Writing and Publishing Radical History

The Bristol Radical History Group has produced seventy publications, mostly within the Radical Pamphleteer series, with several more pending. These honour and continue the tradition of the troublesome chapbooks, broadsides, and seditious tracts from the earliest days of mass printing.

The series was launched in 2008, with Mark Steeds’ Cry Freedom, Cry Seven Stars, a tribute to the anti-slavery campaigner Thomas Clarkson, active in Bristol during the 18^th century. Since then, a collection of pamphlets has appeared on an astonishing variety of topics, from nautical women to radical brewing, from state spies to suffragettes, from social crime to the labour movement to literary history. Through the pamphlets, we can peer through the windows of workhouses and factories, and hear the voices of pilots, anti-fascists, black GIs, poachers, and others so often silenced in mainstream accounts.

In this session, members of the Bristol Radical History Group will talk about our approach to writing and publishing. That is, how our publications relate to Bristol, how we situate ourselves within traditions of radicalism, and how we take a history-from-below approach. This will include discussion about radical writing and the publishing process. We will reflect on the value of researching and revealing overlooked histories through the archives and share some tips on writing your own radical history.