Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race Wins Public Poll of Books by Women that have Changed the World

Award-winning exploration of race and racism in modern Britain comes out top in Academic Book Week vote

Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race has been voted number one in a poll of the books by women that have changed the world, announced today as part of Academic Book Week (23-28 April 2018).

Written by award-winning journalist, author and podcaster, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race has achieved wide-spread critical acclaim for its illuminating exploration of numerous issues including: the eradication of black history, whitewashed feminism, and the link between class and race. 

Chosen from a list of ’20 Books by Women That Changed The World’, curated by British academics, booksellers and publishers, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race came out on top with 12% of the public vote.

The top ten books by women that changed the world, as voted for by the public, are:

1. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race (2017) by Reni Eddo-Lodge
2. A Room of One's Own (1929) by Virginia Woolf
3. The Diary of a Young Girl (1947) by Anne Frank
4. A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft
5. The Second Sex (1949) by Simone de Beauvoir
6. Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson
7. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) by Maya Angelou
8. Frankenstein (181823) by Mary Shelley
9. Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Bronte
10. The Female Eunuch (1970) by Germaine Greer    

Reni Eddo-Lodge said: “What an honour! My book, less than a year old, is a baby compared to the titans and bonafide classics on this shortlist. In fact I think we need a few more years to really determine if it's really changed the world. 

“However, I will respect this public vote. Thank you to all who voted for WHY I'M. I hope it instigates world changing passion in my readers.”

Alan Staton, Director of Strategy and Communications, at the Booksellers Association, commented: “The winning book couldn’t be more timely. Issues of race and class, which too many of our political leaders and commentators are wilfully or unconsciously simply not attuned to, have made their way to the top of the news agenda – often through tragic and shameful circumstances. The strength of the public reception to Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – the type of book that ignites campus debate – and the fact that it has topped this Academic Book Week poll, offers encouragement that there are large numbers of readers willing to intelligently engage with these issues.”

Academic Book Week celebrates the diversity and influence of academic books throughout history, now and in the future. 

The full list of 20 Books by Women that Changed the World spans subject areas as varied as politics, feminism, race, fiction and photography.
Top 20 books by women that changed the world, as chosen by academics, booksellers and publishers, are: 

⦁    A Room of One's Own (1929) by Virginia Woolf    
⦁    A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft    
⦁    Ain't I A Woman? (1981) by bell hooks    
⦁    Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley    
⦁    Gender Trouble (1990) by Judith Butler     
⦁    I am Malala (2013) by Malala Yousafzai    
⦁    I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) by Maya Angelou
⦁    Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Bronte
⦁    No Logo (1999) by Naomi Klein    
⦁    On Photography (1977) by Susan Sontag    
⦁    Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson    
⦁    The Diary of a Young Girl (1947) by Anne Frank    
⦁    The Female Eunuch (1970) by Germaine Greer    
⦁    The Hite Report (1973) by Shere Hite    
⦁    The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010) by Rebecca Skloot    
⦁    The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) by Hannah Arendt    
⦁    The Second Sex (1949) by Simone de Beauvoir    
⦁    The Unwomanly Face of War (1985) by Svetlana Alexievich
⦁    Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (2017) by Reni Eddo-Lodge
⦁    Women & Power: A Manifesto (2017) by Mary Beard

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