British Working-Class and Radical Writing Since 1700

An essential history of how literature became a battleground for class struggle and political dissent in Britain.

At a time when working-class writing is gaining long-overdue recognition, British Working-Class and Radical Writing Since 1700 explores the intersection of class and literature over more than three centuries. This volume brings together leading scholars to examine the problems faced by working-class writers and the impact of class on themes such as feminism and anti-imperialism. Spanning from early laboring-class poets to contemporary memoirists, the collection revisits figures like John Clare and Ethel Carnie Holdsworth and also recovers overlooked voices and texts.

Covering poetry, fiction, drama, and political writing, the book investigates the relationship between class and literary production, offering fresh perspectives on how working-class and radical literature has shaped British cultural history. From the Romantic-era resistance of laboring poets to mid-century miners’ novels and the evolution of contemporary working-class memoirs, these essays reveal how literature has served as both a site of struggle and a tool of empowerment.
 

John Goodridge is emeritus professor of English at Nottingham Trent University, president of the John Clare Society, and a fellow of the English Association. He is the general editor of English Labouring Class Poets and coeditor of A Cambridge History of Working-Class Writing, and he edits and principally writes the online Catalogue of Labouring-class Poetry.