We are delighted to announce that UNHEARD: THE MEDICAL PRACTICE OF SILECNING by Rageshri Dhairyawan and SHOULDER TO SHOULDER by Jake Hall have both been longlisted for the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing 2025!

The Bread and Roses Award is a book prize with a difference: presented by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, and without the backing of corporate sponsors, the award seeks to recognise and celebrate excellence in the field of radical political non-fiction.

Nominations are invited from national and international publishers – see our frequently asked questions page for further information. An award of £500 will be made each year to the winning writer. A presentation ceremony is held at the ARB London Radical Bookfair.

The board decided to release this longlist at the start of Independent Bookshop Week to highlight the importance of independent bookshops, particularly radical bookshops, for celebrating books which speak to the present political moment.

The Bread and Roses Award, presented by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers with admin support from Lighthouse Bookshop, celebrates radical, accessible, politically left non-fiction that offers new perspectives and insights. Over 100 books were sent by publishers for consideration, from publishing houses big and small across the industry, including Verso, Bloomsbury, Saqi, Peepal Tree Press, and Canongate.

The books chosen this year cover a wide array of topics which are critical to the present political discussion in the UK. Among them are social inequality, police violence, digital innovation, health politics, climate change, marginalised histories of identity, feminism for all, and the experience of forced displacement and refuge.