Seven vie for new radical book prize

The Alliance of Radical Booksellers is putting up a £1,000 prize for the winning author, whose name will be announced on May 1.

The award aims to promote the publication of radical books, raise the profile of radical publishing and reward exceptional work. It's being sponsored by booksellers such as News From Nowhere and Housmans, publisher Five Leaves and media partners, the Morning Star included.

The shortlisted books, some of which have won praise on our books page, focus on a range of concerns from a socialist, anarchist, environmental, feminist or anti-racist perspective.

They'll be judged by a panel including children's novelist and poet Michael Rosen, lecturer and feminist author Nina Power and the director of Liverpool's annual Writing on the Wall Festival Madeline Heneghan.

The award ceremony will take place appropriately enough on May Day evening at the Bread and Roses pub in Clapham, south London.

Housman's Nik Gorecki says the award reflects the current renaissance in radical publishing.

"It is the only book prize in the UK with what could be described as an explicitly left-wing entry criteria. The central involvement of radical bookshops in the establishment and running of the Bread and Roses award also really sets it apart from other book prizes."

The shortlist

- Counterpower: Making Change Happen by Tim Gee (New Internationalist)

- Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber (Melville House)

- Tweets From Tahrir: Egypt's Revolution As It Unfolded, edited by Nadia Idle and Alex Nunns (OR Books)

- Chavs: The Demonization Of The Working Class by Owen Jones (Verso)

- Magical Marxism by Andy Merrifield (Pluto Presss)

- Penny Red: Notes From The New Age Of Dissent by Laurie Penny (Pluto Press)

- Treasure Islands: Tax Havens And The Men Who Stole The World by Nicholas Shaxson (Vintage)

For more information on the award, go to: www.radicalbooksellers.co.uk