted
Mike WendlingAlt Right: From 4chan to the White HouseShortlisted
2020 Johny PittsAfropean: Notes from Black EuropeWon[15]
Frances RyanCrippled: Austerity and the Demonization of Disabled PeopleShortlisted
Becky Alexis-MartinDisarming Doomsday: The Human Impact of Nuclear Weapons since HiroshimaShortlisted
Ruth KinnaThe Government of No One: The Theory and Practice of AnarchismShortlisted
Priyamvada GopalInsurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British DissentShortlisted
Kate CharlesworthSensible Footwear: A Girl's Guide. A graphic guide to lesbian and queer history 1950-2020Shortlisted
2021 Ellen CliffordThe War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human CatastropheWon[16]
Stella DadzieA Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery and ResistanceShortlisted[17]
Marcus Gilroy-WareAfter the Fact? The Truth About Fake NewsShortlisted
Emma GriffinBread Winner: An Intimate History of the Victorian EconomyShortlisted
Owen HatherleyRed Metropolis: Socialism and the Government of LondonShortlisted
Dan HicksThe Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural RestitutionShortlisted
Olivette OteleAfrican Europeans: An Untold HistoryShortlisted
2022 Florian GrossetThe Chagos Betrayal: How Britain Robbed an Island and Made Its People DisappearWon[18]
Koshka Duff et alAbolishing the PoliceShortlisted
Hsiao-Hung PaiCiao Ousmane: The Hidden Exploitation of Italy's Migrant WorkersShortlisted
Gargi Bhattacharyya et alEmpire's Endgame: Racism and the British StateShortlisted
Matthew Brown and Rhian E JonesPaint Your Town RedShortlisted
2023
Aviah Day and Shanice McBeanAbolition RevolutionWon[19]
Jeffrey BoakyeI Heard What You SaidShortlisted
Ione GamblePoor Little Sick GirlsShortlisted
Elias Jahshan (editor)This Arab Is QueerShortlisted
Kojo KoramUncommon WealthShortlisted
2024
Annabel SowemimoDivided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise HealthcareWon[20]
Kaamil AhmedI Feel No Peace: Rohingya Fleeing Over Seas & RiversShortlisted
Hil AkedFriends of Israel: The Backlash Against Palestine SolidarityShortlisted
Robert ChapmanEmpire of Normality: Neurodiversity and CapitalismShortlisted
Danny DorlingShattered Nation: Inequality and the Geography of A Failing StateShortlisted
Malu HalasaWoman Life Freedom: Voices and Art from the Women’s Protests in IranShortlisted
2025
Skye Arundhati Thomas and Izabella ScottPleasure Gardens: Blackouts and the Logic of Crisis in Kashmir Won[21]
Marianne BrookerIntervalsWon
Janet Alder and Dan GlazebrookDefiance: Racial Injustice, Police Brutality, A Sister’s Fight for the TruthShortlisted
Marijam DidEverything to Play For: How Videogames are Changing the WorldShortlisted
Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina MuhammadPoor ArtistsShortlisted
Kalwant BhopalRace and Education: Reproducing White Supremacy in BritainShortlisted
Danny DorlingSeven Children: Inequality and Britain’s Next GenerationShortlisted
Jake HallShoulder to Shoulder: A Queer History of Solidarity, Coalition and ChaosShortlisted

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bread and Roses Award, official website.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Alison Flood (6 March 2012). "New prize for radical writing announces shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  3. ↑ Alliance of Radical Booksellers, official website.
  4. ↑ Counterpower: Making Change Happen, New Internationalist
  5. ↑ Scattered Sand: The Story of China's Rural Migrants, Verso Books
  6. ↑ Lisa Campbell (3 May 2014). "Shortlist for Bread and Roses Award revealed". The Bookseller. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Bread and Roses (2015-05-10). "'Here We Stand: Women Changing The World' wins the Bread & Roses Award 2015". breadandrosesprize.wordpress.com. Bread and Roses Award. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bread and Roses (2015-03-11). "The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing 2015 Shortlist". breadandrosesprize.wordpress.com. The Bread and Roses Award. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  9. ↑ "'The Song of the Shirt: The High Price of Cheap Garments, from Blackburn to Bangladesh' by Jeremy Seabrook wins the Bread & Roses Award for Radical Publishing 2016". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. May 8, 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing 2016 Shortlist". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. March 21, 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "'The Candidate: Jeremy Corbyn's Improbable Path to Power' by Alex Nunns wins the Bread & Roses Award for Radical Publishing 2017". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing 2017 Shortlist". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  13. ↑ "Joint winners of the Bread & Roses Award 2018 announced". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. 3 June 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Winners of the Bread & Roses Award 2019 announced". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "'Afropean: Notes from Black Europe' by Johny Pitts Winner of the Bread & Roses Award 2020". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Clifford wins Bread & Roses Award for Radical Publishing". The Bookseller. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  17. ↑ "Clifford, Dadzie and Hatherley shortlisted for Bread and Roses Award". The Bookseller. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  18. ↑ "'The Chagos Betrayal : How Britain Robbed an Island and Made Its People Disappear' by Florian Grosset is winner of the Bread and Roses Award 2022". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  19. ↑ "Announcing the 2023 Bread & Roses Award winner!". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  20. ↑ "Announcing the 2024 Bread & Roses Award winner!". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  21. ↑ "Announcing the 2025 Bread & Roses Award winner!". The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Bread and Roses Award. 15 September 2025. Retrieved 18 August 2025.