The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses 2025 Longlist

We are beyond pleased to finally share the 10 books comprising this year’s RofC longlist. They are listed below in no particular order.

To read the full longlist announcement, (as well as consistent small press news + general musings) visit our Substack. That is where the shortlist will first drop end of Feburary

There will be a short list reading on the 13th of March at The Deptford Lounge, part of Lewisham Libraries. More to follow.

The winner event will be held at foyles, charing cross road on april 1st, 2025.

Thank you to every press that made a submission and to our brilliant judges, Jude Cook, Alice Jolly & Houman Barekat

Our judges said: “A strange, sombre novel in which a troubled young writer unpacks the legacy of his religious upbringing. Told in the form of a memoir by a narrator prone to Bernhardian digressions, it devolves into a quietly absorbing meditation on literature, mortality and sexual shame.”

Our judges said: “An offbeat, elegantly written tale about two authors marooned an exchange programme in an unnamed totalitarian country. The narrative voice is great company, by turns droll, plaintive and ruminative. It’s whimsical but controlled, and surprisingly compulsive for a largely plotless novel.

Our judges said: “A rollicking, sardonic picaresque set on the French outpost of La Réunion in the. 1980s. The novel has important things to say about colonialism and society, but it’s also tremendous fun — darkly funny, acerbic, energetic. There’s scarcely a dull moment on the page, and the translation is remarkably slick.”

Our judges said: “Set in the fifth century and narrated by an irrepressible bard called Mother Naked, this novel is bawdy, funny and tragic. The voice of Mother Naked is entirely authentic. Both an entertaining read and a serious work of historical fiction.”

Our judges said: "Celina is a quiet book, written with great integrity. It tells the story of a young woman, born into poverty, who works as a maid in the household of Victor Hugo. In restrained and unsentimental prose it illuminates lives forgotten by history.”

Our judges said: “A family saga which manages to be both intimate and epic, this novel travels seamlessly across countries, cultures and characters. It is beautifully structured and deeply moving, gradually revealing how trauma is met by resilience across the decades.”

Our judges said: “Set in contemporary South Africa, this novel features an extra-ordinary main character who is entirely engaging despite never becoming likeable. The writing is gritty and uncompromising. This is both a portrait of a woman who cannot escape from the past and an investigation of a country in crisis.”

Our judges said: “An urgent, bleakly funny, fragmentary account of displacement, queer desire, and finding a place in the world. Using a collage technique, Bakhti has produced an outstanding novel about identity and endurance.”

Our judges said: “A provocative, multi-faceted gem. Full of fierce anti-colonial rage and subtle artistry, addressing what it means to be a migrant in today’s fractured Britain.”

Our Judges said: “A taut, brilliantly sustained novel in fluent verse. A mordantly witty tirade against the dark forces of toxic masculinity and the Wild West that is today’s property rental market.”

Each long listed press will receive £500. The short list will be announced at the end of February. Each short listed press will receive a further £1000, to be split 70% press / 30% writer (and translator). The winner, as always, gets the glory.