Overview

You've heard the damning statistics: the number of working-class creatives has halved since the 1970s; 80% of journalists come from upper-class backgrounds; 78% of working-class writers say their background has hindered their careers. In this essay collection, 33 writers tell their side of the story. From novelists to journalists, ghostwriters to games writers, artists, screenwriters and poets, these pieces unravel the knotted subject of class, shaped by lived connections spanning the UK, Ireland, Pakistan, Somalia, Canada, the USA, the Netherlands, Singapore, the Czech Republic and beyond. Together, they argue for reinclusion. Not just for the survival of working-class writers, but for the survival of writing itself.

Full Product Details

Author:   Kate Pasola
Publisher:   Indie Novella
Imprint:   Indie Novella
ISBN:  

9781738442188

ISBN 10:   1738442187
Pages:   298
Publication Date:   09 March 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Foreword – Bread Alone 9 Natasha Carthew Introduction 12 Kate Pasola some perfumes smell foul 16 Adam Nasser Benmakhlouf The Likes Of Us 22 Becka White Making Art on Pobre Math 29 John Pucay Catholic guilt 40 Kate Pasola Hidden Latitudes 49 Macha Lopez How to Keep Writing with a Day Job:  A 10-step Guide 59 Keshawna Mooney A History of Writing: For Imogen 67 Damien Mosley Words Beyond Walls 76 Iqbal Hussain Dying is an Expensive Business 83 Cath Holland the pseudonym writer 91 Zoya Raza-Sheikh The fantasy gap 99 Valerie Estrina Sharp Enough to Open Doors: On Writing,  Passing, and the Cost of Getting In 107 Laura Kennedy The Working-Class Writer’s Guide To The End Of The Universe 119 Jakob Straub What Box Contains That? 126 Rosie Aspinall Priest The Retreat 130 Jade Green An actor writing 137 Clive Hammond NO UNSOLICITED SCRIPTS 149 Sophie Dodds How to Know When You’re a Writer 158 Ashley Archambault So gauche! 166 Joanna Whitehead White-collar 176 Mariane Barlaan ‘Ow am ya?’ 183 Joseph Lee April 29th Reflections 191 Abraham Adeyemi The Laptop in the Coffee Shop is Never Mine 208 Kai Conibear Alas, I became a writer 216 Zeynab Mohamed Where are all the novels about  working-class women from the countryside? 223 Amanda Gibbons The Registrar in Gibraltar 235 Daniela Domin Kankova Venus Fly Trap 241 Joana Lopategui Clements A working-class historian 264 Eric Lee Built to Forget You 270 Claire Harnett-Mann Volvo, for life 279 Niamh Cassidy It’s Bein So Cheery That Keeps Ye Goin 288 Hayley Jane Dawson A Heretical Essay In Fragments 310 Paz Kaiba Acknowledgements 319

Reviews

""These stories will make you think in new ways about disparity, poverty and disadvantage - our working-class experiences stitched together to create a fabric as strong and robust as the writers who created them."" Natasha Carthew ""Bread Alone is such an important and galvanising collection. The essays are honest, moving, and full of heart; a reminder of how much creativity thrives in community and how vital it is that all voices are heard, celebrated, and supported. Each piece offers a fresh, deeply human perspective on what it means to write against the odds."" Ashley Hickson-Lovence ""We have insights and experiences of immense value that cash cannot buy. Take a seat."" So gauche! Joanna Whitehead

""These stories will make you think in new ways about disparity, poverty and disadvantage – our working-class experiences stitched together to create a fabric as strong and robust as the writers who created them."" Natasha Carthew ""We have insights and experiences of immense value that cash cannot buy. Take a seat."" So gauche! Joanna Whitehead

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions