Dr Kojo Koram wins PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2023 for book exploring the aftermath of the British Empire
The book delves into the little known and shocking history of how Britain treated its former non-white colonies after the end of empire.
Dr Kojo Koram,鈥疪eader in Law, has won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2023 for his book, Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire. The prize celebrates the best non-fiction on any historical subject.鈥��
Dr Kojo Koram commented: 鈥淚 am very grateful to the judges at English PEN for selecting Uncommon Wealth for the 2023 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. It was an honour just to be shortlisted amongst such fantastic authors but to actually win the prize was more than I could have imagined.鈥澨�
Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire鈥�痙elves into鈥痶he little known and shocking history of how Britain treated its former non-white colonies after the end of empire. It explores how an interconnected group of British capitalists enabled horrific inequality across the globe, profiting in colonial Africa,鈥疉sia鈥痑nd the Caribbean.鈥��
The judging panel鈥痵aid:鈥�淯ncommon Wealth鈥痠s a rare treasure. It shows us, in lucid, engaging prose, how our current economic crises in Britain and inequalities across the globe are bound up in and鈥痠mpacted鈥痓y the aftermath of empire.鈥濃��
Chair of the judging panel, Dan Hicks, said:鈥�淲ith its meticulous, urgent and highly original retelling of the imperial origins of contemporary British socio-economic realities, Kojo Koram follows the money to show how colonialism continues to shape our contemporary world. The result is that most unusual thing: a book about the past that will have resonance for years to come.鈥澨�
Dr Kojo Koram was announced as the winner at the Weston Library, Oxford, and received a Prize of 拢2,000, endowed by former PEN member Marjorie Hessell-Tiltman鈥檚鈥痓equest. Dr鈥疉viah Sarah Day,鈥疞ecturer鈥痠n the鈥疭chool of Social Sciences, was also one of six authors shortlisted for the Prize with her book, Abolition Revolution.听