Announcing the 2024 Bread & Roses Award Winner!

The panel of judges for the 2024 Bread and Roses Award, organised by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers and hosted by Lighthouse Books, are thrilled to announce the winner of this year’s prize. By unanimous decision, the judges have selected Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare by Dr Annabel Sowemimo (Wellcome Collection) as this year’s winner. The Award celebrates radical, accessible, and politically-left non-fiction which offers new perspectives and insights.

The judges would like to offer their heartfelt congratulations to Dr Annabel Sowemimo. The judges said: “Divided fit all of the criteria for the Bread and Roses Award. It is unique in its radical nature and widely encompassing in its coverage of the issues in the healthcare system. It contributes greatly and robustly to the discussion of racism in UK healthcare, particularly given that this issue is most often discussed in mainstream spaces with reference to the US. Sowemimo discusses racism and inequality in healthcare through personal experiences and rigorous research that is resonant across generations. This book is not only timely, but also indispensable to those who work in healthcare, care about healthcare, and interact with healthcare in the UK - which is to say every one of us.”

Although the decision to select the winner was unanimous, it was a difficult decision to only select one winner. The judges would like to highlight two further books: I Feel No Peace: Rohingya Fleeing Over Seas & Rivers by Kaamil Ahmed (Hurst) and Friends of Israel: The Backlash Against Palestine Solidarity by Hil Aked (Verso). The judges said “At this time of genuine terror, loss of life and political strife across the world and in the UK, the judges feel that these books are indispensable in understanding how we got to this point and where we can go now. They shed light on issues that are mired in miscommunication and disinformation. We sincerely hope that they will be read widely and used to provide further nuance to the issues of migration, foreign relations, and international justice and human rights.”

The winner was announced on 16 September 2024 during a virtual ceremony hosted by Lighthouse Books, and Dr Sowemimo will receive a £500 prize.

Established in 2012 by radical London bookshop, Housemans, the Bread and Roses Award has since been run in collaboration with Five Leaves Bookshop and Lighthouse - Edinburgh’s Radical Bookshop. Previous winners of the Award include Aviah Sarah Day and Shanice Octavia McBean, Florian Grosset, Johny Pitts, Reni Eddo-Lodge and, in its very first year, David Graeber.

Full 2024 shortlist (in alphabetical order):

- I Feel No Peace: Rohingya Fleeing Over Seas & Rivers by Kaamil Ahmed (Hurst)

- Friends of Israel: The Backlash Against Palestine Solidarity by Hil Aked (Verso)

- Empire of Normality : Neurodiversity and Capitalism by Robert Chapman (Pluto)

- Shattered Nation: Inequality and the Geography of A Failing State by Danny Dorling (Verso)

- Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art from the Women’s Protests in Iran edited by Malu Halasa (Saqi)

- Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare by Annabel Sowemimo (Wellcome Collection)