The 2012 Award
The Bread and Roses Award will be first presented in 2012 for the best radical book of 2011. Nominations for books published in 2011 are now open and will close at the end of December 2011. Nominations are invited from national and international publishers – see our frequently asked questions page for further information.
An award of £1000 will be made to a writer of fiction (including work aimed at young people), non-fiction, graphic material or poetry.
A shortlist of up to six books will be announced in March of each year and promoted through bookshops and the radical press. Shortlisted books will:
- be informed by socialist, anarchist, environmental, feminist and anti-racist concerns
- inspire, support or report on political and/or personal change
- be accessible and readable by the interested reader
- relate to global, national, local or specialist areas of interest
A presentation ceremony will be held around May 1st in London.
A panel of judges is chosen each year to shortlist submissions and make the final award.
The judges for the 2012 Bread and Roses Award will be:
Michael Rosen
Michael Rosen was born in 1946 in North London. One of the best-known figures in the children’s book world, he is renowned for his work as a poet, performer, broadcaster and scriptwriter. As an author and by selecting other writers’ works for anthologies he has been involved with over 140 books. He lectures and teaches in universities on children’s literature, reading and writing. Michael is a familiar voice to BBC listeners and is currently presenting Word of Mouth, the magazine programme that looks at the English language and the way we use it. He visits schools with his one-man show to enthuse children with his passion for books and poetry. He was one of the first poets to make visits to schools throughout the UK and has also visited schools throughout the world.
Michael started writing poetry when he was twelve years old, creating satirical poems about people he knew. His parents, who were both teachers and distinguished educators, were from the Jewish East End tradition, their parents and/or grandparents coming from Poland, Russia and Romania.
Nina Power
Dr Nina Power is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Roehampton University. She is the co-editor of Alain Badiou’s On Beckett (Clinamen), and the author of several articles on European Philosophy, atomism, pedagogy, art and politics. Her book ‘One-Dimensional Woman’ is out in November 2009 from Zero Books.
Nina also writes for several magazines, including New Statesman, New Humanist, Cabinet, Radical Philosophy and The Philosophers’ Magazine. She is reviews editor for The Philosophers’ Magazine and also runs a film club (Kino Fist) in her spare time. She is based in London.
Madeline Heneghan
Madeline Heneghan is the Festival Director for Writing on the Wall, which produces Liverpool’s annual WoW Festival and a programme of activity that celebrates writing in all of its forms. The WoW Festival has a reputation for promoting radical writing and progressive ideas. Previously Madeline was the Black and Racial Minority Action Plan Coordinator for Liverpool and an Equalities practitioner with Innervison. For her MA thesis Madeline undertook primary research in South Central Los Angeles, investigating the causes of the 1991 uprisings. She has lectured in Black Studies at Hope University and Crime & Social Justice at Edge Hill University.
