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# Royal Society of Literature

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://rsliterature.org/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Blog

- [Blog](https://rsliterature.org/blog/)
- [RSL Announces New President Elif Shafak](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-announces-new-president-elif-shafak/) - The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is thrilled to announce its new President is novelist and storyteller Elif Shafak. Shafak replaces Bernardine Evaristo OBE whose four-year term came to its end at the RSL’s Annual General Meeting on 4 December. Founded in 1820, the RSL acts as a voice for the value of literature, honouring
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize/) - RSL Christopher Bland Prize An annual award of £10,000 for a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published in any form aged 50 or over. The 2026 Prize The 2026 prize is now closed for entry. The winner will be selected by judges A.L. Kennedy, Louise Kennedy and Derek Owusu. A shortlist and winner will be announced
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize/) - An annual award of £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a placeThe 2026 Prize The 2026 RSL Ondaatje Prize is now closed for entry. This year’s prize will be judged by Claire Armitstead, Emma Dabiri and Ekow Eshun. Please ensure that you have read the full eligibility and guidelines
- [RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-giles-st-aubyn-awards-for-non-fiction/) - RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction Three annual awards — of £10,000, £5,000 and £2,500 — are available for authors engaged on their first commissioned works of non-fiction. The RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards support authors through the completion of their first commissioned works of non-fiction (you can previously have published work for an academic audience or
- [RSL Literature Matters Awards](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-literature-matters-awards/) - Annual project awards of £20,000 in total, rewarding and enabling literary excellence and innovation.An RSL Literature Matters Award must result in new, original writing or other literary activity of an excellent artistic standard, which will reach a substantial readership or audience. It may be a piece or pieces of writing, a publication, an event or a production on any subject and
- [RSL International Writers](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-international-writers/) - Celebrating the power of literature to transcend borders and bring people together.2025 Prize The 12 writers selected in 2025 are Ahmad Almallah, Merlie M. Alunan, Hoda Barakat, Dionne Brand, Dave Eggers, Nona Fernández, Helon Habila, László Krasznahorkai, Earl Lovelace, Ruth Ozeki, Safiya Sinclair and Eliot Weinberger. They were selected by the following panel: Susan Bassnett,
- [V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize](https://rsliterature.org/vs-pritchett-short-story-prize/) - A £1,000 Prize for the best unpublished short story of the year. We are grateful to ALCS for their support of the Prize.The 2026 Prize The RSL V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize seeks to find the best unpublished short story of the year. The 2026 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize is now closed for entries.
- [Celebrating Black History Month](https://rsliterature.org/bhm-collection/) - To mark Black History Month, we have collected some highlights from our events and content in recent years. From an audio tour of historical Black Soho, to the poetics of grime music – listen to a range of speakers celebrate and interrogate Black history through the lens of literature. Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuc7ahHLbWEhttps://youtu.be/76Th4jw30zwhttps://youtu.be/tjThEsmfQcEhttps://youtu.be/S3RccYZT2dchttps://youtu.be/YP67enJFpJEhttps://youtu.be/Kxir96jescshttps://youtu.be/q1QDPMhZ7UQhttps://youtu.be/TnpaO3YFarwhttps://youtu.be/XY0UCipC_NAhttps://youtu.be/QLxda_aZojkhttps://youtu.be/oyJodV57FGkhttps://youtu.be/PD-mXemx3_0?si=qGW-ZDkeyLDS10bA Literature Matters: RSL 200
- [The Encore Award](https://rsliterature.org/the-encore-award/) - The Encore Award An annual award of £15,000 for the best second novel.History The Encore Award was first presented in 1990 to celebrate the achievement of outstanding second novels. The Award fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes. The RSL administrated the award from 2016 to 2025. The Society of Authors is now
- [V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize 2014](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-memorial-prize-2014/) - The judges of the 2014 V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize, Dame Margaret Drabble, Tibor Fischer and Helen Oyeyemi, selected Alice Jolly as the winner, for her story Ray the Rottweiler. The runner- up was Esther Woolfson for Eggshells. Alice received her award of £1,000 at the Tabernacle at an event with A.L. Kennedy on Tuesday 11 November 2014. The winning story will shortly
- [V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize 2015](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-memorial-prize-2015-2/) - The judges of the 2015 V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize, Philip Hensher, Adam Mars-Jones and Rose Tremain, selected Jonathan Tel as the winner, for his story ‘The Seduction of a Provincial Accountant’. The runner-up was Nick Sweeney for ‘Traffic’. Joanthan’s agent, Norah Perkins, received the award of £1,000 on his behalf at the Courtauld Institute of Art at an event with the three
- [V. S. Pritchett Memorial Prize 2016](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-memorial-prize-2016-2/) - The winner of the V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize 2016 is Fiona Marshall for her story The Street of Baths. This year’s judges are Aamer Hussein, Peter Kemp and Sara Taylor. The prize, now in its sixteenth year, is awarded for the year’s best unpublished short story. We are grateful to Christopher and Jennie Bland for
- [V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize 2016 - Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-memorial-prize-2016-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for this year’s V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize: Clare Colvin ‘The Scattering’ Jasmine Donahaye ‘Theft’ Fiona Marshall ‘The Street of Baths’ Kenneth Steven ‘The Listener’ The winner of the £1,000 prize will be announced at our event Telling Tales on 17 November. The winning entry will be
- [V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2017 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2017-winner-announced/) - The Royal Society of Literature is delighted to announce the winner of the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2017 is Emily Ford for The Hikers. This year’s judges are Aamer Hussein, Chibundu Onuzo and Michèle Roberts. We are grateful to Jennie Bland for sponsoring the prize, to Prospect Magazine for publishing the winning entry online and to ALCS for supporting the prize-giving event.
- [V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2019 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2019-winner-announced/) - We are delighted to announce Ursula Brunetti is the winner of the 20th anniversary V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize with her story 'Beetleboy'. This year’s judges are Candice Carty-Williams, Philip Hensher and Leone Ross. The RSL is grateful to Prospect Magazine for publishing the winning entry online; to ALCS for supporting the prize and to
- [V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2018 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2018-winner-announced/) - The Royal Society of Literature is delighted to announce the winner of the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2018 is Emily Ruth Ford for 'Please Be Good To Me'. She is the first writer to win the V.S. Pritchett Prize twice - she came first last year with her story ‘The Hikers’. This year’s judges are Tibor Fischer, Irenosen Okojie and Leone
- [V.S. Pritchett 2020 Longlist](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-2020-longlist/) - We are delighted to announce the longlist for this year's V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize: Sheila Armstrong ‘Harlow’ Terri Armstrong ‘Going Back’ Eddie Bruce-Jones ‘The Last Cicadas’ Susan Clegg ‘Dogwood’ Charlotte Derrick ‘Christmastime, Paracetamol, and Wine’ David Fisher ‘Grace’ Ciaran Folan ‘Spell’ Habon Jama ‘The Smell of Rain’ Ed Hogan ‘A Guide to Household Infestations’
- [V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2020 - The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2020-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2020 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize: Susan Clegg ‘Dogwood’ Charlotte Derrick ‘Christmastime, Paracetamol, and Wine’ Ciarán Folan ‘Spell’ Ed Hogan ‘A Guide to Household Infestations’ Kate Lockwood Jefford ‘Picasso’s Face’ Sarah Zimmerman ‘Lexi’ The 2020 judges are Kate Clanchy, Barbara Jenkins and Derek Owusu. The RSL
- [V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2020 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2020-winner-announced/) - Kate Lockwood Jefford wins the £1,000 V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2020 with ‘Picasso’s Face’. The 2020 judges of the Prize, which is awarded for the year’s best unpublished short story, are Kate Clanchy, Barbara Jenkins and Derek Owusu. The RSL is grateful to ALCS for their support of the Prize and to Prospect
- [V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2021 – The Longlist](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2021-the-longlist/) - We are delighted to announce the longlist for the 2021 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize: Sophie Baker ‘Clay’ Owen Booth ‘Middle-Aged Sex Object’ Maureen Cullen ‘The Cailleach of Redgauntlet Close’ Rashad Hosein ‘Aji’ B Johnson ‘Idolatry’ Toby Lloyd ‘Bagatelles’ Amanda Mason ‘Three Times, Lefthandwise’ Maeve Mulrennan ‘Known To The Gardaí’ Emer O'Hanlon ‘Savior Complex’ Leeor
- [V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2021 - The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2021-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2021 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize: Owen Booth ‘Middle-Aged Sex Object’ Maureen Cullen ‘The Cailleach of Redgauntlet Close’ B Johnson ‘Idolatry’ Amanda Mason ‘Three Times, Lefthandwise’ Maeve Mulrennan ‘Known To The Gardaí’ Leeor Ohayon ‘Gahnun on Shabbat’ This year’s judges are Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Paul McVeigh
- [V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2021 Winner - Leeor Ohayon, 'Gahnun on Shabbat'](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2021-winner-leeor-ohayon-gahnun-on-shabbat/) - We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2021 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize, Leeor Ohayon with ‘Gahnun on Shabbat’. Congratulations Leeor! This prize was founded by the RSL at the beginning of the new millennium to commemorate the centenary of an author widely regarded as the finest English short-story writer of the 20th
- [V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2022: Longlist Announced](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2022-longlist-announced/) - The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize is an annual award for unpublished short stories between 2000 to 4000 words in length. The winner will receive £1,000 and their entry will be published in Prospect magazine online and the RSL Review. We're delighted to have a longlist of 11 fantastic stories, picked from hundreds of entries.
- [V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2022: Shortlist Announced](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2022-shortlist-announced/) - The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize is an annual award for unpublished short stories between 2000 to 4000 words in length. The winner will receive £1,000 and their entry will be published in Prospect magazine online and the RSL Review. We're delighted to have a shortlist of 6 phenomenal stories, picked from hundreds of entries.
- [Kaliane Bradley wins the £1,000 V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2022 with ‘Doggerland’](https://rsliterature.org/kaliane-bradley-wins-the-1000-v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2022-with-doggerland/) - 'Doggerland' by Kaliane Bradley wins the 2022 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize: an annual award for unpublished short stories between 2000 to 4000 words in length. Kaliane will receive £1,000 and their entry will be published in Prospect magazine online and the RSL Review. 'I am so thrilled and overwhelmed to have won the V.S.
- [2024 V.S. Pritchett Prize Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/2024-v-s-pritchett-prize-shortlist/) - The shortlist for the 2024 V.S. Pritchett Prize has been announced. The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize is an annual award for unpublished short stories between 2,000 to 4,000 words in length. The winner will receive £1,000 and their entry will be published in Prospect magazine online and the RSL Review. Commenting on this year’s
- [The Benson Medal](https://rsliterature.org/the-benson-medal/) - The Benson Medal An annual award for outstanding contribution to literature. The 2024 Medal The 2024 Medal was awarded to SuAndi. History The Benson Medal was founded in 1916 by A.C. Benson, scholar, author and RSL Fellow, ‘in respect of meritorious works in poetry, fiction, history and belles lettres’. The medal honours a whole career
- [Sky Arts RSL Writers Awards](https://rsliterature.org/sky-arts-rsl-writers-awards/) - Celebrating and nurturing British writers of colour at the beginnings of their careers. History Presented for the first time in 2021, the Sky Arts RSL Writers Awards focused on discovering and nurturing talented emerging writers of colour, working across different literary forms. The scheme was developed in order to counteract the underrepresentation of British writers
- [RSL Scriptorium Awards](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-scriptorium-awards/) - Ten writer residencies presented to professionally active writers in need of a place to write.The 2025 Prize This year marks the inaugural presentation of the RSL Scriptorium Awards, inviting applications from UK writers of any form with a successful track record in publishing or equivalent industries. The winners of the 2025 RSL Scriptorium Awards are
- [RSL Pioneer Prize](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-pioneer-prize/) - An annual prize of £10,000 spotlighting and celebrating female writers who have been pioneers in their fieldThe 2025 Prize The 2025 winner of the RSL Pioneer Prize is Maureen Duffy – poet, playwright, novelist, activist and non-fiction writer. Across her long career, Duffy has brought to light previously unspoken stories; articulated the unheard voices of
- [RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-jerwood-poetry-awards/) - Four annual awards offering a £10,000 stipend and mentoring to poets looking to make a step-change in their careersThe 2024 Awards Following a call for nominations, we invited poets to apply for the awards. The shortlist, winners and mentors were announced on the 4 December, as part of the RSL’s 204th birthday celebrations. The winners
- [Companions of Literature](https://rsliterature.org/companions-of-literature/) - The title ‘Companion of Literature’ – the highest award bestowed by the RSL – was inaugurated in 1961, and is held by up to 12 writers at any one time. The honour is currently held by those in purple below. Recipients 1961Sir Winston ChurchillE.M. ForsterJohn MasefieldW. Somerset MaughamG.M. Trevelyan 1962Edmund BlundenAldous Huxley 1963Dame Edith SitwellEvelyn Waugh
- [Awards and Prizes now open](https://rsliterature.org/awards-and-prizes-now-open/) - Three more RSL awards and prizes are now open for entries across fiction, non-fiction and poetry! RSL Ondaatje PrizeThe Prize awards £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, that best evokes the spirit of a place. RSL Christopher Bland PrizeRecognising those who come to writing later in life, £10,000 is given to
- [Entente Littéraire Prize](https://rsliterature.org/entente-litteraire-prize/) - The Prize celebrates writing and translation from France and the UK, focusing on a different genre each year. Two winning books—one originally written in English and translated into French, and the other originally written in French and translated into English—will each receive a prize of €8,000, shared between the author and the translator. The 2024 Prize
- [RSL Announces New Pioneer Prize and 2025 Winner](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-announces-new-pioneer-prize-and-winner/) - Today, the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) announces its newest literary prize, established thanks to the generosity of RSL President Bernardine Evaristo. The RSL Pioneer Prize seeks to acknowledge and celebrate pioneering British women writers – across all genres – who have been trailblazers in their field, especially in the past when it was more
- [2025 RSL Scriptorium Award Winners Announced](https://rsliterature.org/2025-rsl-scriptorium-award-winners-announced/) - We're delighted to reveal the names of the first ten writers to receive an RSL Scriptorium Award, winning a writing residency in a cottage on the Kent coast gifted by RSL President Bernardine Evaristo. Yvonne Battle-Felton, Satinder Chohan, Suji Kwock Kim, Tom Newlands, Emma Norry, Irenosen Okojie, Hanna Silva, Claudine Toutoungi, Ralf Webb and Claire Wilson will
- [Announcement of 2025 Fellows and Honorary Fellows](https://rsliterature.org/announcement-of-2025-fellows-and-honorary-fellows/) - On Wednesday 16 July 2025, the Royal Society inducted twenty-eight new Fellows and eight new Honorary Fellows into the society at the annual RSL summer party, hosted at the Garden Museum. At the event, new Fellows and Honorary Fellows elected in 2025 signed their names in the RSL roll book using a pen from its
- [2025 RSL Christopher Bland Prize Winner Announced](https://rsliterature.org/2025-rsl-christopher-bland-prize-winner-announced/) - The RSL today announces the winner of the RSL Christopher Bland Prize for authors aged over 50. The prize, now in its seventh year, is an annual award of £10,000 given to a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published aged 50 or over. Kathryn Faulke took this year’s prize for her memoir Every Kind
- [RSL Appoints New Director](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-announces-new-director/) - The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is pleased to announce that it has appointed a new Director. Laura Greenfield will take up the role in the summer, joining the RSL from Cambridge University Library. ‘The Royal Society of Literature has celebrated extraordinary writers for two centuries, and it is an absolute privilege to take this
- [2025 RSL Ondaatje Prize Winner Announced](https://rsliterature.org/2025-rsl-ondaatje-prize-winner-announced/) - We offer our warm congratulations to the winner of the 2025 Ondaatje Prize Carys Davies, who has won the £10,000 award for her novel Clear. On receiving her award, Davies said: ‘Thank you so much to the RSL, the Ondaatje family and this year’s judges. I’d also like to say a huge thank you to
- [RSL Fellows and Review Magazine Guest Curator Among Windham-Campbell Prize Winners](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-fellows-and-review-magazine-guest-curator-among-windham-campbell-prize-winners/) - The RSL is incredibly proud that three of its Fellows have been honoured in this year’s Windham-Campbell Prizes, which celebrate eight writers across fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama. Each awardee receives $175,000 each, a sum that is intended to allow them the space and time to support their boldest, most vital work independent of financial
- [RSL recruits for new Director](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-recruits-for-new-director/) - The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is seeking to appoint a new Director who will play a key role in leading our iconic organisation into the future, while respecting the heritage of the RSL and its mission to ‘nurture, celebrate and defend all that is best in British literature past and present’. The Director will
- [Statement from the Trustees of the RSL](https://rsliterature.org/statement-from-the-trustees-of-the-rsl/) - There has been significant media interest in the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) in the last few weeks, following the RSL’s decision in December 2023 to postpone the publication of its annual literary review. The Trustees of the RSL met on 20 February 2024 to consider the concerns that have been raised against the RSL
- [Statement of facts 2025](https://rsliterature.org/statement-of-facts-2025/) - The RSL is a modernising, forward-looking charity and has worked with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and Stone King to deliver a full review of its governance, as planned since 2022. Over the next year, the RSL will be implementing all recommendations arising from their report. The RSL's trustees and the Charity Commission
- [2024 Giles St Aubyn Awards Winners Announced](https://rsliterature.org/2024-giles-st-aubyn-awards-winners-announced/) - Established in 2017, the RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards support writers with their first commissioned works of non-fiction with 3 awards – one of £10,000, one of £5,000 and one of £2,500. The three recipients for 2024 are Seán Columb, Louise Brangan and Dorothy Wade. This year’s Awards were judged by Cal Flyn, Madhumita Murgia
- [Departure of Chair and Director of the RSL](https://rsliterature.org/departure-of-chair-and-director-of-the-rsl/) - The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) today announces the departure of its Chair and Director as it prepares to share the results of its first-ever governance review, commissioned under their leadership, at its Annual General Meeting. Outgoing Chair Daljit Nagra, whose four-year term comes to an end at the AGM on 15 January, will introduce
- [RSL 204th Birthday Announcements](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-204th-birthday-announcements/) - On its 204th birthday the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is today delighted to announce the winners of the first RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards and the authors honoured in the fourth year of the RSL International Writers programme, as well as launching a new election process featuring an open call for Public Nominations for 2025
- [Commonwealth War Graves Commission and RSL unveil commissioned poem for Cape Town Labour Corps Memorial](https://rsliterature.org/commonwealth-war-graves-commission-and-rsl-unveil-commissioned-poem-for-cape-town-labour-corps-memorial/) - https://rsliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/30secCWGC-RSL-en-GB-16_9.mp4 11 November, Cape Town: The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), the global organisation responsible for commemorating more than 1.7 million casualties of the First and Second World Wars, and the Royal Society of Literature have today revealed a specially commissioned poem and epitaph for the new CWGC Cape Town Labour Corps Memorial, which is
- [Entente Littéraire Prize 2024 shortlist revealed](https://rsliterature.org/entente-litteraire-prize-shortlist-revealed/) - The judging panel for the inaugural Entente Littéraire Prize (Prix de l’Entente Littéraire), a new UK-France literary prize for writers of young adult literature, has revealed its shortlist. Announced in September 2023 by Her Majesty The Queen and Madame Brigitte Macron during the King and Queen’s State Visit to France, the Entente Littéraire Prize (Prix
- [RSL Scriptorium Awards Launch: 'A place for writing'](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-scriptorium-awards-launch-a-place-for-writing/) - The RSL is set to launch a new prize for writers founded and generously supported by its President Bernardine Evaristo. The RSL Scriptorium Awards will provide free writing residencies in a cottage on the Kent coast owned by Evaristo. The residencies, which can be for up to a month at a time will offer uninterrupted
- [Announcement of 2024 Fellows and Honorary Fellows](https://rsliterature.org/announcement-of-2024-fellows-and-honorary-fellows/) - This evening, on Thursday 11 July, at an event held at the Garden Museum, the RSL announced the appointment of 42 new Fellows. At this evening’s event new Fellows and Honorary Fellows elected in 2024 signed their names in the RSL roll book using a pen from the charity’s permanent collection. The RSL’s pens are
- [2024 Autumn Events Season](https://rsliterature.org/2024-autumn-events-season/) - The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) today unveils its programme of autumn events, which includes conversations on Kafka with Women’s Prize-winning author Naomi Alderman and RSL Fellow Leone Ross, a celebration of the Complete Works poetry mentoring scheme with Bernardine Evaristo, Mona Arshi and Karen McCarthy-Woolf, an intimate interview with actor and writer Rupert Everett
- [News from our Summer Party](https://rsliterature.org/news-from-our-summer-party/) - On Thursday 11 July 2024 we celebrated the induction of 42 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows. The Garden Museum played host to a packed evening of entertainment as inductees celebrated alongside their friends and family, and guests invited from across the literary arts scene. RSL Chair Daljit Nagra and President Bernardine Evaristo led proceedings, with Bernardine speaking
- [RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards Guidance - Audio](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-jerwood-poetry-awards-guidance-audio/)
- [Chidi Ebere wins the 2024 RSL Christopher Bland Prize](https://rsliterature.org/chidi-ebere-wins-the-2024-rsl-christopher-bland-prize/) - On 10 July, the RSL announced Chidi Ebere as the winner of the 2024 RSL Christopher Bland Prize for best debut by an author aged over 50. The prize, now in its sixth year, sees Chidi awarded £10,000 by Shaparak Khorsandi, chair of judges. ‘The spiritual storm calms, the emotional dust settles, and I’m left
- [2024 RSL Christopher Bland Prize shortlist revealed](https://rsliterature.org/2024-rsl-christopher-bland-prize-shortlist-revealed/) - On Friday 21 June, the RSL announced the shortlist for the 2024 RSL Christopher Bland Prize for authors aged over 50. The prize, now in its sixth year, is an annual award of £10,000 given to a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published aged 50 or over. This year’s judges are Josh Cohen, Niall
- [Isabella Hammad wins the 2024 Encore Award](https://rsliterature.org/isabella-hammad-wins-the-2024-encore-award/) - We are delighted to announce that Isabella Hammad has been awarded the 2024 Encore Award for Enter Ghost yesterday evening on Wednesday 19 June. Isabella received her award at a special event in central London, at which former winner Caoilinn Hughes – who took the prize home in 2021 – acted as host for the evening. ‘I'm so thrilled
- [May Membership Offer](https://rsliterature.org/may-membership-offer/) - Do you love books? Then you’ll want to be part of our club… If you sign up for a Royal Society of Literature Membership by the end of May, you get two years’ Membership for the price of one! Membership is just £60 a year, which gets you: FREE entry to all RSL events (in
- [2024 Encore Award Shortlist Announced](https://rsliterature.org/2024-encore-award-shortlist-announced/) - We're excited to reveal the shortlist for the 2024 Encore Award. This award celebrates the ‘difficult second novel’, marking the achievements of authors moving beyond their literary debuts. This year’s judges are Fergal Keane, Malika Booker and Maura Dooley, who selected the following five shortlisted books: A Spell of Good Things – Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (Canongate)
- [Ian Penman crowned the winner of the 2024 RSL Ondaatje Prize](https://rsliterature.org/ian-penman-crowned-the-winner-of-the-2024-rsl-ondaatje-prize/) - We are delighted to announce that Ian Penman has been awarded the 2024 RSL Ondaatje Prize for Fassbinder Thousands Of Mirrors this evening on Tuesday 14 May. ‘I can’t believe it,’ Ian said on collecting his prize from Jans Ondaatje Rolls, overseeing the ceremony on behalf of her father Christopher. ‘I’d like to thank Rainer
- [2024 RSL Ondaatje Prize Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/2024-rsl-ondaatje-prize-shortlist-revealed/) - On Friday 26 April, we revealed the shortlist for the 2024 RSL Ondaatje Prize. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the prize, which was instituted in 2004 to celebrate outstanding works of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that best evoke the spirit of a place. This year’s prize is judged by Francis Spufford, Jan Carson
- [V.S. Pritchett Prize 2024 Longlist](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-award-2024-longlist/) - The longlist for the 2024 V.S. Pritchett Prize has been announced. The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize is an annual award for unpublished short stories between 2,000 to 4,000 words in length. The winner will receive £1,000 and their entry will be published in Prospect magazine online and the RSL Review. This year’s judges Julia
- [2024 RSL Ondaatje Prize Longlist](https://rsliterature.org/2024-rsl-ondaatje-prize-longlist/) - On Monday 8 April, we unveiled the longlist for the 2024 RSL Ondaatje Prize. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the prize, which was instituted in 2004 to celebrate outstanding works of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that best evoke the spirit of a place. ‘Place has always been important to me as a writer,
- [The RSL Spring Events Series is now live!](https://rsliterature.org/the-rsl-spring-events-series-is-now-live/) - This spring the RSL public programme will be popping up in some new spaces, featuring literary luminaries alongside emerging voices, celebrating iconic texts alongside new writing, UK writers as well as writers from across the Americas. The RSL Lecture will be a feature of this year’s Newcastle Poetry Festival where Anthony Joseph will speak about
- [Tom Vowler wins the 2024 V.S. Pritchett Prize.](https://rsliterature.org/tom-vowler-wins-the-2024-v-s-pritchett-prize/) - The Royal Society of Literature is delighted to announce the winner of the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize. The prize, worth £1,000, is an annual award for unpublished short stories between 2,000 to 4,000 words in length. From the shortlist of seven writers announced last week, this year’s judges Julia Armfield, Fred D'Aguiar and Juliet
- [Submissions for the Entente Littéraire Prize are now open.](https://rsliterature.org/submissions-for-the-entente-litteraire-prize-are-now-open/) - We are delighted to announce that submissions to the Entente Littéraire Prize (Prix de l’Entente Littéraire), a new UK-France literary prize for writers of young adult literature, are now open. The submissions window will be formally opened at Receptions at the French Embassy in London and the British Embassy in Paris on 23 January as
- [2023 Literature Matters Awards Winners Announced](https://rsliterature.org/2023-literature-matters-awards-winners-announced/) - Now in their sixth year, the RSL Literature Matters Awards aim to enable literary excellence and innovation, providing writers with financial support to undertake new literary projects that extend the reach of literature. For the first time, eight projects from writers working across multiple disciplines and forms have been chosen by judges Polly Atkin, Alycia
- [2023 RSL Giles St Aubyn Award Winners Announcement](https://rsliterature.org/2023-rsl-giles-st-aubyn-award-winners-announcement/) - Established in 2017, the RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards support writers with their first commissioned works of non-fiction with 3 awards – one of £10,000, one of £5,000 and one of £2,500. This year’s Awards were judged by Leila Aboulela, Fiona St Aubyn and Tom Burgis. Congratulations to our 2023 winners: £10,000 – Oliver Basciano
- [International Writers Recommendations open for 2024](https://rsliterature.org/international-writers-recommendations-open-for-2024/) - Have your say in 2024! We’re now OPEN to recommendations to find our next International Writers. Anyone, anywhere can recommend. Your recommendations will be read by a panel of Fellows including Kit Fan (Chair), Moniza Alvi, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Chloe Aridjis, Homi K. Bhabha, Margaret Busby, Maureen Freely, Deirdre Osborne and Nathalie Teitler. Submit your recommendation
- [It's our 203rd birthday!](https://rsliterature.org/its-our-203rd-birthday/) - To celebrate our 203rd birthday, and the end of the third year of RSL 200, we can now reveal 12 new RSL International Writers, and two new awards and prizes for 2024! 'The ever-expanding portfolio of the Royal Society of Literature initiatives continues the essential support and acknowledgement of writers at different stages of their careers along with a commitment
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Catherine Johnson 2 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters-top-tips-with-catherine-johnson-2-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Catherine Johnson share their advice for what they find helps in their writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Damian Barr 5 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters-top-tips-with-damian-barr-5-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Damian Barr share their advice for what they find helps in their writing.
- [RSL Encore Award](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-encore-award/) - We are delighted to announce that the RSL is now administering the £10,000 Encore Award for the best second novel of the year. First presented in 1990, the Award fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes by celebrating the achievement of outstanding second novels. The Award is generously sponsored by Lucy Astor.
- [Writing the Future: Black and Asian Authors and Publishers in the UK Marketplace](https://rsliterature.org/writing-the-future-black-and-asian-authors-and-publishers-in-the-uk-marketplace/) - A new report commissioned by Spread the Word, London's writer development agency, reveals that the publishing industry's poor commitment to diversity is putting it at risk of becoming culturally irrelevant. Writers, literary agents and mainstream and independent publishers were surveyed to determine whether progress was being made on cultural diversity. The findings give cause for concern.
- [Winners of the Sky Arts RSL Writers Awards Announced](https://rsliterature.org/winners-of-the-sky-arts-rsl-writers-awards-announced/) - We are delighted to announce the recipients of the 2021 Sky Arts RSL Writers Awards. Presented for the first time in 2021, the Sky Arts RSL Writers Awards are focused on discovering and nurturing talented emerging writers of colour, working across different literary forms. The scheme was developed in order to counteract the underrepresentation of
- [V.S. Pritchett Prize 2019 Longlist](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-prize-2019-longlist/) - We are delighted to announce the longlist for this year's V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize: RACHEL BOWER, ‘Holly’ URSULA ROSE BRUNETTI, ‘Beetleboy’ KEN ELKES, ‘Alone, But Not Lost’ JON FORTGANG, ‘Drawing In The Air: The Biro Art of Spencer Williams’ BEDA HIGGINS, ‘A Life’ SUMANA KHAN, ‘The Touch’ NAT LUURTSEMA, ‘Howling Pack of Undesirables’ RACHEL
- [V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2018 – shortlist announced](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-short-story-prize-2018-shortlist-announced/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2018 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize: Virginia Baily, ‘A Flying Visit’ Juno Baker, ‘Uncertain Terms’ Flora Carr, ‘An English Farm’ Emily Ruth Ford, ‘Please Be Good To Me’ Aoife Inman, ‘In the Mountain Lives a Woman’ Michelle Wright, ‘All We Need to See’
- [The RSL Encore Award 2018 - the shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/the-rsl-encore-award-2018-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2018 Encore Award: Claire Fuller Swimming Lessons (Fig Tree) Andrew Michael Hurley Devil’s Day (John Murray) Lisa McInerney The Blood Miracles (John Murray) Fiona Melrose Johannesburg (Corsair) Chibundu Onuzo Welcome To Lagos (Faber & Faber) Natasha Pulley The Bedlam Stacks (Bloomsbury Circus) The 2018 judges are the literary journalist Alex Clark (Chair), poet and children’s writer Julia Copus, and Ted Hodgkinson,
- [The RSL elects 40 new Fellows under the age of 40](https://rsliterature.org/the-rsl-elects-40-new-fellows-under-the-age-of-40/) - On 27 June 2018 the RSL is introducing 40 new Fellows under the age of 40: Bola Agbaje, Jenn Ashworth, Laura Bates, Jay Bernard, Emily Berry, Hannah Berry, Lucy Caldwell, Sophie Collins, Inua Ellams, Lara Feigel, Edmund Gordon, James Graham, Rosalind Harvey, Daisy Hay, Rachel Hewitt, Ella Hickson, Sarah Howe, Robert Icke, Lucy Kirkwood, Sabrina
- [The Nation's Favourite Second Novel is Pride and Prejudice](https://rsliterature.org/the-nations-favourite-second-novel-is-pride-and-prejudice/) - Second novels are a notorious challenge for writers. Whether their first novel was a triumph or a flop, the pressure is always on the follow-up. But what do readers make of second novels? Do we even know which of our favourite novels are second novels? We decided to hold a public vote to find out
- [The Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction](https://rsliterature.org/the-giles-st-aubyn-awards-for-non-fiction/) - Writer’s exceptional legacy secures future of non-fiction award. The Royal Society of Literature is establishing annual awards for first-time writers of non-fiction – in perpetuity – because of a generous bequest from author and RSL Fellow Giles St Aubyn. Giles St Aubyn, who died in 2015 aged 89, wrote 14 non-fiction books and taught history
- [The Encore Award - 2022 Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/the-encore-award-2022-shortlist/) - We’re delighted to unveil the shortlist for the 2022 Encore Award! The annual Award of £10,000 celebrates outstanding achievements in second novels, filling a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes. This year’s five shortlisted novels, as chosen by judges Sian Cain, Nikesh Shukla and Paul Muldoon, are: The High House Jessie Greengrass (Swift Press)
- [Sign up to free events from the RSL](https://rsliterature.org/sign-up-to-free-events-from-the-rsl/) - As part of our RSL Spring 2023 Season, we’re offering free sign ups to upcoming digital events, featuring literary icons such as Emma Warren, Kieran Yates, Juliet Jacques and Eliza Clark. 📚 Simply register at the individual event pages below, and on release day you’ll receive the event in your inbox on release day. Careers in Literature
- [Second group of RSL International Writers announced](https://rsliterature.org/second-group-of-rsl-international-writers-announced/) - As part of the ongoing RSL 200 festival, we are delighted to announce a new group of 12 International Writers as part of the The RSL International Writers programme. They are Anne Carson, Maryse Condé, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Cornelia Funke, Mary Gaitskill, Faïza Guène, Saidiya Hartman, Kim Hyesoon, Yōko Ogawa, Raja Shehadeh, Juan Gabriel Vasquez and Samar
- [RSL welcomes  Lisa Appignanesi as new Chair](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-welcomes-lisa-appignanesi-as-new-chair/) - Lisa Appignanesi says on joining the RSL: I’m honoured and delighted to be following in the great Jenny Uglow’s footsteps and taking on the Chair of this august Society. As the RSL moves towards its 200th anniversary in 2020, I know that we will find many ways to celebrate that very special and wonderfully various
- [RSL Ondaatje Shortlist 2016](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-shortlist-2016/) - The judges, Kate Adie, Moniza Alvi and Mark Lawson have selected the following shortlist for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2016: Jane Clarke The River (Bloodaxe) Brian Dillon The Great Explosion (Penguin Books) Alexandra Harris Weatherland (Thames & Hudson) Peter Pomerantsev Nothing is True and Everything is Possible (Faber) James Rebanks The Shepherd’s Life (Allen Lane) Samanth
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2023 Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2023-shortlist/) - The 2023 RSL Ondaatje shortlist is: Anthony Anaxagorou, Heritage Aesthetics (Granta Poetry) Michelle de Kretser, Scary Monsters (Allen & Unwin) Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (Sort of Books) Zaffar Kunial, England's Green (Faber & Faber) Priscilla Morris, Black Butterflies (Duckworth) The judges Samira Ahmed, Roger Robinson and Joelle Taylor, said, “What captivated
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2023 Longlist Announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-longlist-announced/) - The 2023 RSL Ondaatje longlist is: Anthony Anaxagorou, Heritage Aesthetics (Granta Poetry) Seán Hewitt, All Down Darkness Wide (Vintage) Philippa Holloway, The Half-life of Snails (Parthian Books) Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (Sort of Books) Michelle de Kretser, Scary Monsters (Allen & Unwin) Zaffar Kunial, England's Green (Faber & Faber) Darren McGarvey,
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2022 Shortlist Announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2022-shortlist-announced/) - We’re delighted to announce the shortlist for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2022, as selected by this year’s judges Sandeep Parmar (Chair), Patrice Lawrence and Philippe Sands! An annual prize of £10,000, the RSL Ondaatje Prize is awarded by the RSL to an outstanding work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that best evokes the spirit of a place. Congratulations to: A.K. Blakemore, The
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2022 Longlist Announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2022-longlist-announced/) - We’re delighted to announce the longlist for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2022, as selected by this year’s judges Sandeep Parmar (Chair), Patrice Lawrence and Philippe Sands! An annual prize of £10,000, the RSL Ondaatje Prize is awarded by the RSL to an outstanding work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that best evokes the spirit of a place. Congratulations to
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2022 – Winner Announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2022-winner-announced/) - We are excited to announce that Lea Ypi has won the 2022 RSL Ondaatje Prize with Free (Allen Lane). The annual Prize of £10,000 is awarded for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place. Lea Ypi said: “This started as a book about concepts and so it is
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2021 – The Longlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2021-the-longlist/) - We are excited to announce the longlist for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2021. The £10,000 Prize is awarded annually to a book – fiction, non-fiction, or poetry – which best evokes the spirit of a place. James Boyce Imperial Mud (Icon Books) Michael Crawley Out of Thin Air (Bloomsbury Sport) Catherine Fletcher The Beauty and the Terror
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2021 - The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2021-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2021. Ruth Gilligan The Butchers (Atlantic Books) Louise Hare This Lovely City (HQ) Adam Mars-Jones Box Hill (Fitzcarraldo Editions) Nina Mingya Powles Magnolia, 木蘭 (Nine Arches Press) James Rebanks English Pastoral (Allen Lane) Francesca Wade Square Haunting (Faber & Faber) Watch our specially
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2020 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2020-winner-announced/) - Roger Robinson has won the 2020 RSL Ondaatje Prize with A Portable Paradise (Peepal Tree Press). The annual Prize of £10,000 is awarded for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place. ‘Winning the RSL Ondaatje Prize is great on many levels. Gaining wider recognition for the political issues
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2020 - The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2020-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2020. Jay Bernard Surge (Chatto & Windus) Tishani Doshi Small Days and Nights (Bloomsbury Circus) Robert Macfarlane Underland (Hamish Hamilton) Roger Robinson A Portable Paradise (Peepal Tree Press) Elif Shafak 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (Viking) Jumoke Verissimo A Small
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2020 - The Longlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2020-the-longlist/) - We are pleased to announce the longlist for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2020 for books (fiction, non-fiction and poetry) best evoking the spirit of a place. Jay Bernard Surge (Chatto & Windus) Jane Clarke When the Tree Falls (Bloodaxe Books) Laura Cumming On Chapel Sands (Chatto & Windus) Tishani Doshi Small Days and Nights (Bloomsbury
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2019 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2019-winner-announced/) - Aida Edemariam has won the 2019 RSL Ondaatje Prize with The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History (4th Estate). The annual Prize of £10,000 is awarded for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place. The Wife's Tale is beautifully written, carefully researched and richly imagined, an exquisite blend of memoir,
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2019 - The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2019-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2019. Rania Abouzeid No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria (Oneworld) Aida Edemariam The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History (4th Estate) Aminatta Forna Happiness (Bloomsbury) Sarah Moss Ghost Wall (Granta) Guy Stagg The Crossway (Picador) Adam Weymouth Kings of the
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2019 - The Longlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2019-the-longlist/) - In celebration of the fifteenth year of the RSL Ondaatje Prize we are announcing a longlist, for the first time: Rania Abouzeid No Turning Back (Oneworld) Sam Byers Perfidious Albion (Faber & Faber) Edward Carey Little (Aardvark Bureau) Jonathan Coe Middle England (Viking) Aida Edemariam The Wife’s Tale (4th Estate) Aminatta Forna Happiness (Bloomsbury Circus)
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2018 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2018-winner-announced/) - Pascale Petit has won the 2018 RSL Ondaatje Prize with Mama Amazonica (Bloodaxe Books). The annual Prize of £10,000 is awarded for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place.This is the first time in the Prize's 14 year history that a poetry collection has won. Mama Amazonica is an unforgettable
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2018 - shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2018-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2018: Kushanava Choudhury The Epic City (Bloomsbury Circus) Xiaolu Guo Once Upon a Time in the East (Chatto & Windus) Lucy Hughes-Hallett Peculiar Ground (4th Estate) Kapka Kassabova Border (Granta) Fiona Mozley Elmet (JM Originals) Pascale Petit Mama Amazonica (Bloodaxe Books) This year's
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2017 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2017-winner-announced/) - Francis Spufford has won the 2017 RSL Ondaatje Prize with Golden Hill (Faber). This is that rare thing - an ingenious novel that draws on profound research to evoke the spirit of another age, yet wears that research lightly. An astonishing achievement, intoxicating in its virtuosity. Henry Hitchings – RSL Ondaatje 2017 Judge
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2017  - shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2017-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2017 RSL Ondaatje Prize: Amy Liptrot The Outrun (Canongate) Rebecca Mackenzie In a Land of Paper Gods (Tinder Press) Kei Miller Augustown (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) Barney Norris Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain (Black Swan) Francis Spufford Golden Hill (Faber) Rose Tremain The Gustav Sonata (Chatto
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2016 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-2016-winner-announced/) - Peter Pomerantsev has won the 2016 RSL Ondaatje Prize with Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia (Faber). NOTHING IS TRUE AND EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE is an exuberant exposure of greed and corruption in modern Russia. The grotesque pursuit of money is conveyed in glittering, trenchant prose, as
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize 2015: winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/winner-announced/) - Justin Marozzi has won the 2015 RSL Ondaatje Prize with Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood (Allen Lane). “I am deeply honoured and completely thrilled to have been awarded the RSL’s Ondaatje Prize. Living and working in Baghdad – and writing about the city – have taken up much of the past decade during an extraordinary
- [RSL Literature Matters Awards 2021– Winners Announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-literature-matters-awards-2021-winners-announced/) - We are delighted to announce the seven recipients of the RSL Literature Matters Awards 2021. The Awards aim to enable literary excellence and innovation, providing writers with financial support to undertake a new literary project. This year's judges are Adjoa Andoh, Hannah Berry and Ian McMillan. £2000 – Saleh Addonia – The Feeling House Short story collection focusing
- [RSL Literature Matters Awards 2020 – winners announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-literature-matters-awards-2020-winners-announced/) - We are delighted to announce the seven recipients of the RSL Literature Matters Awards 2020. The Awards aim to enable literary excellence and innovation, providing writers with financial support to undertake a new literary project. This year's judges are Tessa Hadley, David Morley and Roy Williams. £3,000 – Charlotte Ansell and Janett Plummer – Chosen
- [RSL Literature Matters Awards 2019 - winners announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-literature-matters-awards-2019-winners-announced/) - We are delighted to announce the seven recipients of the 2019 RSL Literature Matters Awards. The Awards aim to enable literary excellence and innovation, providing writers with financial support to undertake a new literary project. The judges this year are Menna Elfyn, Abdulrazak Gurnah (chair), Barney Norris. £3,000 - Will Eaves and Sophie Scott -The Neuromantics A
- [RSL Literature Matters Awards 2018 - winners announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-literature-matters-awards-2018-winners-announced/) - We are delighted to announce the six recipients of the 2018 RSL Literature Matters Awards. The Awards aim to enable literary excellence and innovation, providing writers with financial support to undertake a new literary project. The judges this year are Jonathan Keates (chair), Imtiaz Dharker and Gillian Slovo. £2320 - Matt Bryden - Lost and
- [RSL Jerwood Awards for Non-Fiction 2014](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-jerwood-awards-for-non-fiction-2014/) - We are delighted to announce that the winners of the 2014 RSL Jerwood Awards are: Laurence Scott, Minocher Dinshaw, Aida Edemariam. Photo: Michael Jershov.
- [RSL Jerwood Awards 2016 - winners announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-jerwood-awards-2016-winners-announced/) - We are delighted to announce the recipients of the 2016 RSL Jerwood Awards: £10,000 Violet Moller - The Geography of Knowledge (Pan Macmillan, 2018) explores how the big ideas of the ancient world found their way into Western culture from 8th century Baghdad to Renaissance Venice. £5,000 Afua Hirsch - BRIT(ish): Getting Under the Skin
- [RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction 2018](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-giles-st-aubyn-awards-for-non-fiction-2018/) - We are delighted to announced the recipients of the second RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for first commissioned works of Non-Fiction are: £10,000 - Laurence Blair - Lost Countries of South America: Travels in a Continent’s Past and Present (The Bodley Head, 2020) £5,000 - Lily Le Brun- Looking to Sea: Britain Through the Eyes
- [RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction - winners announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-giles-st-aubyn-awards-for-non-fiction-winners-announced/) - We are delighted to announce that the recipients of the inaugural RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for first commissioned works of non-fiction are: £10,000 - David Farrier Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils (4th Estate, 2019) £5,000 - Lisa Woollett Scavenging (John Murray, 2019) Judges’ Special Commendation is awarded to Joanna Jolly for From the Red River: The Story
- [RSL Encore Award 2017 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-encore-award-2017-winner-announced/) - We are delighted to announce the winner of the RSL Encore Award 2017 is Ian McGuire for The North Water. The 2017 judges are Alex Clark, Julia Copus and Ted Hodgkinson.
- [RSL Encore Award 2017 - shortlist announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-encore-award-2017-shortlist-announced/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the RSL Encore Award 2017: Jenni Fagan The Sunlight Pilgrims (William Heinemann) Paul Kingsnorth Beast (Faber & Faber) Ian McGuire The North Water (Scribner) Eimear McBride The Lesser Bohemians (Faber & Faber) Sarah Perry The Essex Serpent (Serpent’s Tail) Sara Taylor The Lauras (William Heinemann) The 2017
- [RSL Elects 45 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-elects-45-new-fellows-and-honorary-fellows/) - On 24 June, the RSL elected 45 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows. The new RSL Fellows for 2019 are: Hanan al-Shaykh, Monica Ali, David Baddiel, Mary Beard, Elleke Boehmer, Jez Butterworth, Vahni Capildeo, Debjani Chatterjee, Esther Freud, Stephen Fry, Peter Gill, Armando Iannucci, Catherine Johnson, Cynan Jones, Olivia Laing, Patrick McGuinness, Jonathan Meades , Sinéad
- [RSL elects 31 new Fellows](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-elects-31-new-fellows/) - On 4 June the RSL introduced double its usual intake of Fellows. The new RSL Fellows for 2018 are: Mojisola Adebayo, Naomi Alderman, Julia Copus, Amanda Craig, Tim Dee, Julia Donaldson, Louise Doughty, Ken Follett, Neil Gaiman, Mohsin Hamid, Frances Hardinge, Anthony Horowitz, Philip Kerr, Nikita Lalwani, Nell Leyshon, Ben Markovits, Annalena McAfee, Eimear McBride, Pauline Melville, Charlotte
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2023 Shortlist Revealed](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-2023-shortlist-revealed/) - The judges of this year's RSL Christopher Bland Prize, Lemn Sissay (Chair), Meena Kandasamy, and Simon Savidge, have selected the following for the shortlist: Susie Alegre, Freedom to Think (Atlantic Books) Jo Browning Wroe, A Terrible Kindness (Faber & Faber) Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry (Doubleday) Paterson Joseph, The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho (Dialogue
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2022 - Winner Announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-2022-winner-announced/) - We are excited to announce that Julia Parry has won the 2022 RSL Christopher Bland Prize for The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters, and Elizabeth Bowen (Duckworth Books), as selected by this year's judges David Baddiel (Chair), Caroline Criado Perez and Naga Munchetty. The annual Prize of £10,000 is awarded to a debut novelist or non-fiction writer
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2022 - Shortlist Announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-2022-shortlist-announced/) - We're excited to reveal the shortlist for the RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2022, celebrating outstanding achievements for a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published aged 50 or over. Looking ahead, the winner will be announced on Tuesday 7 June. The five shortlisted titles are: Yvonne Bailey-Smith, The Day I Fell Off My Island (Myriad
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2021 - Winner Announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-2021-winner-announced/) - We are excited to announce that Pete Paphides has won the 2021 RSL Christopher Bland Prize with Broken Greek (Quercus). The annual Prize of £10,000 is awarded to a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published aged 50 or over. ‘Broken Greek is an original, wry and radical memoir, tracing Pete Paphides's life against the music
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2021 - Shortlist announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-2021-shortlist-announced/) - We are excited to announce the shortlist for the £10,000 RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2021 for a debut writer of fiction or non-fiction aged 50 or over. This year’s judges are Mary Beard (Chair), Monica Ali, Georgia Byng and Ben Hunte. The winner will be announced on Thursday 3 June. Rosanna Amaka The Book of Echoes (Doubleday) Richard Atkinson Mr Atkinson's Rum Contract (4th Estate) Michael Cashman One of Them
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2020 – Winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-2020-winner-announced/) - We are pleased to announce that the winner of the £10,000 RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2020 is Michele Kirsch with her memoir Clean (Short Books). The Prize is awarded to a debut fiction or non-fiction writer first published aged 50 or over and was first presented last year. The 2020 judges are Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (Chair),
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2020 - The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-2020-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2020 for a debut writer of fiction or non-fiction aged 50 or over: Anne Griffin When All is Said (Sceptre) Michele Kirsch Clean (Short Books) Stephen Morris Black Tea (Claret Press) David Nott War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line (Picador) Celia
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2019 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-2019-winner-announced/) - Raynor Winn wins the £10,000 RSL Christopher Bland Prize in its inaugural year for her memoir The Salt Path (Michael Joseph).
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2019 - The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/11171-2/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the inaugural RSL Christopher Bland Prize, awarded to a debut novelist or popular non-fiction writer, first published at the age of 50 or over. Thomas Bourke The Consolation of Maps (Riverrun) Barbara Jenkins De Rightest Place (Peepal Tree Press) A J Pearce Dear Mrs Bird (Picador) Roland Philipps A Spy Named Orphan (The
- [RSL announces 44 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-announces-44-new-fellows-and-honorary-fellows/) - Today, Tuesday 6 July, we're proud to announce the election of 44 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows, and awarding of the Benson Medal, for 2021. The new RSL Fellows for 2021 are: Anne Applebaum, Zawe Ashton, Sally Bayley, Homi Bhabha, Anna Burns, Cressida Cowell, Robert Crawford, Margreta de Grazia, Edmund de Waal, Will Eaves, Reni
- [RSL 200](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-200/) - On our 200th birthday we are thrilled to launch RSL 200, a five-year celebration of the best in literature past, present and future. We're delighted that the first day of these celebrations includes some big birthday announcements: 29 Fellows Raymond Antrobus, Chloe Aridjis, Damian Barr, Cressida Connolly, Susan Cooper, Jill Dawson, April De Angelis, Jane Draycott,
- [Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 1921-2021](https://rsliterature.org/prince-philip-duke-of-edinburgh-1921-2021/) - Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has died aged 99. He had been married to the Queen, former Patron of the Royal Society of Literature, for 73 years and was, in the words she used at the celebration of her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, “my constant strength and guide”. Philip, an only son and youngest of
- [Paterson Joseph Wins the 2023 RSL Christopher Bland Prize](https://rsliterature.org/paterson-joseph-wins-the-2023-rsl-christopher-bland-prize/) - The 2023 RSL Christopher Bland Prize winner is Paterson Joseph for The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho (Dialogue Books). Paterson Joseph said: “I am happier about receiving the Christopher Bland Prize 2023 than I could have imagined. As a fledgling actor I wanted to be respected by my peers and to be looked upon
- [New research into the impact of reading](https://rsliterature.org/new-research-into-the-impact-of-reading/) - The Reading Agency has commissioned a new report from think tank Demos to demonstrate the power of reading to tackle big societal challenges: loneliness and isolation, health and wellbeing and social mobility. The report finds that regular readers tend to be less lonely and that reading can improve common symptoms of both depression and dementia Read the news
- [Merky Books announces New Writers’ Prize winner and partnership with RSL](https://rsliterature.org/merky-books-announces-new-writers-prize-winner-and-partnership-with-rsl/) - #Merky Books has announced Jyoti Patel as the winner of the New Writers’ Prize 2021, a competition that aims to discover unpublished, underrepresented writers aged 16-30 from the UK and Ireland. Jyoti Patel's winning submission is called Six of One, a coming-of-age story that explores what it means to be a person of colour in
- [Marina Warner is elected first female President of the RSL](https://rsliterature.org/marina-warner-is-elected-first-female-president/) - Following Colin Thubron’s hugely successful presidency Marina Warner has been elected the RSL’s 19th President. She will be President Elect until the election is ratified at the RSL’s AGM of Fellows on 19 June 2017. Marina Warner says: ‘It is a huge honour and a great surprise to become President of the RSL. Literature has
- [Marina Warner announced as RSL President Emerita](https://rsliterature.org/marina-warner-announced-as-rsl-president-emerita/) - All at the RSL are delighted to announce Marina Warner as President Emerita, joining Presidents Emeriti Michael Holroyd and Colin Thubron. 'I was proud to become President of the RSL, though it was a shock to learn I was the first woman in the role, as women have hardly failed over the last 200 years
- [Literature in Britain Today](https://rsliterature.org/literature-in-britain-today/) - As the national body responsible under Royal Charter for ‘the advancement of literature’ in the UK, we have decided to ask the nation what it thinks about literature. Our ground-breaking opinion poll, carried out by Ipsos MORI, is, as far as we know, the first time that anyone has attempted to find out how many
- [Kazuo Ishiguro is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2017](https://rsliterature.org/kazuo-ishiguro-is-awarded-the-nobel-prize-in-literature-2017/) - 'Since his early novels, A Pale View of Hills and The Artist of the Floating World, till his most recent, The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro has created a series of memorably delicate and poignant stories about human predicaments of our time. With his quiet and thoughtful voice, he faces up to difficult themes, and probes,
- [Inaugural RSL International Writers Announced](https://rsliterature.org/inaugural-rsl-international-writers-announced/) - The RSL International Writers programme was announced last year as part of RSL 200, a five-year festival launched in 2020 with a series of major new initiatives and 60 new appointments championing the great diversity of writing and writers in the UK. The programme is a new award recognising the contribution of writers across the
- [Her Majesty the Queen](https://rsliterature.org/her-majesty-the-queen/) - HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II (1926-2022) We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, at the age of 96. Under the patronage of Her Majesty, between 1953 and 2018, the Society grew into a vibrant and outward-facing organisation, one that celebrates literature for everyone. Alongside 15 Prime Ministers,
- [Encore Award 2023 Shortlist Announced](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-2023-shortlist-announced/) - The Encore Award gives £10,000 annually, celebrating outstanding achievements in second novels - filling a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes. This year’s judges are Maura Dooley, Daljit Nagra and Nikesh Shukla and the five shortlisted novels are: Milk Teeth, Jessica Andrews (Hodder) Factory Girls, Michelle Gallen (John Murrays) Emergency, Daisy Hildyard (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
- [Encore Award 2021 - The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-2021-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the Encore Award 2021, for best second novel of the year. The 2021 judges are Sian Cain, Nikita Lalwani and Paul Muldoon. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury) Should We Fall Behind by Sharon Duggal (Bluemoose Books) The Blind Light by Stuart Evers (Picador) The Wild Laughter by Caoilinn Hughes (One World) The
- [Encore Award 2022 - Winner Announced](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-2022-winner-announced/) - We are excited to announce that Francis Spufford has won the 2022 Encore Award for Light Perpetual (Faber & Faber). The annual Prize of £10,000 is awarded for best second novel of the year. 'If the defining characteristic of fiction is “making it up,” Francis Spufford’s Light Perpetual is a triumph in the form. Opening with
- [Encore Award 2021 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-2021-winner-announced/) - We are excited to announce that Caoilinn Hughes has won the 2021 Encore Award with The Wild Laughter (One World). The annual Prize of £10,000 is awarded for best second novel of the year. ‘The judges found Caoilinn Hughes' The Wild Laughter to be a grand feat of comic ingenuity, mischievous and insightful, and full of resonance for
- [Encore Award 2020 – winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-2020-winner-announced/) - Patrick McGuinness wins the £10,000 Encore Award 2020 for best second novel of the year with Throw Me to the Wolves (Jonathan Cape). This is the 30th year of the Award. The 2020 judges are RSL Fellows Edmund Gordon, Nikita Lalwani and Eley Williams. You can watch reflections from previous winners of the Award on
- [Encore Award 2020 – The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-2020-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the Encore Award 2020, in its 30th year, for best second novel: David Keenan – For the Good Times (Faber & Faber) Patrick McGuinness – Throw Me to the Wolves (Jonathan Cape) Billy O’Callaghan – My Coney Island Baby (Jonathan Cape) Shiromi Pinto – Plastic Emotions (Influx Press)
- [Encore Award 2019 — The Shortlist](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-2019-the-shortlist/) - We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2019 Encore Award for best second novel of the year: Sam Byers Perfidious Albion (Faber & Faber) Kerry Hadley-Pryce Gamble (Salt Publishing) Anthony Joseph Kitch (Peepal Tree Press) Sally Rooney Normal People (Faber & Faber) Daniel Shand Crocodile (Sandstone Press) Sam Thompson Jott (JM Originals) The
- [Encore Award 2019 - winner announced](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-2019-winner-announced/) - Sally Rooney wins the £10,000 Encore Award 2019 for best second novel of the year with her novel Normal People (Faber and Faber). The 2019 judges are RSL Fellows Edmund Gordon, Nikita Lalwani and Eley Williams.
- [Encore Award 2018 - joint winners announced](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-2018-joint-winners-announced/) - We are delighted to announce that the £10,000 Encore Award 2018 for best second novel of the year is jointly awarded to Andrew Michael Hurley for Devil’s Day (John Murray) and Lisa McInerney for The Blood Miracles (John Murray). Chair of the judges, Alex Clark comments: ‘Prize juries are reluctant to split awards - probably because it looks
- [Drue Heinz, 1915-2018](https://rsliterature.org/drue-heinz-1915-2018/) - For twenty years Drue Heinz supported the RSL, most notably through our annual Anglo-American literature events. An Honorary Fellow, she was an extraordinary philanthropist for literature, and here our Literary Advisor, Maggie Fergusson, reflects on how she became a friend as well. I first met Drue over lunch in Odin’s, off Marylebone Road, in the
- [Daisy Hildyard Wins the 2023 Encore Award for 'Emergency'](https://rsliterature.org/daisy-hildyard-wins-the-encore-award-for-emergency/) - The 2023 Encore Award winner was revealed as Daisy Hildyard for Emergency (Fitzcarraldo Editions) on Thursday 15 June. This year the prize-winner was announced at a live event. Daisy Hildyard was unable to attend but was informed and accepted the award saying: ‘An award for a second attempt is a kind-hearted award and I am happy
- [Boyd Tonkin Awarded Newly-designed Benson Medal](https://rsliterature.org/boyd-tonkin-awarded-newly-designed-benson-medal/) - As part of the RSL's bicentenary celebrations, a newly-commissioned Benson Medal has been unveiled, with Boyd Tonkin being announced as the 2020 recipient. Boyd Tonkin is an editor and critic who currently writes on literature and other arts for international media including The Economist, The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and The Spectator. As Literary Editor and then
- [Bernardine Evaristo Announced as New President of the RSL](https://rsliterature.org/bernardine-evaristo-announced-as-new-president-of-the-rsl/) - In celebration of our 201st birthday today, we are excited to announce that Professor Bernardine Evaristo OBE FRSL is to be the new President of the organisation when Professor Dame Marina Warner FBA FRSL retires at the end of 2021. Founded in 1820, the RSL acts as a voice for the value of literature, honouring
- [Anthony Anaxagorou Wins the 2023 RSL Ondaatje Prize](https://rsliterature.org/anthony-anaxagorou-wins-the-2023-rsl-ondaatje-prize/) - The 2023 RSL Ondaatje Prize winner was revealed as Anthony Anaxagorou for Heritage Aesthetics (Granta Poetry) on Wednesday 10 May. Anthony Anaxagorou said: "Thank you so much to the judges for seeing the book, for seeing the intention, the vision of trying to bring Cyprus and the UK together. Cyprus has always been very peripheral
- [Announcing our Autumn events season](https://rsliterature.org/announcing-our-autumn-events-season/) - ‘Autumn, somewhere over Michigan, a colony of monarch butterflies, numbering more than fifteen thousand, are beginning their yearly migration south.’ – Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous We're excited to announce our line up of events for this Autumn season – now open for booking! Autumn often brings the anticipation of a new term, and new beginnings.
- [Ali Smith warns over library closures](https://rsliterature.org/ali-smith-warns-over-library-closures/) - RSL Fellow Ali Smith, this year's winner of the Baileys Women's Prize, has spoken of her deep concern about the impact of library closures. She told the Edinburgh International Book Festival that in November she will bring out a collection of short stories, entitled Public Library and Other Stories. She said: "In the three or
- [Alastair Niven Awarded 2021 Benson Medal](https://rsliterature.org/alastair-niven-awarded-2021-benson-medal/) - Founded in 1916 by scholar, author and RSL Fellow A.C. Benson, the Benson Medal honours service to literature across a whole career. This year the Benson Medal has been awarded to Alastair Niven. Born in Edinburgh, Alastair has held academic positions at the Universities of Ghana, Leeds, Stirling, Aarhus, London and Oxford. He was Director General
- [2021 RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards Winners Announced](https://rsliterature.org/18222-2/) - We are delighted to announce the winners of the RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for first commissioned works of non-fiction! £10,000 –Tomiwa Owolade – This is Not America (Atlantic Books, 2022) £5,000 – Tom Ireland – The Good Virus (Hodder & Stoughton, 2022) £2,500 – David Veevers – A New History of the World at the Dawn of
- [2022 Fellows, Honorary Fellows and Benson Medal](https://rsliterature.org/2022-fellows-honorary-fellows-and-benson-medal/) - We are delighted to announce the new RSL Fellows and Honorary Fellows for 2022, including our first cohort of Fellows elected through RSL Open, and the recipient of the 2022 Benson Medal. In the largest mass induction in the RSL’s history, nearly 100 Fellows and Honorary Fellows signed our historic Roll Book with a famous writer’s pen.
- [2022's RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction announced](https://rsliterature.org/2022s-rsl-giles-st-aubyn-awards-for-non-fiction-announced/) - Established in 2017, the RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards support writers on their first commissioned works of non-fiction with 3 awards – one of £10,000, one of £5,000 and one of £2,500. The three recipients for 2022 are Nuzha Nuseibeh, Ellen Atlanta and Malachi McIntosh. This year’s Awards were judged by: Homi K. Bhahba, Fiona
- [A Room of My Own](https://rsliterature.org/a-room-of-my-own/) - Today, Wednesday 19 June, we hold our second Dalloway Day celebrating Virginia Woolf's work. Alongside events and reading groups through the day, this year we are marking 90 years of A Room of One’s Own by asking what writers need today to work. In A Room of My Own, the RSL invited seven Fellows to respond
- [40 new Fellows under 40](https://rsliterature.org/40-new-fellows-under-40/) - In 2018 the RSL is undertaking to elect 40 new Fellows under the age of 40. We are asking publishers, agents, arts administrators and writers to recommend the best young writers for nomination to Fellowship. ‘As someone who became an RSL Fellow a couple of years shy of my 40th birthday I know what a
- [FTWEEKEND Festival](https://rsliterature.org/ftweekend-festival/) - This September, we are delighted to be partnering with FTWeekend – where curious minds meet – taking place at Kenwood House in London, and online. The award-winning FTWeekend Festival returns to Kenwood House on 2 September, with speakers including Greg James, Simon Schama and Bee Wilson already confirmed for the day-long event where the weekend paper comes
- [HowTheLightGetsIn Festival](https://rsliterature.org/two-fantastic-festivals-this-september/) - This September, we are delighted to be partnering with HowTheLightGetsIn – taking place at Kenwood House in London. HowTheLightGetsIn is the world’s largest music and philosophy festival. The full programme sees speakers spanning Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, Ruby Wax, Michio Kaku, Martin Wolf, and Carol Gilligan, all take to the stage. Addressing the theme ‘Dangers, Desires, and Destiny’, debates and talks will interrogate what an increasingly
- [Join Our Team!](https://rsliterature.org/join-our-team/) - The RSL is growing! We’re currently recruiting across communications and events with three new vacancies! You’ll be joining team RSL in what is an exiting time of growth and development for our charity to help diversify the RSL’s growing programme of work, led by principles of experimentation, inclusivity and accessibility. If you think you could be our
- [2022's RSL Literature Matters Awards announced](https://rsliterature.org/2022s-rsl-literature-matters-awards-announced/) - Now in their fifth year, the RSL Literature Matters Awards aim to enable literary excellence and innovation, providing writers with financial support to undertake new literary projects that extend the reach of literature. Seven projects from writers working across multiple disciplines and forms have been chosen by judges Melanie Abrahams, Sophie Collins and Ian Duhig.
- [Peace Poetry Anthology](https://rsliterature.org/peace-poetry-anthology/) - Today, on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One we publish the full Peace Poetry anthology on our website. The anthology, featuring 14 RSL poet Fellows responding to the work of Wilfred Owen, alongside some of Owen's own powerful verse is now available to download from our online library.
- [The Pulse of a Perfect Heart: Three New Commissions](https://rsliterature.org/the-pulse-of-a-perfect-heart-three-new-commissions/) - There! Out it boomed. First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. Such fools we are, she thought, crossing Victoria Street. For Heaven only knows why one loves it so, how one sees it so, making it up, building it round one, tumbling it, creating it every moment
- [Poems for Peace](https://rsliterature.org/poems-for-peace/) - We are delighted to announce the winners of our Poems for Peace competition for 11-18 year olds. Click the links below to read the poems: First Prize - Heather Glover for 'Between Waves'. 17-18 years old King Edward VI School, Stratford Upon-Avon Second Prize - Halema Malak for 'Leaving Afghanistan', 16 years old, Oxford Spires Academy Third Prize -
- [A Room of My Own competition - winners announced](https://rsliterature.org/a-room-of-my-own-competition-2/) - We are delighted to announce the winners of our A Room of My Own competition for 14-18 year olds. Click the links below to read the essays (or download as a PDF): First Prize – Dominique Vincent, 18 years old, St Saviour's and St Olave's School, London Second Prize – Jia-Yan Xue, 14 years old,
- [Windrush 75 in Verse: Young People's Poems](https://rsliterature.org/elementor-9709/) - Following our Windrush RAP Party event at the London Library in June, we invited young people to submit their own Windrush-inspired poems for the chance to see them published on our newly revamped website. We are delighted to announce that eight poems have been selected to sit alongside those of the professional poets. Many congratulations to Nia Brown, Michaela Chambers, Wenenda Chika, Anastasia Giodea, Annie
- [RSL Fellows Recommend Books for Prison Readers ](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-fellows-recommend-books-for-prison-readers/) - As part of a new initiative with our partners Give a Book and Prison Reading Group, RSL Fellows will be contributing book recommendations to Inside Time, the magazine for prison readers. The first writer to appear in the magazine is Max Porter, former bookseller and editor. His first novel, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers,
- [Watch the President's Address from Bernardine Evaristo](https://rsliterature.org/watch-bernardine-evaristos-presidents-address/) - On Wednesday 12 July 2023, we celebrated the induction of 62 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows — as well as those elected in recent years who had not been able to attend previous parties — at the Garden Museum in London. After being formally inducted by our President, Bernardine Evaristo, they then signed their names
- [New Look for the RSL Launched!](https://rsliterature.org/new-look-for-the-rsl-launched/) - The RSL has today unveiled a first look at a major redesign of our visual identity which will continue to roll out through the summer and into the Autumn, as we approach our 203rd birthday. Our new website now hosts close to a hundred different recordings and articles from past events, selected from the RSL’s
- [New Fellows and Election Process Announced](https://rsliterature.org/new-fellows-and-election-process-announced/) - On 12 July, we have announced 62 new appointments, including the second induction of writers elected to Fellowship through the RSL Open initiative. Launched as part of the bicentenary celebrations, the initiative has seen 60 new writers from communities, backgrounds and experiences currently under-represented in UK literary culture elected to Fellowship. At the induction event,

## Pages

- [Home](https://rsliterature.org/) - A charity that celebrates writing of all kinds, and supports writers and readers at every stage. Support us Latest from the RSL Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read, listen & watch Awards and Prizes Our awards support writers at all stages of their careers. Each award has its
- [2026 LGBTQ+ History Month - Fellows Recommendations](https://rsliterature.org/2026-lgbtq-history-month-fellows-recommendations/)
- [RSL Judging Interest Form 2026/2027](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-judging-interest-form-2026-2027/)
- [Engagement](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/engagement/) - Engagement For many people, the world of literature can seem remote and forbidding. The RSL’s engagement programme seeks to change this, making it easy to begin or sustain your reading and writing life. We work with schools and prisons because we believe that everyone should have access to books. Through workshops and author visits we
- [Give a book](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/engagement/give-a-book/) - Give A Book We have sent hundreds of books out to prisons via our partnership with the reading charity Give a Book. Many thanks to all our supporters for their generous donations. Give a Book are always grateful to receive books for prison readers and are particularly in need of foreign translations in the following
- [Inside Time](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/engagement/inside-time/) - Bringing Books into Prisons The RSL has teamed up with the prison magazine Inside Time to bring book recommendations directly from RSL Fellows, including Max Porter, Sabrina Mahfouz, and AL Kennedy, to prison readers. If you are an RSL Fellow and interested in writing a column, please get in touch using the button below. Get
- [Fellowship Nomination Form](https://rsliterature.org/fellowship-nomination-form/)
- [Honorary Fellowship Nomination Form](https://rsliterature.org/honorary-fellowship-nomination-form/)
- [President](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/governance/president/) - President Elif Shafak The President is a figurehead for the organisation. They are elected from the Fellowship and serve a term of four years. Their role is symbolic, and they act as an Ambassador for the Society and its overall mission – the advancement of literature – but do not serve as a trustee of
- [NEW - Governing documents](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/governance/governing-documents/) - Governing documents The RSL’s governing document is its Constitution, comprised of its Royal Charter and bye-laws. The Constitution requires that anyone nominated for Fellowship must have published or produced at least two substantial literary works or equivalent which are of ‘outstanding literary merit’, and must be resident in or citizens of the UK. Read the
- [Awards and Prizes](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/) - Our awards support writers at all stages of their careers. Each award has its own entry requirements, prize and deadlines. Explore our awards and prizes below. If you’d like to see past winners finding out from judges that they’ve won, visit our library in Look and Listen. We celebrate the work of new writers with
- [Write Across London Poetry Map](https://rsliterature.org/write-across-london-poetry-map/) - Write Across London Poetry Map In April 2020, the Museum of London put out an open call for submissions of both objects and first-hand experiences to reflect Londoners’ lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and received a huge number of poems. Inspired by this, we launched Write Across London to create a poetic snapshot of the
- [Royal Patron](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/governance/royal-patron/) - Royal Patron HM The Queen HM The Queen took on patronage of the RSL in the summer of 2018 when she was The Duchess of Cornwall. She attended a celebration of Fellows where she quoted George IV, the Society’s founder, as saying that the ‘highest of distinctions is service to others’. Queen Camilla is a passionate champion of literacy
- [What's On](https://rsliterature.org/what-is-on/) - The RSL’s events bring authors together with their audiences and each other. Many of these are free and online, enabling anyone to access our programme in a way that works for them. We programme our events independent of publishing cycles. This means we can curate conversations that we think are important, interesting and inspiring. And
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize Entry](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-entry/)
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize Eligibility and Entry Guidelines](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-ondaatje-prize-eligibility-and-guidelines/) - The Prize A prize of £10,000 will be awarded to the author of the work that the judges consider to be the best eligible entry that evokes the spirit of a place. This may be a work of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry. The prize may not be divided or withheld. The judges will be responsible
- [Donate](https://rsliterature.org/donate/) - The RSL is a registered charity. We rely on the generosity of donors, Members and Fellows to carry out our work. We are a small, hard-working charity dedicated to championing the value of literature for all. We rely on the generosity of donors, Members and Fellows, to carry out our work. A donation of any
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize Entry](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-entry/)
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize Award Eligibility and Entry Guidelines](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-award-eligibility-and-entry-guidelines/) - The Prize A prize of £10,000 will be awarded to the author of the work that the judges consider to be the best eligible entry. This may be a work of fiction or non-fiction, including writing for young adults. The prize may not be divided or withheld. The judges will be responsible for compiling a
- [Dalloway Day Events](https://rsliterature.org/what-is-on/dalloway-day-events/) - Welcome to our Dalloway Day Events page! Dalloway Day is our annual celebration of Mrs Dalloway and other writings by (and inspired by) Virginia Woolf. 2025 marks 100 years since the initial publication of the iconic book that takes place over a Wednesday in mid-June. Our events are taking place throughout the months of May and June,
- [V.S. Pritchett Prize Eligibility and Guidelines](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/v-s-pritchett-prize-eligibility-and-guidelines/) - The Prizea) The author of the winning entry will be awarded a prize of £1,000 and have their story published in the RSL Review.b) The judges will be responsible for selecting the winning entry, which will be announced in early 2026.c) The Prize is administered in all respects by the Royal Society of Literature. Eligible
- [FAQs](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/faqs/) - Have a question for the RSL? Hopefully we’ve managed to answer it here. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please contact us. Awards and Funding Membership and Support Events Other Awards and Funding Where can I find support as a writer? Our Awards and Prizes aim to support writers at all stages of their careers.
- [Membership](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/membership/) - Become a Member RSL Members are champions of literature. Their support makes our engagement work in schools and prisons possible. They enable us to celebrate literature in all of its wonderful diversity. As a thank you, we give them all the joys of a literary festival and book club rolled into one, all year round.
- [Our publications](https://rsliterature.org/our-publications/) - Apply filters Remove filters Contributed by: Claire Tomalin Read more Read more Contributed by: Adam Phillips, Joan Bakewell Read more Contributed by: Aminatta Forna, Priyamvada Gopal, Clare Lees, Andrew Motion, Ross Raisin, Michael Wood, Polly Toynbee Read more Contributed by: Edmund de Waal, Penelope Lively Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more
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- [Audio from RSL](https://rsliterature.org/audio-from-rsl/) - Apply filters Remove filters Contributed by: A.S. Byatt, Philip Hensher Read more Contributed by: Rose Tremain, Richard Holmes Read more Contributed by: V.S. Naipaul, John Carey Read more Read more Contributed by: Ruth Rendell Read more Contributed by: Hilary Mantel, James Runcie, Peter Parker Read more Read more Contributed by: Margaret Atwood, Xandra Bingley Read
- [Events from RSL](https://rsliterature.org/events-from-rsl/) - Apply filters Remove filters Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more
- [Articles from RSL](https://rsliterature.org/articles-from-rsl/) - Apply filters Remove filters Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Contributed by: Adam Phillips, Joan Bakewell Read more Read more Contributed by: Edmund de Waal, Penelope Lively Read more Read more Read more Contributed by: Aminatta Forna, Priyamvada Gopal, Clare Lees, Andrew Motion, Ross Raisin, Michael Wood, Polly Toynbee Read more
- [Guest Curator for RSL Review](https://rsliterature.org/guest-curator-for-rsl-review/)
- [How We Work](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/) - Fellowship Fellows are nominated by peers and elected by our Council of writers – our governing Board – along with our Vice-Presidents, President and Presidents Emeriti. Being elected a Fellow of the RSL is a lifetime honour. This role gives Fellows the opportunity to support other writers, readers and the future of literature. The RSL
- [Our roll book](https://rsliterature.org/our-roll-book/) - Our roll book Newly elected Fellows are formally inducted at the RSL’s annual summer party, when their Fellowship is announced publicly. While the President introduces them, they are invited to sign their names in the Roll Book. Received in 1825 when the RSL received its Royal Charter, the Roll Book is a unique literary document,
- [Get Creative for Climate Justice](https://rsliterature.org/climate-justice/) - Thank you to all of the schools and young people who took part in the campaign in 2025. Read more about the 2025 campaign below: Get Creative for Climate Justice seeks to empower young people to get involved in the campaign for climate justice. The project, which was jointly run by the RSL, CAFOD, Christian
- [RSL Summer Party Members Ballot](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-summer-party-members-ballot/)
- [RSL Scriptorium Awards Entry Form](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-scriptorium-awards-entry-form/)
- [RSL Scriptorium Awards - Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-scriptorium-awards-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/)
- [RSL Scriptorium Awards Eligibility and Guidelines](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-scriptorium-awards-eligibility-and-guidelines/) - RSL Scriptorium Awards Eligibility and Guidelines The Award Up to ten writers will be awarded a writing residency in a cottage in Kent. The retreat, which can be for up to a month at a time, will offer uninterrupted time for professionally active writers to focus on their work – they will have exclusive use
- [RSL Literature Matters Awards Eligibility and Guidelines](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-literature-matters-awards-eligibility-and-guidelines/) - The Awardsa) A total of £20,000 is available – this will be split across a number of projects, which will be chosen by the judges. The winners will be announced in November 2025.b) An RSL Literature Matters Award must result in new, original writing or other literary activity of an excellent artistic standard, which will
- [Fellows Remembered](https://rsliterature.org/about-us/fellows/fellows-remembered/) - Fellows Remembered Search for fellow Sort By Sort…By A-ZBy Z-A Search By Alphabet Fellows Alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered Remembered
- [NEW - Engagement](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/new-engagement/) - Engagement For many people, the world of literature can seem remote and forbidding. The RSL’s engagement programme seeks to change this, making it easy to begin or sustain your reading and writing life. We work with schools and prisons because we believe that everyone should have access to books. Through workshops and author visits we
- [Commonwealth War Graves Commission](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/engagement/commonwealth-war-graves-commission/) - Commonwealth War Graves Commission In 2024 we worked with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to design a new programme to honour non-commemorated labourers in South Africa through poetry, with a collaborative poem and epitaph written by South African poet Koleka Putuma and our former Chair Daljit Nagra. This work is part of the RSL’s
- [Look & Listen](https://rsliterature.org/look-listen/) - Welcome to Look and Listen. This section of our website contains a wealth of material taken from the RSL archive as well as recordings of our live events. We hope you’ll find something of interest among the articles, audio, video and stories in this section – it’s an area we’ll keep adding to, so do
- [NEW - Look and listen](https://rsliterature.org/new-look-and-listen/)
- [Vice Presidents](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/governance/vice-presidents/) - Vice Presidents Vice-Presidents are elected by the Council. This is a lifetime honorary position. Vice-Presidents are not trustees of the Council but are entitled to vote on the election of Fellows, Honorary Fellows and Companions of Literature.
- [Presidents Emeriti](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/governance/presidents-emeriti/) - Presidents Emeriti Presidents-Emeriti are those who have been elected by the Council after previously serving as Presidents of the Society. This is a lifetime honour. They are not trustees of the Council, but are entitled to vote on the election of Fellows, Honorary Fellows and Companions of Literature.
- [Council](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/governance/council/) - Council The Council is the board of trustees of the Royal Society of Literature. It acts as the legally accountable governing body of the charity. It sets the overall plan and direction for the Society, supporting the planning of our events and engagement programmes and our awards and prizes. The Constitution allows for the Council
- [Governance](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/governance/) - The RSL is a charity governed by writers. The RSL’s board is known as its Council, and is made up of Fellows from a range of literary disciplines, as well as expert advisors. The members of Council serve as trustees and they are the only people responsible for the governance of the charity, operating in
- [NEW - Governance](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/new-governance/)
- [Who We Are](https://rsliterature.org/about-us/) - The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) celebrates and supports writing of all kinds. We are a charity for writers and readers throughout their literary lives. We’re led by writers and we believe that all literature matters. We work with schools and prisons because everyone should have access to books. We celebrate the achievements of authors.
- [NEW - Who We Are](https://rsliterature.org/new-who-we-are/)
- [NEW - How We Work](https://rsliterature.org/new-how-we-work/)
- [With Young People](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/engagement/with-young-people/) - We organise events for young people, including free and online events, to create open opportunities for anyone to hear and learn from the best writers in the UK and internationally. Free writing and reading resources on our website are there for teachers, students and any budding writer or reader to use. We create writing prompts,
- [RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards Eligibility and Guidelines](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-giles-st-aubyn-awards-eligibility-and-guidelines/) - The Awardsa) Three awards will be presented – one of £10,000, one of £5,000, and one of £2,500 – to provide financial support for talented new writers to complete their first book of non-fiction for a mainstream audience, especially by buying them time for writing or research.b) The judges will be responsible for selecting the
- [RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards Entry Form](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-giles-st-aubyn-awards-entry-form/)
- [RSL International Writers Recommendation Form](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-international-writers-recommendation-form/)
- [RSL Literature Matters Awards Entry Form](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-literature-matters-awards-entry-form/)
- [Whistleblowing Policy](https://rsliterature.org/whistleblowing-policy/) - Whistleblowing policy Table of Contents 1. Policy statement 1.1 We are committed to conducting our business with honesty and integrity, and we expect all staff to maintain high standards. However, all organisations face the risk of things going wrong from time to time, or of unknowingly harbouring illegal or unethical conduct. A culture of openness
- [NEW - Home](https://rsliterature.org/new-home/)
- [Event Recordings](https://rsliterature.org/event-recordings/)
- [How Fellowship Works](https://rsliterature.org/how-we-work/how-fellowship-works/) - Fellows are elected to the RSL. To be nominated for Fellowship, writers must have had published or produced at least two substantial works, whether in book form, as theatre productions, works for the big or small screen, or in any other form through which great writing can be shared. The involvement of Fellows with all
- [V.S. Pritchett Prize Entry Form](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/v-s-pritchett-prize-entry-form/)
- [2025 RSL Fellowship Election Form](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-fellowship-election-form/)
- [2025 Honorary Fellowship Election](https://rsliterature.org/honorary-fellowship-election/)
- [Our Work in Prisons](https://rsliterature.org/our-work-in-prisons/) - Give a Book Donations Over the past few months, we have sent 57 books out to prisons via our partnership with the reading charity Give a Book. Many thanks to all our supporters for their generous donations. Give a Book are always grateful to receive books for prison readers and are particularly in need of
- [Where writers can find support – financial, editorial, and pastoral](https://rsliterature.org/where-writers-can-find-support-financial-editorial-and-pastoral/) - You can find a full Directory of Literature Organisations on the National Centre for Writing’s website. The Alliance of Independent Authors work with authors, publishing services and author organisations, globally, and advocate for indie authors within the literary, publishing and creative industries. They run an ongoing campaign to find ways to ensure everyone can access self-publishing – see their
- [Contact](https://rsliterature.org/contact/) - We’re in the office from 10am to 6pm Monday to Friday. If you’d like to speak to us, please call during these hours. Take a look at our FAQs to see if your question has a straightforward answer. You can also get in touch with any questions via email or using the contact form below. For
- [Our Staff Team](https://rsliterature.org/about-us/team/) - We are a team dedicated to building an open, diverse and inclusive workplace. We work from Somerset House in London. To find out about current job and volunteering opportunities, visit our work with us page. You might also be interested in Our Council meets four times a year and plays a pivotal role in the
- [RSL Remembers: Fleur Adcock Event Feedback Form](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-remembers-fleur-adcock-event-feedback-form/)
- [Matrix, Marie de France and Medieval Women Event Feedback Form](https://rsliterature.org/matrix-marie-de-france-and-medieval-women-event-feedback-form/)
- [RSL 2024 Autumn Season Events Feedback Form](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-2024-autumn-season-event-feedback-form/)
- [Illustrator in Residence Application Form](https://rsliterature.org/illustrator-in-residence-application-form/)
- [NEW - Our events](https://rsliterature.org/new-events/)
- [NEW - Past events](https://rsliterature.org/new-past-events/)
- [Public Fellowship recommendations 2025](https://rsliterature.org/public-fellowship-recommendations-2025/)
- [Fellows](https://rsliterature.org/about-us/fellows/) - Fellows Our Fellowship includes the best writers in or from the UK today. Their involvement with all the RSL does makes our engagement work, events and projects possible. Find by surname Fellows Alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V
- [Write Around the World Feedback Form](https://rsliterature.org/write-around-the-world-feedback-form/)
- [RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards Shortlisted Applicant Feedback](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-jerwood-poetry-awards-shortlisted-applicant-feedback/)
- [RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards Applicant Feedback](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-jerwood-poetry-awards-applicant-feedback/)
- [Mapping the Future Quiz](https://rsliterature.org/mapping-the-future-quiz/)
- [](https://rsliterature.org/donate/rsl-x-farewill/) - Thinking of writing a will? Let us help Did you know you can make use of a free will writing service, thanks to our partnership with specialists Farewill? Write your will for free It only takes 30 minutes You can leave a gift to the RSL – helping to fund our important work long into the
- [Encore Award Eligibility and Entry Guidelines](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/encore-award-eligibility-and-guidelines/) - The Award A prize of £15,000 will be awarded to the author of the work that the judges consider to be the best second novel of the year. Each shortlisted author who does not go on to win the overall Award will also receive a £1,000 cash prize. The judges will be responsible for compiling
- [RSL Governance Review Survey Opt-out](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-gr-opt-out/)
- [RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards Application Form](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-jerwood-poetry-awards-application-form/)
- [RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-jerwood-poetry-awards-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/)
- [RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards Application Guidance](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-jerwood-poetry-awards-application-guidance/) - Congratulations! You have been nominated by one or more poetry expert/s and invited to apply for the RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards. Your nominator believes you are an exceptional individual who would embrace this opportunity to grow and explore your practice across 12 months with financial support and mentoring. What the programme offers The programme mentoring
- [RSL Jerwood Poetry Awards Nomination Form](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-jerwood-poetry-awards-nomination-form/)
- [Log In](https://rsliterature.org/login/) - Members, Fellows and Digital Events Passholders can log in below. If you would like to join, please visit our Membership page. Log In You might also be interested in
- [V.S. Pritchett Prize Equal Opportunities Form](https://rsliterature.org/v-s-pritchett-prize-equal-opportunities-form/)
- [V.S. Pritchett Prize Entry Form - Free Entries](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/vsp-free-entry-form/)
- [Write Around the World](https://rsliterature.org/write-around-the-world/) - Write Around the World is a free digital literacy programme developed by the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) in partnership with the RSL. It explores six genres of literature via video workshops, each led by an RSL Fellow. Over the course of the programme, young people will hone their skills in journalism, poetry, letter writing, short
- [TEST - Scribes](https://rsliterature.org/test-scribes/) - Contributed by: Daphne Park, Lucy Fleming, Alan Judd Read more Contributed by: Eleanor Catton, Robert Macfarlane Read more Contributed by: Maggie Gee, Alexandra Harris, Anne Chisholm Read more Read more Contributed by: Seamus Heaney Read more Read more Contributed by: Colin Thubron, Tash Aw Read more Read more Read more
- [Entente Littéraire Prize Entry Form](https://rsliterature.org/entente-litteraire-prize-entry-form/) - The 2023 Prize is now closed for entries.
- [Entente Littéraire Prize - Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/entente-litteraire-prize-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/)
- [News and Archive](https://rsliterature.org/news-and-archive/) - Search Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more
- [Event Attendee Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/event-attendee-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/)
- [Gift Membership](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/membership/gift-membership-2/) - Please note the cut off to receive Gift Membership in time for Christmas Day is Wednesday 20 December. All memberships purchased after this date will be processed the week commencing 1 January 2024. Our Members are champions of literature. Their support makes our engagement work in schools and prisons possible. They enable us to celebrate
- [Membership Form](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/membership/membership-form/) - Become a Member Our Members are champions of literature. Their support makes our engagement work in schools and prisons possible. They enable us to celebrate literature in all of its wonderful diversity. As a thank you, we give them all the joys of a literary festival and book club rolled into one, all year round.
- [RSL x CWGC Poet Nomination Form](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-x-cwgc-poet-nomination-form/)
- [RSL International Writers Eligibility](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-international-writers-eligibility/) - Eligibility Criteria The recommended writer must: Have had published at least two substantial works (or a sufficient body of other work) in English, or available in translation in English, at the time of recommendation. These works must be considered by the nominating panel and Council to be of outstanding literary merit; and Not be a
- [2023 RSL AGM Survey](https://rsliterature.org/2023-rsl-agm-survey/)
- [History is in the Making](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/engagement/history-is-in-the-making/) - History is in the Making For our History is in the Making anthology, we asked 20 of our current Fellows to tell us about writers from the last 200 years – from when the RSL was founded in 1820 to now – who they would like to have seen nominated for an RSL Fellowship. They’ve written letters
- [In Prisons](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/engagement/in-prisons/) - We work with Give a Book, Prison Reading Groups and prisons magazine Inside Time to bring books and their writers together with people in prisons. We began working with our community to send books to prisons in the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing access to literature to some of those worst affected by lockdowns. We continue to
- [Windrush 75 In Verse](https://rsliterature.org/windrush-75-in-verse/) - On 22 June, we marked the 75th anniversary of Windrush by joining forces with The London Library to bring the exhilarating live literature phenomenon, the R.A.P. (Rhythm and Poetry) Party, back to the Library with a Windrush Day twist. A nostalgic, no-clutter, no-fuss, evening of poetry and music, this time with a focus on reggae,
- [Write Around the World: programme resources](https://rsliterature.org/write-around-the-world-programme-resources/)
- [Write Across London](https://rsliterature.org/write-across-london/) - Write Across London In April 2020, the Museum of London put out an open call for submissions of both objects and first-hand experiences to reflect Londoners’ lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and received a huge number of poems. Inspired by this, we launched Write Across London to create a poetic snapshot of the city at
- [Complaints Form for Fellows and Honorary Fellows](https://rsliterature.org/complaints-form-for-fellows-and-honorary-fellows/)
- [Council](https://rsliterature.org/about-us/council/) - Our Council meets four times a year and plays a pivotal role in the election of new Fellows. They support the planning of our events programme and oversee our engagement work, awards and prizes. Members of the Council serve a fixed term of four years and when they retire, the Council elects new members. Patron
- [Fellows Remembered](https://rsliterature.org/fellows-remembered/) - Fellows Remembered Note: We are currently working on importing information over to our new website, so any missing profiles will be added here shortly – thank you for your patience. Find by surname Fellows Alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U
- [Windrush 75 In Verse: Young People's Poems](https://rsliterature.org/windrush-75-in-verse-young-peoples-windrush-themed-poems/) - Following our Windrush RAP Party event at the London Library in June, we invited young people to submit their own Windrush-inspired poems for the chance to see them published on our newly revamped website. We are delighted to announce that eight poems have been selected to sit alongside those of the professional poets. Many congratulations
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- [News and Events](https://rsliterature.org/news-and-events/) - Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more Read more
- [Join In](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/) - There are lots of ways you can take part in the work that we do. Apply for our awards and prizes, take part in one of our engagement programmes, or join us as a Member. Awards and Prizes Our awards and prizes celebrate and support writers at all stages of their careers. Discover our Awards
- [Donate Form](https://rsliterature.org/donate/donate-form/) - Thank you for your support Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.The Royal Society of Literature is a registered charity. We rely on the generosity of donors, Members and Fellows, to carry out our work. A donation of any amount is always gratefully
- [Michael Imperioli and Ocean Vuong Q&A](https://rsliterature.org/michael-imperioli-and-ocean-vuong-qa/) - You can register to watch Michael and Ocean's discussion on Thursday, 5 October at 6pm (BST) here. If you'd like to enter our competition to win a copy of The Perfume Burned His Eyes by Michael Imperioli and On Earth We're Breifly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, submit your email along with a question to be
- [Encore Award - Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/)
- [RSL Ondaatje Prize - Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-ondaatje-prize-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/)
- [RSL Christopher Bland Prize - Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/rsl-christopher-bland-prize-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/)
- [Encore Award Entry](https://rsliterature.org/encore-award-entry/)
- [Register for our Recruitment Q&A session](https://rsliterature.org/register-for-our-recruitment-qa-session/)
- [Register to be notified when tickets become available for Black to BLAK: Paterson Joseph and Leah Purcell](https://rsliterature.org/register-to-be-notified-when-tickets-become-available-for-black-to-blak-leah-purcell-and-paterson-joseph/)
- [Head of Communications and Partnerships Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/head-of-communications-and-partnerships-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/)
- [Head of Communications and Partnerships Application Form](https://rsliterature.org/head-of-communications-and-partnerships-application-form/)
- [Events Manager Application Form](https://rsliterature.org/events-manager-application-form/)
- [Events Manager Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/events-manager-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/)
- [Communications Officer Equality and Diversity Monitoring Survey](https://rsliterature.org/communications-officer-equality-and-diversity-monitoring-survey/) - Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.The RSL is committed to equality of opportunity and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds and experiences. To give us insights into who is applying, we would appreciate it if you could complete this form. This is entirely
- [Communications Officer Application Form](https://rsliterature.org/communications-officer-application-form/)
- [RSL 2023 Summer Party and Induction of New Fellows](https://rsliterature.org/2023-summer-party/) - On Wednesday 12 July 2023, we celebrated the induction of 62 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows — as well as those elected in recent years who had not been able to attend previous parties — at the Garden Museum in London. After being formally inducted by our President, Bernardine Evaristo, they then signed their names
- [RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards Equal Opportunities Form](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-giles-st-aubyn-awards-equal-opportunities-form/)
- [RSL Literature Matters Equal Opportunities Form](https://rsliterature.org/join-in/awards-and-prizes/rsl-literature-matters-equal-opportunities-form/)
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## 3D FlipBook

- [Review 2025](https://rsliterature.org/3d-flip-book/review-2025/)

## What's on

- [Inside Visual Storytelling](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/inside-storytelling/) - Monday 02 February 2026, Reference Point, Doors open at 7pm. Free for RSL Members/Fellows and Reference Point Members. Public tickets can be purchased for £10 (£7 concessions available). Join us as three celebrated visual storytellers take us behind the scenes of their craft. Our 2025 Illustrator-in-Residence, Karrie Fransman, will unveil new work that spins a story
- [Careers in Literature](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/careers-in-literature-3/) - Wednesday 11 February 2026, 18:00-19:00, Online. Free for everyone (registration required). The Royal Society of Literature and King's College, London invite you to our high-profile annual Careers in Literature event which draws crowds of hundreds to hear from a panel of professionals about the highlights and challenges of making a career in the world of
- [RSL presents: The Pioneer Prize](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rsl-presents-the-pioneer-prize/) - Sunday 30 November, 14:30-16:00, Pigott Theatre, British Library and online. Free for everyone. Join us for the launch of the RSL Pioneer Prize, a new initiative which will spotlight and celebrate writers who have been trailblazers in their field. Acknowledging the challenges faced by earlier generations of women writers, each year a woman writer over 60
- [The Bourdain Supper Club](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/the-bourdain-supper-club/) - THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT. Monday 10 November, 18:30, Honey & Co. Daily, Store Street. £75 per person for 3 courses, plus a copy of Kitchen Confidential 25th Anniversary Edition. BEFORE THERE WAS THE BEAR, THERE WAS BOURDAIN. Hosted in collaboration with Honey & Co. Daily and Bloomsbury Publishing, this will be a night to remember,
- [RAP Party @The London Library: Nature Matters ](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rap-party-the-london-library-nature-matters/) - Thursday 06 November, 19:00-21:30, The London Library. Free for RSL Members/Fellows. (Discount code can be found in the RSL Member's Portal under News. Please email info@rsliterature.org if you are unable to find it.) General admission: £10 | Concession: £8 Poet and playwright Inua Ellams brings his exhilarating live literature phenomenon, the RAP Party, back to The London
- [The Clearing](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/the-clearing/) - Saturday 22 November, 19:30-20:30, Push the Boat Out Festival, The Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh. General admission: £15 + booking fee | Concession: £12 + booking fee Join this year’s four RSL Jerwood Poets – Roseanne Watt, Scott McKendry, clare e. potter and Karen McCarthy Woolf – for a premiere of new collaborations co-conceived with musician, Kathryn
- [The Librarians: Screening, Discussion, Reception](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/the-librarians/) - Wednesday 24 September, 18:00 - 21:30, Weston Library, Oxford. General admission: £12 | Concessions: £8 Join us at the Weston Library in Oxford for a private screening of The Librarians, a new documentary examining the book bans threatening schools and libraries in the United States and the presentation of this year's RSL Benson Medal to
- [An Evening with Sheku and Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/an-evening-with-sheku-and-kadiatu-kanneh-mason/) - Tuesday 25 November, 19:30-21:00, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre. Free tickets for RSL Members and Fellows. General admission: £20 + £3.50 booking fee | Concessions: 25% off In her new book To Be Young, Gifted and Black, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason presents an impassioned defence of Black excellence in the arts. Through the experiences of her extraordinarily gifted
- [RSL x Book Slam: Reanimate](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rsl-x-book-slam-bringing-things-back-to-life/) - Saturday 13 September, Doors open 7pm, River Rooms, Somerset House. Free for everyone (no registration required). Book Slam, London’s original literary juke joint, is teaming up with the Royal Society of Literature at Somerset House, the capital’s most beautiful venue. Join us overlooking the river for a night of music, spoken word, comedy, myth-making and visual
- [Art Spiegelman: Disaster is my Muse](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/art-spiegelman-disaster-is-my-muse/) - THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT Screening Times: Friday 01 August – Thursday 07 August, Bertha DocHouse. Free for RSL Members/Fellows + a guest. Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel MAUS is a landmark in reckoning with the Holocaust and breakthrough in serious comic art – but his full achievements are more remarkable and eclectic. Art
- [RSL x Book Slam](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rsl-x-book-slam-2/) - Thursday 03 July, 7pm, Mason & Fifth, Westbourne Park. Free for everyone (registration required). London’s original literary juke joint rocks up at Mason & Fifth for its 20th anniversary bash, in the company of the Royal Society of Literature, for a night of words and music circling memory and truth, connections and chasms. Guests include author
- [A Century of Mrs Dalloway at the British Library](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/a-century-of-mrs-dalloway-at-the-british-library/) - Wednesday 18 June 2025, 7-8:30pm, British Library, in person and online. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public tickets can be purchased from the British Library here from £6.50. In her diary, Virginia Woolf revealed the aspiration for her novel Mrs Dalloway was to ‘give life and death, sanity and insanity…criticize the social system, and to
- [Virginia Woolf’s 'Mrs Dalloway'](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/virginia-woolfs-mrs-dalloway/) - Wednesday 11 June - Sunday 15 June 2025, The London Library. London Library Members and RSL Members & Fellows can book tickets with a 10% discount on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Please email Ailinn Santos for the discount code. Please see below for performance times and ticket pricing. Creation Theatre’s immersive performance of Virginia
- [Cristina Rivera Garza](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/cristina-rivera-garza/) - Thursday 22 May 2025, Reference Point, Doors open at 7pm. Free for RSL Members/Fellows and Reference Point Members. Public tickets can be purchased for £8 (£5 concessions available). Heralded as ‘one of Mexico’s greatest living writers’, Cristina Rivera Garza is a Mexican novelist whose decades of body of work has only recently become widely available to English-speaking readers.
- [Little Brother](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/little-brother/) - Thursday 05 June, 7:30pm Performance and 9:10pm Post-Show Conversation, Jermyn Street Theatre. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public tickets can be purchased from Jermyn Street Theatre here. In Guinea, West Africa, Ibrahima discovers that his little brother has secretly run away from school and is heading to Europe. Ibrahima drops everything to go after him, setting
- [Dalloway 100 at the Charleston Festival](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/dalloway-100/) - THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT Wednesday 14 May, 7:30pm, Festival Tent at the Charleston Festival. Tickets: £20 for RSL Members and Fellows. RSL Members and Fellows are invited to a pre-event drinks reception from 6pm in the Orchard Tent. Not a Member? Join now! Public tickets can be purchased from the Charleston Festival here at £30 (Concessions available). Charleston Festival marks the
- [All The Rage In Bloomsbury](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/all-the-rage-in-bloomsbury/) - Tuesday 4 June at 7pm, Keynes Library, Birkbeck University (School of Arts Building), London. Tickets FREE to Members/Fellows. Conceived by RSL Fellows, Elaine Showalter and Hermione Lee, Dalloway Day is the RSL’s annual celebration of Mrs Dalloway and other writings by and inspired by Virginia Woolf. This year, marking 99 years since the initial publication of
- [Write & Shine - Dalloway Day](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/write-and-shine-dalloway-day/) - Wednesday 12 June, 8:15am at 43 Gordon Square, Birkbeck University (School of Arts Building), London. Tickets FREE to Members/Fellows and Birkbeck Students and Staff (please bring ID as proof). Public tickets are £23. Please select one of the buttons below to attend this event either as an RSL Member/Fellow or to purchase public tickets. RSL Member or
- [A Room Of One's Own - Screening](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/a-room-of-ones-own-screening/) - Wednesday 12 June, 1pm, in the cinema at Birkbeck University (School of Arts Building), London. Tickets are FREE to all. To celebrate Dalloway Day and in partnership with The London Library, join us for a screening of the Library's tribute to Virginia Woolf’s iconic work, A Room of One’s Own. Woolf’s 1928 feminist polemic explores the silence
- [Room 411 - My Room At This Moment](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/room-411-my-room-at-this-moment/) - Tuesday 11 June and Wednesday 12 June, 10am-6pm, Room 411, Birkbeck University (School of Arts Building) London. Tickets are FREE to all. Inspired by Virginia Woolf's letter to her friend Madge Vaughan in 1904 in which she writes, ‘I wish you could see my room at this moment’, this event offers a reflective space on women’s intellectual
- [The Inspiration of Vita Sackville-West](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/the-inspiration-of-vita-sackville-west/) - Available to watch online from 1 June 2024. Tickets are FREE to all. Recorded at the London Library in 2023, this event will be available to watch online to mark the start of this year's Dalloway Day season. Vita Sackville-West was a poet, novelist, nature writer, gardener, Bloomsbury set staple, queer icon, trailblazer and London Library member.
- [Benjamin Zephaniah Day: A Festival of Rhythm, Unity and Revolution](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/benjamin-zephaniah-day-a-festival-of-rhythm-unity-and-revolution/) - Saturday 12 April 2025 , 11:00am-6:30pm, Brunel University of London. Free for everyone. Please book your free spot below. Come and join us for an unforgettable celebration of art, poetry, music, and more, as we honour the life and legacy of the late Benjamin Zephaniah — a true icon of the arts and activism. This vibrant festival
- [Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/blue-road-the-edna-obrien-story/) - Thursday 17 April, 6:20pm, Bertha DocHouse. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public tickets can be purchased from Bertha DocHouse here. Edna O'Brien was a great Irish icon who became a literary sensation after releasing her sexually frank 1960 debut novel, The Country Girls.Her success enraged many in her home country, including her husband,
- [Kit de Waal: The Best of Everything](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/the-best-of-everything/) - Wednesday 9 April, 7:45pm, Southbank Centre, Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public tickets can be purchased from the Southbank Centre here from £15. Paulette’s the kind of woman who likes the future all mapped out: the wedding to Denton, the Caribbean honeymoon, the gingham quilt on the baby’s
- [RSL x Book Slam](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rsl-x-book-slam/) - Thursday 12 December, 7pm, Bernie Grant Arts Centre. Tickets between £7 and £10. All booking through Bernie Grant Arts Centre. Welcome to RSL vs Book Slam, where London's leading literary juke joint brings together writers and readers for a high-energy night of page and stage and established stars rub shoulders with some of the hottest
- [RSL Remembers: Fleur Adcock](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rsl-remembers-fleur-adcock/) - Wednesday 19 February, 6:30pm, The London Library. Free for RSL Members and Fellows and London Library Members (If you are a London Library Member, please use the Public Tickets button below and enter the discount code to claim your free ticket). Public tickets can be purchased for £5. Fleur Adcock’s work defined a new tone
- [Matrix, Marie de France and Medieval Women](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/matrix-marie-de-france-and-medieval-women/) - Tuesday 14 January, 7pm, Online. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public tickets can be purchased from the British Library here starting at £5. Novelist Lauren Groff on violence, sensuality, and religious ecstasy in the medieval world. Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and The New York Times–bestselling author of
- [Claire Messud And Anne Michaels In Conversation. Chair: Elif Shafak](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/anne-michaels-and-claire-messud-in-conversation-chair-elif-shafak/) - Public tickets can be purchased here Friday 24 May at 7pm, Royal Society of Arts, London. Join us for a conversation between two of contemporary literature’s best and most beloved writers. Claire Messud’s This Strange Eventful History and Anne Michaels’ Held are both hotly tipped and keenly anticipated books for 2024. Each lyrically and breathtakingly offers narratives of
- [Young Adult Literature with the Jury of the Entente Littéraire Prize ](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/young-adult-literature-with-the-jury-of-the-entente-litteraire-prize/) - For Ages 8 to Adult. Saturday 23rd November, 12pm-1:00pm, The French Institute. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public tickets can be purchased from The French Institute here for £7. The stellar jury of the first-ever edition of the Entente Littéraire Prize will present this year’s shortlist, debate the challenges of judging a literary
- [Mapping the Future: Celebrating The Complete Works Poets](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/mapping-the-future-celebrating-the-complete-works-poets/) - Friday 25 October, 7-8:30pm, The British Library and online. Doors will open at 6PM. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public can be purchased from the British Library here from £10. Come and join us for a unique evening of readings, where a host of prize-winning poets will celebrate a revolutionary initiative
- [A Cage Went In Search Of A Bird](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/a-cage-went-in-search-of-a-bird/) - Tuesday 19 November, 7pm, Online. Free for everyone. A Cage Went In Search of A Bird is a collection of brand-new short stories written by some of the most original literary minds of today and inspired by Kafka - published to commemorate the centenary of his death. We invite three of those writers to talk
- [Careers in Literature](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/careers-in-literature-2/) - Wednesday 13 November, 6:30pm, King's College London and online. Free for everyone. The Royal Society of Literature and Kings College, London invite you to our high-profile annual Careers in Literature event which draws crowds of hundreds to hear from a panel of professionals about the highlights and challenges of making a career in the world
- [R.A.P. Party - Jazz](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/r-a-p-party-jazz/) - Thursday 07 November, 7pm-9:30pm, The London Library. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public can be purchased from The London Library here from £10. Poet and playwright Inua Ellams brings his exhilarating live literature phenomenon, the R.A.P Party, back to The London Library for a nostalgic, no-clutter, no-fuss, evening of music and words in
- [Rupert Everett: The American No](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rupert-everett-the-american-no/) - Saturday 26 October, 7:30pm, Southbank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public can be purchased from the Southbank Centre here starting at £15. We welcome beloved actor and author Rupert Everett, and chair Kevin Maher, for an entertaining evening of stories that draw inspiration from the world of
- [Tony Birch and Dorothea Smartt in Conversation](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/tony-birch-and-dorothea-smartt-in-conversation/) - Thursday 15 August, 6:30pm, Royal Society of Arts, London. Free for RSL Members and Fellows. Not a Member? Join now! Public tickets, £7. Join us for an evening with one of Australia’s leading literary luminaries, Tony Birch, in conversation with Brit-born Bajan International performance artist and poet, Dorothea Smartt. Both writers create works filled with beauty and, significantly, they both incorporate
- [One Day: The Journey From Novel To Netflix](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/one-day-the-journey-from-novel-to-netflix/) - Tuesday 18 June, 7.30pm, online. Tickets are FREE to all. Which are the elements that are discarded as a story takes a new shape, a new form in a different medium? How does the rhythm and pace translate from novel to film, and to the longer-form TV adaptation? How does a single author’s work develop
- [Nothing Enrages The Tyrant More Than Hope: The Poem As Witness](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/nothing-enrages-the-tyrant-more-than-hope-the-poem-as-witness/) - Public tickets can be purchased here Monday 20 May at 7pm, Royal Society of Arts, London. The Wanda Barford Memorial Poetry Lecture delivered by Anne Michaels. ‘Every poem is a poem of witness. Every poem, a form of rescue – from amnesia of every sort, from every kind of disregard and indifference. The hope of
- [Day: Michael Cunningham And Tash Aw In Conversation](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/day-michael-cunningham-and-tash-aw-in-conversation/) - Tuesday 25 June at 8pm, online. Tickets are FREE to all. Day is the new novel from Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Hours, Michael Cunningham. A searing, exquisitely crafted meditation on love and loss which holds a family at its centre who are struggling to live together, and be apart. The narrative visits the family on the same
- [Manifesto for Black Futures ](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/manifesto-for-black-futures/) - Public Tickets can be purchased here Friday 3 May, 6.30pm at the Black Cultural Archives. A limited number of tickets are FREE for Members and Fellows. Manifesto for Black Futures will explore the multiplicities and power of black lives, what black futures look like and how we can continue creating spaces celebrating the richness of black lives.
- [An Evening With Marlon James](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/an-evening-with-marlon-james/) - Thursday 6 June at 7.30pm, Bloomsbury Theatre, London. Tickets are FREE for Members and Fellows, or you can purchase tickets from Fane here starting at £31. Spend an unforgettable evening with two Booker Prize winners in conversation: Marlon James and Bernardine Evaristo, to mark the 10th anniversary of James’ extraordinary modern classic, A Brief History of Seven
- [Underdog: Anne Brontë And Her Sisters](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/underdog-anne-bronte-and-her-sisters/) - Thursday 9 May at 7pm, online. Tickets are FREE to all, no membership required. Bringing the overshadowed Brontë sister, centre-stage, Sarah Gordon’s play, Underdog: The Other Other Brontë, is a new co-production by Northern Stage, directed by Natalie Ibu and opening at The National Theatre in late March. After a life-long fascination with Emily Brontë, chronicled in
- [Nostalgia: Architectures Of Longing](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/nostalgia-architectures-of-longing/) - Saturday 11 May at 4.30pm, Northern Stage, Newcastle Poetry Festival. Tickets are FREE to RSL Members/Fellows. Tickets for the Newcastle Poetry Festival can be purchased here. This year's RSL Lecture at the Newcastle Poetry Festival will be delivered by Dr. Anthony Joseph. How does nostalgia become poetry? What is its texture, its central emotion? For
- [Black to the Future: Mami Wata Premiere and Q&A](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/black-to-the-future-mami-wata-premiere-and-qa/) - We’re excited to be partnering with Black to the Future and the Garden Cinema on this screening of a new film by C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi, Mami Wata. This is one of the first times you will be able to watch it! The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director. Produced alongside the
- [Careers in Literature](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/careers-in-literature/) - This is an online event. Anyone can register to watch for free. The webinar will begin at 7pm, Tuesday 27 February. The Royal Society of Literature and King's College London invite you to our annual online event examining careers in literature. We have assembled a panel of professionals whose careers span literary landscapes including Live
- [Black to the Future Presents: Imaginary Cities](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/black-to-the-future-presents-imaginary-cities/) - Only RSL Members can book this online-only event for free, live streamed on the British Library platform at 7pm on Tuesday 6 February. Tickets may be booked either to watch either live or within 48 hours on catch up. Viewing links will be sent out shortly before the event. The conversation will begin at Can
- [Malorie Blackman in conversation with Bernardine Evaristo](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/malorie-blackman-in-conversation-with-bernardine-evaristo/) - Only RSL Members can book this event for free, either to attend in person or watch online. Please select an option via the buttons below. Public tickets can be purchased via the British Library, starting at £7, here. 7pm, Friday 23 February at The British Library. We welcome Malorie Blackman, one of the country’s most
- [Art/Lit Salon: Dolls](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/art-lit-salon-dolls/) - Only RSL Members can book this in-person event for free. Public tickets can be purchased via the The London Library, starting at £8, here. 6.45pm, Thursday 14 March at The London Library. Join us for chat, discussion, drinks and thought-provocation as we partner with Art/Lit, The London Library’s salon event, which explores all things art, all
- [The Color Purple + Busy Being Black](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/the-color-purple-busy-being-black/) - Only RSL Members can book this in-person event for free. 7:30pm, Friday 19 January at The Garden Cinema. We’re teaming up with Black to the Future and Warner Brothers to offer our members and fellows an advance screening of THE COLOR PURPLE, Blitz Bazawule’s joyous screen adaptation of the Broadway phenomenon, based on Alice Walker’s seminal novel.
- [RSL Remembers: Sam Selvon](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rsl-remembers-sam-selvon/) - ‘The changing of the seasons, the cold slicing winds, the falling leaves, sunlight on green grass, snow on the land, London particular.’ Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners The novelist and short story writer Samuel Selvon (1923–1994) – also known as ‘Sam’ Selvon – is best-known today as the author of The Lonely Londoners, published in
- [Black to BLAK: Paterson Joseph and Leah Purcell + Screening of The Drover's Wife](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/black-to-blak-leah-purcell-and-paterson-joseph/) - In partnership with The Garden Cinema, we bring you the first event in a series devised by RSL Honorary Fellow, Deirdre Osborne. The event will feature a recorded conversation between actor and author Paterson Joseph, winner of our Christopher Bland Prize, and actor, director, author and playwright, Leah Purcell, alongside a screening of Leah’s film,
- [Black To The Future presents: Kinetic Discourses](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/black-to-the-future-presents-kinetic-discourses/) - We’re delighted to be partnering with Black to the Future and The Standard Hotel to kick off Black to the Future’s series of Kinetic Discourses, in which two storytellers discover each other's realms of expertise through dialogue.RSL Honorary Fellow and actress Adjoa Andoh will be in conversation with Hodderscape science fiction and fantasy editor Calah
- [Black To The Future presents: Genre Marauders](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/black-to-the-future-presents-genrea-marauders/) - We are delighted to be partnering with the British Library and our Vice-Chair, Irenosen Okojie, on this event launching Black To The Future, an Afro-Futurist festival. This flagship event will be a demystification of genre writing across books and games. Chaired by Irenosen Okojie (Nudibranch), featuring Arthur C Clarke award-winning author Tade Thompson (Rosewater) and
- [RSL Remembers: Paula Rego](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rsl-remembers-paula-rego/) - The extraordinary artist Paula Rego was often described as a storyteller. Discussing her use of novels, poems, plays and history books as an inspiration and starting point for her printmaking and painting, she said 'like you put on a coat, and then to stand the cold'. Join a panel of writers, artists and academics to
- [Literature Matters: Michael Imperioli and Ocean Vuong](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/literature-matters-michael-imperioli-and-ocean-vuong/) - Join Michael Imperioli and Ocean Vuong for this exclusive online conversation about their writing and the importance of literature in their lives. Both Michael and Ocean published their debut novels in recent years, The Perfume Burned His Eyes and On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous respectively. They will discuss the experience of writing and releasing
- [RSL Remembers: Javier Marías](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rsl-remembers-javier-marias/) - Spanish novelist and RSL International Writer Javier Marías died on 11 September 2022. On the anniversary of his death, Margaret Jull Costa, Adam Thirlwell, Aminatta Forna and Juan Gabriel Vásquez meet over Zoom to record a conversation about Marías’s life, work and legacy. To watch, register to be emailed a viewing link on the day.
- [Sally Hayden and Ricardo Nuila: Stories of Social (In)Justice](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/sally-hayden-and-ricardo-nuila-stories-of-social-injustice/) - Journalist Sally Hayden and physician and associate professor Ricardo Nuila first met on the Logan Nonfiction Fellowship. It was a formative experience for them both, and among their first opportunities to connect with and learn from other writers. Since the fellowship, where Sally found herself googling ‘how long is a book?’ and Ricardo finally felt
- [Rebecca Perry and Mona Arshi: Growing Pains](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/rebecca-perry-and-mona-arshi-growing-pains/) - Poets Rebecca Perry and Mona Arshi both turned to prose for their most recent books, without letting go of poetry’s fragments, concision and silence. Both books explore childhood and the ways in which children see the world differently, even as they have to grow up. On Trampolining by Rebecca Perry revisits her childhood to weave
- [Africa Writes / RSL: Blitz Bazawule in conversation with Irenosen Okojie](https://rsliterature.org/whats-on/africa-writes-rsl-blitz-bazawule-in-conversation-with-irenosen-okojie/) - Multidisciplinary artist Blitz Bazawule talks with writer and RSL Vice-President Irenosen Okojie about his debut novel, The Scent of Burnt Flowers. The book takes us on a journey from Alabama to Accra in the 1960s, via harrowing escapes and dangerous journeys into a coup d’état, woven together with music and magic. Steeped in the history and mythology of postcolonial

## Poems

- [Covid 19 Statement](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/covid-19-statement/) - As a teacher in one of the boroughs with the highest rates of Covid 19, I wanted my poem to explore the increasing disparity between the unfolding ravages of the Coronavirus and the government's attempts at communicating how it was in control. The poem expresses a range of emotions: anger, shock, frustration and disappointment. Thank you for reading it.
- [Heathrow Airport Toilets](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/heathrow-airport-toilets/) - Heathrow Airport toilets are composers: their overture is largo: Their instruments are the echoing footstep, the muffled whoosh, The discrete cough. The crescendo is forever the bumbling choirs of hand dryers Like giant bees pinned to the walls; The allegro has a short ballet, a last look in the mirror; The trudge with a bag
- [Spilt Milk](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/spilt-milk/) - The poem was inspired by the experience and anxiety caused by not being able to get basic supplies for a short while in the early days of pandemic lockdown last year. With a young baby, this was of a particular worry to my wife. The poem imagines a slightly more extreme version than reality, and how easy it is for us to take for granted our ready access to basic supplies - and how quickly they could disappear.
- [WhatsApp’s from Hackney to Oklahoma City](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/whatsapps-from-hackney-to-oklahoma-city/) - https://youtu.be/Xx8EB3-8vFY
- [What It Was](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/what-it-was/) - It was the hard drive humming. It was the neighbours talking through walls in the stairwell. It was the playlist we kept adding songs to so it would go on forever. It was the snappy mouth of scissors asking why you hadn’t touched them in so long as you trimmed your mother’s hair. It was
- [To Live Here](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/to-live-here/) - Gardens have formed such an important part of many people's experience of the last year. While they are often a haven, not everyone has their own garden.
- [Lewisham & Harrow](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/lewisham-harrow/) - J The field here by day is throbbing. Drill-master ex-army workouts, blonde women sprint with their buggies. At night, the music is thrumming. Car-speaker bass. I fight the desire to dance, the neighbour calls the cops. D During lockdown we go for walks in our park in Harrow, some live on the Hill while most
- [Where we are](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/where-we-are/) - where we are i’m so desperate to see people i don’t know how to act when they’re here out of a brick wall, a face blooms like a flower i notice my friend after she waves i’ve made walking lonelier than it needs be she is a candle shining in a window i wave she
- [Living Ghost](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/living-ghost/) - I wrote this poem during the first Lockdown and became intrigued with the alienating effect it had on me. Through the lack of human interaction and contact. To the isolating language used to advise people to be safe. I decided to personify loneliness and how this creates a haunting within oneself to question what is real and what isn’t. The unknown endurance of lockdown creating uncertainty and growing fear.
- [Sadness And Me](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/sadness-and-me/) - The poem 'Sadness And Me' was written for the book 'Sadness And Us' that had a worldwide launch on 12th December 2020. 'You've got to be strong and look at the positive in all life situations' was one of the stories I grew up with. It is a story that has served me well...at least, most of the time. But this inner story also meant that 'not being strong' and acknowledging the 'not-positive' were identities I did not want to associate myself with. Feeling sad was one of those identities that I neither wanted nor owned. When life threw a curveball, I would not ‘just sit’ and 'be sad'; rather I would get up and take action. I saw it as ownership, something that a strong person would do naturally. This went on until the week of my 34th birthday when I was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. Going through cancer was hard, messy and transformative. There were plenty of opportunities to experience sadness too! With cancer, I set out on a journey that led me to shed off the unhelpful stories I had learned and learn new stories that would serve me well. I understood that not being sad was just a story I had learned and practiced for so long that it began feeling like my ultimate truth. But it wasn't. 'Sadness And Me' is about letting-go of the story that being sad meant not being strong. It is an acknowledgment that sadness is as much a part of me as joy is. It is about owning the whole of me and my story. 'Sadness And Me' is a celebration of coming home to myself.
- [Giving up the one you love](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/giving-up-the-one-you-love-2/) - It's based around nature and how the elements of nature affect us and our life experiences.
- [Giving up the one you love](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/giving-up-the-one-you-love/) - It's based around nature and how the elements of nature effect us and life experiences as well hope you enjoy these poems .
- [Oranges and Aubergines](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/oranges-and-aubergines/) - When first arriving in London at the age of 20 I was shocked at how the constantly lit city (unlike my small coastal home town) bled into the sky, pushing away the night. My strongest memory of arriving in this country was looking up at the evening sky on my first night here, awed at its unique 'aubergine' hues. A few years later, on a dawn walk home through central London from my job as a nightclub bartender, I wrote this in my head, committing it to paper just before falling asleep.
- [Call on the Healers](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/call-on-the-healers/) - Call on the Healers' addresses life during the outbreak of Covid-19, exploring the effects of the global pandemic and quarantine. She combined the release of her poem with a visual presentation of a Covid-19 lockdown street photography series, which captures life on the streets of London, UK during the peak of the lockdown restrictions. This series was photographed during the time when individuals or members of the same household were allowed to leave the house for one form of exercise per day, for example: a walk or run, for a maximum of one hour and essential shopping only.
- [My Lockdown Freedom](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/my-lockdown-freedom/) - In lockdown I stopped rushing about trying to fill the time I have with my 3 year old son with external entertainments like soft plays and play groups. We stayed at home and made our own fun. It was simple and beautiful (mostly!). This poem was inspired by this and a feeling that staying close to home and focusing on what was immediately around me, as apposed to chasing some external distant gratification, was a little like living in a tribe - everyone having their role to play and contributing. I liked that feeling.
- [Violettomania](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/violettomania/) - I wrote this poem during a recent writing and activism workshop led by disabled poet Penny Pepper. We were asked to pick any colour and free write. As a disabled/ chronically ill writer myself, I was partly thinking about how the natural world has been a place of escapism for me during the pandemic - physically and mentally. I also enjoy visiting the National Galley where Monet's works referenced in my poem are displayed. Art, nature and healing are interlinked. The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St Clare cmae to mind, where she briefly mentioned critics referred to painting with violet pallettes and seeing these hues as a 'mania'. My poem is a challenge to that.
- [Storms don't last forever](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/storms-dont-last-forever/) - I love writing poetry - it is very therapeutic for me and it is an honour to share poems and hear other people find comfort in it. This poem was inspired by seasons. Just like the climate goes through different seasons with different characteristics, life can sometimes echo this. Experiences like the Covid-19 pandemic has been difficult, but we can hope for better times. What will come in the future may not be what it used to be, but there is always joy ahead - whether that is an occasion or a particular season in life.
- [Slab Chat](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/slab-chat/) - I've lived on the same street in north Westminster for 45 years, so I often think about how its paving stones carry our compressed lives, quite a burden.
- [HOW TO BREATHE](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/how-to-breathe/) - This poem was written during lockdown last year. I am lucky to have my local park, Hilly Fields, opposite my home in Brockley to escape in for my daily walk during this time. It occurred to me how the usual taken-for-granted local topography seemed strange when seen from the point of view of a tree. I'm delighted the poem has just been selected for publication by Renard Press in the anthology, New Beginnings. There is also a film of the poem under its original title, Misplaced, by the actor, Paul Horsfield on the Bottomley Writes Youtube Channel, where 50 creatives collaborated during lockdown to interpret 50 of my poems on film.
- [Pandemic Departure](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/pandemic-departure/) - Pandemic Fear, The posted poem is based on a conversation between two friends who I know very well, who share opposite views of Covid-19, which also overshadowed their relationship into a temporary separation.
- [Covid Poem](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/covid-poem/) - I wrote this as a way to help myself feel better and more positive. Looking at the good things no matter how small and knowing I wasn't alone helped during shielding.
- [Moments](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/moments/) - Moments of connection were so precious and effort was made with a simple smile in unexpected places and from people you didn't expect the connection and feeling of we were all in this together was unique and quite special.
- [RHYTHM OF LIFE](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/rhythm-of-life/) - Finger on the pulse, feels beat of life's rhythm. Patience with time, is the value of love given. Permanent, physical roof over head, makes sleep sound and safe the bed. Hands planting seeds with hope for the growing. Open is the mind that longs for the knowing. If one could decipher hearts as music sheet
- [Spring Equinox 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/spring-equinox-2020/) - This poem came about from the rushed experience of having to take supplies for my daughter but not knowing when we'd be able to see each other again. She lives in supported accommodation in Kent and she normally comes home every fortnight We had never been apart longer than three weeks and we ended up not seeing each other for four months.
- [Brent 2020: The Cultural Wave](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/brent-2020-the-cultural-wave/) - In 2020, the Mayor of London awarded the London Borough of Brent as the borough of culture, it seems like a very distant memory witnessing the spectacular outdoor opening evening event RISE where the community came together to dance and share the stories of Brent's rich and diverse heritage. Despite the lockdown, the team of volunteers, community advisors, educators and all involved from grassroots to cultural directors and producers kept the show on the road. But we also saw resilience from this Brent community that was highly affected by the pandemic, and I heard stories and saw many people coming together to help local people.
- [Misreading the blueprint](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/misreading-the-blueprint/) - I was lucky enough not to have Covid, but was struck by its metaphorical parallel of being in a claustrophobic, obsessive relationship. I did a zoom workshop with Arji Manuelpillai, through the Corn Exchange, in which he had invited an Covid expert to explain the C19 blueprint. I was taken by how beautiful the blueprint illustration she showed us looked. It brought the Bluebeard story to mind. As someone who fits into the category of vulnerable, I would do the ‘two bridges walk’- crossing Chelsea and Albert bridges, which had imposed a one-way-crossing scheme, through Battersea Park and along embankment. I wrote and read a lot. Poetry kept me sane.
- [A year of Covid gone by](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/a-year-of-covid-gone-by/) - My memories as a front line health worker during the Covid pandemic.
- [words picked from the noise of a crowd](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/words-picked-from-the-noise-of-a-crowd/) - On Thursday 12th March 2020, Cat Empire played at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. I didn't know it at the time, but it was to be my last gig before live events were dropped from social calendars en masse. There's nothing quite like the sound of an excited crowd, and waiting for the show to start, certain words and phrases rose to the surface like driftwood at the bottom of a waterfall. Dictated only by my position in the crowd and the sounds my brain understood, these words are unedited and appear in the order in which they reached me. This poem was initially featured in Nokturno in December 2020.
- [PANDEMIC TIMES - 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/pandemic-times-2020/) - We still laugh, we still cry we still live, we still die. We still feel life has changed we still need this virus to fail. We want life to be normal we want Governments to listen. We want Experts’ advise not to be treated with derision. We want people to try and wear their masks
- [LOCK DOWN - WEEK FOUR](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/lock-down-week-four/) - Lockdown - not so bad, finding That 'Time' is not important As living in the moment Brings greater enjoyment. Families and friends united, Daily conversations a revival. Sharing love, we see how Happy we can be. Chores, placed on the back burner Now tackled with enthusiasm and vigor. Hobbies re-visited painting, baking, gardening, Sewing making
- [Love, a many splendid thing](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/love-a-many-splendid-thing/) - To know love is to see the right carried out in time of fear by many who care. To know love is to realise Loved ones are treasures we hold most dear. To know love is to do all that we can to help and assist our fellow man. To know love is to fight
- [HUMAN CONNECTION](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/human-connection/) - This was written during the first lockdown in March 2020. I had stepped out to go to the supermarket, observing my London had become a ghost town, a normally heavy traffic thoroughfare of Tottenham Court Road was silent, an eerie silence, barely anyone out, everyone huddled at home, not knowing what to expect outside...scared with what was looming outside the safety of our homes...
- [It is November 1st in New Cross and](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/it-is-november-1st-in-new-cross-and/) - This poem is about the anxiety that arises when you have a whole day ahead of you with no plans, and the way that anxiety can shifts to bigger and bigger things until the original thought is lost.
- [ANONYMOUS BLOOD](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/anonymous-blood/) - I moved to London during the pandemic to start my MA in Modern Literature. I research female corporeality and spatial politics, which influences most of my writing. 'Anonymous Blood' was inspired by research I did into references to the Scottish 'Mary Hamilton' / 'Four Maries' Ballad in Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own' -- at the same time triggered by the shared experience of being a woman in the streets of London today. I wrote it while walking through the different parts of the city during lockdown, so reference is also made to the Mary Wollstonecraft statue in Newington Green, for instance, upon which I stumbled during one of my walks.
- [Pantone 300](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/pantone-300/) - I was inspired by the work of NHS nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the quiet everyday nature of this work, which is usually ignored by society.
- [Unsafe, Unseen and Unsung](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/unsafe-unseen-and-unsung/) - A deep breath, the beating heart Stifling the fear deep inside Ignoring the apprehensive eyes of the family They walked to the hospital to serve Unsafe In these trying times, the need to do something The opening of the kitchens The giving of the kind They helped to feed hundreds and thousands Unseen A helping
- [Pandemic hits the UK](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/pandemic-hits-the-uk/) - The fear is rampant in all streets and corners A steady horrifying increase in mourners And all we can see are haunted eyes In thousands not hundreds – the numbers rise A steady horrifying increase in mourners As hotspots across the UK are affected The hospitals heroes face more horrors And all we can see
- [I Wandered Lonely on the London Bridge](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/i-wandered-lonely-on-the-london-bridge/) - This poem was written when I was walking along the London bridge. I was inspired by the people travelling on the bridge and the river flowing to the infinite end. Time flies and the relationship between people changes fast, so are we forever alone or not? This is the topic I would like to explore in my poem.
- [Zoom Recital](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/zoom-recital/) - A poetry recital over zoom, as a nervous reader.
- [Judges on a Zoom Call](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/judges-on-a-zoom-call/) - A fictional scenario where two patriarchic editors are using zoom to toy with an upcoming writer.
- [Finding something](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/finding-something/) - I have been struggling to find the career I would fit in and keeping motivation to carry on seeking the career I wanted but I have been slowly building myself and after some realisations this is a poem I wrote subconsciously and I loved it. Its a small reflection of how I have been going through my journey of self discovery.
- [Alone Time](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/alone-time/) - A prolonged period of unemployment during the pandemic, and the feeling of emptiness that came with that, led me to write this poem.
- [Deluge](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/deluge/) - I believe it was in the middle of the first lockdown when there was a terrific downpour and I had left the window open to smell and touch the rain. Feelings of loneliness, despair, worry, living alone and being far away from all of my loved ones, knowing I would not be able to see them for quite some time, plus not being able to venture for very long out of doors (living alone in a flat) that feeling of isolation and disconnection from the world and grief for all the hundreds dying every day, for those in the NHS and in hospitals on the brink of despair trying to cope, the helplessness we all felt, all this contributed to the poem.
- [4 am leyton, empty Francis rd (with mermen)](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/4-am-leyton-empty-francis-rd-with-mermen/) - Been taking lots of walks in the middle of the night. The city tastes different at night, has a surrealness to it.
- [Black Lives Matter](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/black-lives-matter/) - I like to get my voice across and I feel racism needs to stop. It does not matter what our religion, ethnicity or colour, we are all one and we are in this world together.
- [The shielding](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-shielding/) - The dead don’t count themselves as a crowd. They congregate on street corners, spread their elbows on the Underground. In Tesco’s they sidle past the stripped shelves. They are neither hoarders nor helpers. They don’t understand the concept of scarcity. The dead wonder what all the fuss is about. They clap soundlessly on balconies, eager
- [Autumn](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/autumn-2/) - The poem is about autumn and being in lock down through the autumn month.
- [Lockdown Isolation](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/lockdown-isolation/) - I smell sounds and hear feelings, When the jogger struggles past. Rhythmic gasping, slapping soles, Pavement-sharp shots ring out each morning. I miss the smell of the working day. Busy people Dashing. Crinkly carbon paper smells in shiny city clothes. Back in the past when my nose was small Early morning in the garden Held
- [Quarantine](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/quarantine/) - I wrote this poem at the beginning of lockdown when I was angry and tired. I work in the events industry and, before the lockdowns, I saw so many companies I know and people I love losing their livelihoods while people still went to the pub. The anger didn't abate with Johnson having pints on the beach in Cornwall at G7 when I was working 2 jobs with my career down the drain. I'm an introvert by nature so, alongside all this rage, I actually loved being at home with my husband and my dog and being left alone...
- [Water Meters](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/water-meters/) - The borough is installing water meters. The ugly bits of life have come all at once, death, debt, distance. No one asks for these things. They just happen, as do top down directives in local authorities, and government in general.
- [Autumn letter](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/autumn-letter/) - I have been writing a lot about the seasons, and have recently completed a year during COVID in which I wrote a poem each month to reflect that month. I visited Highgate Woods a lot, and this latest poem, reflecting autumn was inspired by looking at dead trees in the woods.
- [COVIDIOUS](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/covidious/) - We missed the blossom this year. Replaced instead by an ugly curve. The bent bow of a merciless nimrod preying upon our ancients and slinging arrows without prejudice towards those who serve. But still, life went through the motions: red lights pointlessly flashed. With their amber and green disciples following mindlessly behind for absent slaves,
- [Return the bodies](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/return-the-bodies/) - When I left my torso floating high in the clouds, Winter couldn’t help it, pulling together the waters It snowed for days for that the burden was so heavy, Even the mighty rivers froze hearing about the savagery I was gliding free looking down on my youthful parents, Pain in their chests was something which
- [This City](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/this-city/) - The poem is about the constant changing of the city, cranes will always and forever populate this city.
- [Urban dogs](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/urban-dogs/) - Walking through various anonymous new-build, steel-shiny estates in the January lockdown, I could only think of escaping to Dorset.
- [Downhills park](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/downhills-park/) - Another lockdown on the horizon, harsh winter months and feelings of isolation made January one of the hardest months of 2021. My local park provided a sense of home, a constant, grounding force of Nature. Witnessing the changing of seasons, autumn collapsing into winter, the green of the leaves wilting, the shrieks of the birds soaring beyond me - Nature enduring in spite of it all, served as a reminder that life goes on. We must just keep on walking.
- [](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/17812/) - We , All any which way suffered with Covid -19 virus, now it's high time for Covid -19 to back and disappear from the globe...
- [History](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/history/) - The experience of isolation inspired this poem as the only activity I felt able to pursue was walking in the park and often with one or another of my friends.
- [Out](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/out/) - I was inspired to write as a teacher during the pandemic about how I felt. It gave be comfort to link everything back to being allowed to go out and be free in the world again, knowing that one day we will all be aloud to be back outside but that we are choosing to keep others and ourselves safe by not perusing our freedom.
- [](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/17804/) - every day is new day, Enjoy and learn new things each and every DAY.....
- [Home Schooling](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/home-schooling/) - I wrote this in April 2020, in the early days of the first lockdown, as a response to a prompt image shared by online journal Visual Verse. It was an attempt to capture my feelings about the confusing and strange new world we all found ourselves in.
- [In the comfort of lines](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/in-the-comfort-of-lines/) - In a queue for artisan bread somebody said, do you believe in life after loaf and nobody laughed. We just moved on. In this time of unstable connections and see-saw relations, we drift unaware, we abide, infringe. For certainty, for chalk-marked security, look to the tarmac. This cannot be measured, or metred. We are more
- [“I’m fine thank you”](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/im-fine-thank-you/) - Throughout lockdown I tried to project an outwardly upbeat and optimistic persona. If anyone asked how I was the stock answer was always "Fine thank you." This poem considers what I might have said if I revealed how I was really feeling.
- [the doplap](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-doplap/) - This poem came from observing this bird, in Bexleyheath, during the first Lockdown.
- [Ingredients for a Lockdown](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/ingredients-for-a-lockdown/) - Owing to immuno suppressant medication, I spent most of lockdown shielding, but was lucky enough to have the escape and sanity of walking in the local green spaces of South East London: Crystal Palace Park, Mayow Park, Alexandra Rec. and Sydenham Wells Park. I did however finally succumb to making banana bread!
- [Wallking Down the Street in Walthamstow](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/wallking-down-the-street-in-walthamstow/) - I was inspired by my husband Dougie who went for a walk and talked to a neighbour for the first time. We are all so busy, we never have time to speak and appreciate where we live.
- [Lift the Lockdown](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/lift-the-lockdown/) - The nation awaits That appointment with Destiny, now or never Breathless, expectant, Nervous anticipation Poised to be released From captivity It'll never work Oh yes it must We forge ahead With the customary Routines of old When the world Was young then Long ago nostalgic Echoes of reminiscence But then right up to Date, modern,
- [Untitled](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/untitled/) - So there I was minding my Business, when suddenly it Arrived, uninvited, like an Impostor, a burglar breaking Into my neighbourhood Covid 19, The global complexity That broke our spirits And then finally crept Stealthily into my world The one who we thought We'd battled and conquered It's here on my radar 18 months down
- [Tenacity](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/tenacity/) - London was one of ten commissioned cities to take part in Impact Dance x Tp Bennett collaboration for the London Festival of Architecture 2021. These ten cities created one minute films on this year's LFA theme - 'care'. I wrote London's poem tying dance and poetry with architecture and codirected London's film titled 'Ten-A-City', a play on Tenacity (also the title of the poem). Our film alongside the other amazing films were screened at The Scoop on Saturday 26th June 2021 during the festival. This project is a message to all the artists out there to keep creating, to keep going, and to keep being inspired by the incredible city that is London. You can watch our film here: https://impactdance.co.uk/london-festival-of-architecture/ Lead Artists: D'Andre Elizah, Basmah Mohamed & Chloe Lansiquot.
- [Terminal, Land’s End](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/terminal-lands-end/) - Terminal Land's End' is a poem written in memory of my late Uncle Harry Packham, along with remembrance of all that was lost with his passing. The poem also attempts an evocation of the sense of loss and loneliness felt by a close relative and carer at such a time.
- [Gulls Grieving](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/gulls-grieving/) - Gulls Grieving' was written within the parenthesis of intense grief and isolation.
- [In The Flanders Bleak](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/in-the-flanders-bleak/) - In The Flanders' Bleak' The title of this poem, in part, references Christina Rossetti's poem and hymn of the winter season, as the main body of the poem reflects November, Remembrance Day/Poppy Sunday, the Act of Remembrance and Remembrancetide. The poem also echoes personal loss to conflicts of the past and near past, where notions of cherished freedoms are conflicted by feelings of loss, duty and abiding love.
- [Mask, Sanitiser, Gloves](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/mask-sanitiser-gloves/) - distance social distance Namaste, elbow bumps shelves, eyes, pubs, parks empty retired poems back on the frontline books staying open late ‘You used to cover a fart with a cough but now……. News from abroad sad world leaders we can cope, we can cope but people should, people must people don’t listen
- [London Lockdown](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/london-lockdown/) - I was inspired by the strangeness of London at a standstill, when instead of running to work early in the morning, I experienced teaching from home for the first time. I wrote this poem for my class of Year 5 children. The stillness and silence of the city inspired me to try and capture the atmosphere.
- [](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/17769/) - I wrote this poem in a fast realisation that my life would be different now. I have got really bad knees that restrict my movements for over 2 years i had to stay home, then lockdown happened and things got worst. Now I am on the road to recovery but it was a very hard and depressing time, not being able to do things for such a long time, when usually I was very active. And I was a special needs teacher. I am writing a lot usually quick thoughts, haiku, poems short stories and illustrating my own publications. I published in Poland so far.
- [Ode to London – Part 2](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/ode-to-london-part-2/) - Ode to London Part 1 & 2 are reflective responses inspired by homelessness, trauma and survival.
- [Ode to London – Part 1](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/ode-to-london-part-1/) - Ode to London Part 1 & 2 are reflective responses inspired by homelessness, trauma and survival.
- [Fall – a sonnet](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/fall-a-sonnet/) - In Autumn 2019, I had surgery for my endometriosis, and I spent months recovering, alone at home, in my own mini lockdown (months before we knew what was about to happen) and in November 2020, fresh out of a zoom poetry writing class with poet Rachel Long, I wrote this sonnet, feeling the painful parallels of the previous autumn, waiting patiently to heal, wanting to be out dancing, gilded and glamorous, but being utterly weak and completely trapped. There were so many parallels to the hideous, lonely pain of the winter lockdowns, as there were to my surgery recovery only a year earlier. Having a chronic illness can turn periods of your life into mini lockdowns, but I wanted the reader to relate to that feeling of crossing the days off, dreaming and hoping for a colourful, fun future and not knowing when the was going to be. But I wanted there to be hope, because one day you will bloom and dance again. I chose a sonnet because, firstly it was the challenge in the poetry class, but it also relates to my world in theatre. I liked to imagine Shakespeare huddled away in self-isolation from the plague, writing his sonnets. Having had my entire working life in theatre & the arts shut down indefinitely, thinking of times when the worst happened, but art still triumphed was all I could do.
- [Woodlands](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/woodlands/) - This was written by my daughter in January 2021 (7 years old, Year 2) when we were in lockdown and she couldn't attend school. She was asked by a music teacher to write about how she was feeling for an extra curricular activity, and this was what she wrote. I was quite touched by it as it showed me that she was probably feeling more sad about the current situation than she was admitting, but also, that she was able to articulate that she understood there was still happiness around her.
- [Progression](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/progression/) - This poem is my signature poem, it speaks to my experience of both race and gender discrimination in employment and the labour market and my life experiences of drawing on my strength and resilience to stand up to the double discrimination of race and gender discrimination and my work as a trade union and grass roots activists standing up for collective rights.
- [The Fonts of All Wisdom](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-fonts-of-all-wisdom/) - My best friend went to a creative writing course and she shared some of the homework tasks. She was asked to produce a poem from the first line, I left your words. It was such a great exercise. So much easier to write when you are asked to do it!
- [Snow](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/snow/) - This is a poem about the death of a member of my family in the midst of COVID. It was a cold, sad day, but snow helped me to think of happier times with her.
- [I Walk the One Hour](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/i-walk-the-one-hour/) - The first lockdown, when everything stopped, I lived for my one hour walk a day. Living in a flat, in a small space, it was hard. I love being outside and I remember the one hour of outdoor exercise we were allowed was sacred to me.
- [](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/17739/) - A complex poem about love depression and not feeling excepted and colours and numbers spring into my mind.
- [Homeward Bound; sisterhood in London](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/homeward-bound-sisterhood-in-london/) - The poem was inspired by the events which took place through out the lockdown. Living alone in a big city and in cramped apartments, alone, in quarantine bought back a lot of memories from childhood. Especially, the impact of friendship-sisterhood and the warmth it brings to the occupied mind. It is during these moments that we do realize the importance of relationships which one should be grateful for and cherish through forever. The trauma that a lot of us have been suppressing gave a way to the surface and needed to be thought about during the quarantine, may it be as little as thinking of a long lost sister from your hometown.
- [In the Beginning We We’re Drowning - 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/in-the-beginning-we-were-drowning-2020/) - This poem was written after I had seen one of my favourite films, 'I Know Where I'm Going' at the opening night of the London Film Festival yesterday. The legend of Corryvreckan is central to the story. Corryvreckan is the most dangerous area of water in the British Isles, located between Jura and Scarba in the Inner Hebrides. The Gulf of Corryvreckan has a tidal race that creates the third largest whirlpool in the World caused by a combination of the tides, a deep hole and a pinnacle. I visited the whirlpool by sea many years ago and was struck by the eerie atmosphere surrounding it. Seeing the film last night where the whirlpool is one of the central 'characters' and traveling home in a very quiet London, still reeling from Covid reminded me of the silence, of the deserted streets as Covid hit our island, and the feeling of drowning. This poem is an evocation of how it felt to be in that silence.
- [Unlocking Lockdown](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/unlocking-lockdown/) - I was inspired to write Unlocking Lockdown, as a means of drawing parallel to some of the positives that lockdown encouraged me to do more of. For example listening to nature, speaking to local neighbours and strangers, who I may have otherwise only exchanged minimum eye contact with, maybe a brief smile, or indeed no engagement with at all. Unlocking Lockdown weaves these experiences with reality of loneliness during the height of the pandemic. It draws upon my experiences of managing national changes i.e. to the way we shopped for essentials (queuing). It also makes reference to managing mental wellbeing, of which at times came with difficulty for me.
- [The tomato garden](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-tomato-garden/) - The poem is a rendition of what grieving may be like for a young girl whose partner she truly misses during the lonely time which was an inevitable outcome of the lockdown.
- [A Survivor](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/a-survivor/) - I used to sit at my front door and look at the empty street. The bumble bees were very active. If I walked round to the passageway at the side of our house, the bumble bees used to float in the air, full of pollen. I had to wind my way carefully between them to avoid banging into them.
- [Stranger](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/stranger/) - During Lockdown, I slept more, I ate more and my imagination was more active. My poem, "Stranger" is an example of my imagination at work.
- [Poets’ Corner](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/poets-corner/) - The dust of stars from the crevice of time dropped lonely and lipped the night sky quietly. The wanderer, gathering up broken words, shuttled between history and tinned fish. The door at the end of us opened and looked at our souls, a voice that reads and will be read. Each fair verse makes life
- [COMMUNITY CENTRE MAHJONG](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/community-centre-mahjong/) - the old are impatient with the young so slow we spoil the game some of us still waiting for our forefathers to settle their debts before we can learn to play others serve chrysanthemum tea and ask for forgiveness miming their gratitude I teach that you can give away a game with just one sigh
- [Over the Last Year](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/over-the-last-year/) - From David Cameron to Theresa May to Boris Johnson, We have a capital city named London, We’ve been in this case for over a year, We had no hope but to disappear, We were sent home with Despair, Coronavirus TRUTH or DARE, We were running out of hope, Captain Tom came like he was wearing
- [Come on in guys.](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/come-on-in-guys/) - Like many of us I watched A LOT of television in the pandemic. One of the shows I enjoyed was Survivor, where I have watched 20 seasons. There felt like a lot of parallels with the pandemic and it certainly brought me joy!
- [We Walk Through This Forest](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/we-walk-through-this-forest/) - This piece is simply about and inspired by the area that I live and what I've seen and felt during this past year. It's a slight rant, love letter and call to peaceful arms all at once.
- [Thoughts	on Coronavirus](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/thoughtson-coronavirus/) - It is a free verse poem. It is really explained in the title. It is a reflection on what the Coronavirus is - or what it seems to be.
- [Whats app neighbours group 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/whats-app-neighbours-group-2020/) - Our whatsapp neighbourhood group was a blessing and gave us hope and cheer in many ways. There was such a sense of fellowship as we shared our good and bad news.
- [Tired](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/tired/) - I wrote this in March this year when I think, like many, a sense of weariness, even despair, was creeping in. The roll out of the vaccination created the hope that things were on the turn. There was the Spring to look forward to and summer - greater freedoms and meeting up with friends; not on a screen but in the flesh grasping their hands. In a way the poem conveys the disappointment with the political response to the pandemic and how I felt about that response. But in the end life and hope must defeat fear and cynicism.
- [By Doing This](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/by-doing-this/) - I'm studying towards a Diploma in Counselling and since September 2020 it has been taught via zoom because of Covid-19. Through out the course I've heard stories of trauma, racism, sexism and how society can favour people that are cisgendered, male,'able'-bodied, young, white-bodied, that identify as heterosexual and people that come from a middle/upper-class background. I asked my tutor in a tutorial how do "we" do this and not lose faith in humanity, especially if the system can encourage and support these current experiences. We have to hold people in our sessions. How do we not lose faith in humanity, whilst doing that? He mentioned how I didn't ask him directly, that I looked down and he said, "by doing, this" and just looked at me. My eyes instantly welled up and I cried. This poem is about that experience and what I understood in the moment. I talk about when I've felt more connected to myself and others, how that happened and how that restores my faith in humanity. It is profound what connection and contact can do.
- [Breathe](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/breathe/) - A exploration of the anxieties and experiences of COVID times inspired by a trip on the tube that captured a great deal of the thought behind this poem.
- [A Reflection of the Past. A Look to the Future.](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/a-reflection-of-the-past-a-look-to-the-future/) - The theme of my poem focuses on resilience, both community and individual. The adversities we have faced during this difficult time.
- [Sunday, June 21st 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/sunday-june-21st-2020/) - My beautiful granddaughter Elisia was born in the first peak of the pandemic. I couldn’t meet her at first except online. This poem celebrates the first time I held her.
- [EDU-NATION](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/edu-nation/) - During the Covid pandemic I felt compelled to write a poem from my perspective as a teacher on the experience I felt teachers, parents and children across Waltham Forest showed unity and comradery and I showed be celebrated. It also coincided with my reflection on why I wanted to educate children in the first place. I write the poem whilst I was delivering home learning and thought it would paint a picture of that moment in time.
- [Lockdown Madness](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/lockdown-madness/) - Face masks on humans, population drops. 2020 comes to a halt. Everyone around faces the madness, Everybody hoping for some gladness.. Gardens are green, skies are grey but Rainbows on windows bring hope as we pray. Homeschooling is hard, I’m missing my friends, Not allowed to hug our own grans… cheering of people, clapping of
- [The Lightbulb in the Sky](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-lightbulb-in-the-sky/) - My poem is called The Lightbulb In The Sky. It is called this because I know that there is always a lightbulb ready to help us get through the dark. My poem is about how the world has fought the pandemic. I tried to make it light and airy, and showing that there has been some good in a global pandemic.
- [I Could Hear Emma](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/i-could-hear-emma/) - The poem is about the peculiarity of living during the last year and a half, and how it has connected each one of us in a life altering way. Separated as we are from each other, it is also in each other that we now find our solace. Our community.
- [Unnamed Star](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/unnamed-star/) - This poem is written after the death of a close relative in July 2021. This poem expresses the feelings of her helpless husband who saw her dying of COVID-19 in a hospital bed.
- [Fell Low Ship](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/fell-low-ship/) - We FELL together, Fell silent Fell still and motionless Physical walls confine us Rainbow adorned, safe and sound? We felt LOW Nowhere to go No highlights, bright lights to offer a warm glow Eternal journeys abound Time and plans suspended Go slow! Wait… no go! We SHIPs in the night, Silent and unseen Hidden and
- [On the Ledge](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/on-the-ledge/) - Inspired by a fledgling bird outside my window, which gave me hope when hope was low, I wrote this poem.
- [The Beach and the Cloudy Day](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-beach-and-the-cloudy-day/) - My poem is about the weather and the beach and how it makes you feel. Reading this poem makes me feel happy, it reminds me of sunny holidays abroad. I hope the poem puts a smile on the one reading it too!
- [Standing Alone](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/standing-alone-2/) - Standing alone Alone I stand, A mortal entity Seeking resplendent light Amongst many moons Throughout untold realms Realms of the hereafter For ever after
- [Bluebells in Chalet Wood](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/bluebells-in-chalet-wood/) - Walking from Walthamstow to Wanstead Park in late-April 2021, we cut into Chalet Wood and were delighted to see a large clearing covered in bluebells. After months of lockdown it was lovely to see lots of people walking round with smiles on their faces, enjoying this astonishing sight.
- [What We Take With Us](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/what-we-take-with-us/) - I've been living with a long-term health condition for 14 years, which often leaves me housebound for long periods of time. I'm therefore no stranger to being stuck at home. Nonetheless, I found the pandemic and the lockdowns very difficult, not least because I didn't see my mum for over a year. She lives in Yorkshire, so we were well and truly separated. For the good of my mental health, I made myself focus on the small, positive things. I began to think, wouldn't it be good if we could all take some of those positive things with us as we start to get back to normality - and have a better, kinder new normality. That was the inspiration for my poem. Thanks for reading it.
- [When Our Neighbourhood Became Our World](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/when-our-neighbourhood-became-our-world/) - When Our Neighbourhood Became Our World (A Golden Shovel Poem After William Morris) Days rolled darkly into weeks, into months, but we reached out with rainbows, light and love Isolation came to creep beneath our doors but shrivelled under smiles and slunk away. This is True: if our world had shrunk, our purpose had grown
- [The Fellow Next to Me](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-fellow-next-to-me/) - I always run up forest road and enjoy taking in the people and scenery around me. When I'm running I feel so calm, in a bubble of my own, yet I also feel connected to everyone around me. I have severe Dyslexia, when i was 12 my reading age was just 5.5 years. I struggled to write and despite having so much to express could never get it out or it took too much energy and stress that I never tried. I spent longer spell-checking this than writing it, but I wanted use this opprortunites to express my connection to Walthamstow.
- [When You Think About the Future](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/when-you-think-about-the-future/) - I wrote this in response to fellowship, and how this year has been a struggle to get through. COVID has inspired me to write about it.
- [Spring's Hand](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/springs-hand/) - Spring's hand came out of A mirror to Pick up and replace The broken piece Of glass to reflect The dynasty of shadows That passed, they Assumed the correct Distance. The roads were silent During the first Lockdown, we were shown New modes of living. Queue of sphinxes Waiting to take A drink from a
- [Morning Exercises](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/morning-exercises/) - The peculiar intensity of lockdown, in the early days especially, was bewildering in many respects for many of us - but also served to highlight how helpless we can be when faced with other forms of change.
- [After The Fallow](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/after-the-fallow/) - In this poem, I brought together three inspirations: the thought of all our soon to be re-tapped potential as we emerge from lockdown, Epping Forest and its neighbouring areas of farmland (the soil cultivated for centuries), and William Morris's dictum, "Fellowship is Life", which appears on Waltham Forest's coat of arms.
- [For Jasper](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/for-jasper/) - These words are for my baby son. I wanted to capture for him what it felt like to be pregnant in a global pandemic.
- [Saviour City](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/saviour-city/) - What can I say? London saved me. Thank you London.
- [Solace](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/solace-2/) - As someone who struggled severely with depression and mental health issues during lockdown despite having access to material items - internet access, online shopping, it dawned on me that the only thing that truly brings me happiness are other human beings. The poem talks about how superficiality is merely a facade and how the pandemic has caused a global revelation that only human contact can fill that emptiness inside. I became very emotional writing this poem, albeit it being quite short. I'm extremely honoured to even have entered this competition and thank you for even reading it.
- [At Home](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/at-home/) - alone for a week, two, month, whatever takes it long book wants to play, flies to the ceiling, into the corners, back and forth suddenly without knowing you are silently smiling
- [‘Bye Bees](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/bye-bees/) - I live in a third-floor London flat, with a little balcony. I’m ninety and crippled, so I don’t get out very much. On the balcony I grow flowers in pots, but I noticed no bees were coming these last few years. So I wrote away for a lobelia plant, and it arrived in a huge box with its own pot. Once on the balcony it thrived and grew buds, and as they opened I saw bees returning to the orange-coloured blossoms. This was the inspiration for my poem.
- [Full Lockdown Again](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/full-lockdown-again/) - Here comes the full lockdown yet again How much more is Covid going to cause pain? Taking away so many innocent lives It is worse than the sharp kitchen knives Many people feeling depressed and isolated What an awful scenario Covid has created Not able to do the things that we all enjoy We must
- [Sunflowers](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/sunflowers/) - Shortly before lockdown, my partner and I were apart for a long time as we struggled to meet and prove the requirements for her visa to join me in London. During that time I saw the Van Gogh exhibition at the Tate Britain, and was struck by how his famous sunflowers are so saturated and heavy that they don't even stand upright. Thankfully my partner was finally able to move to the UK, and only 6 months later we went into lockdown. We were forced to be together permanently, in a complete reversal of our fortunes from earlier that year. This poem is about our situation, but hopefully speaks more widely to the people who made a commitment (whether intentionally or not) to live solely with another person or other people during a difficult time. I read some really encouraging and inspiring stories of friends moving in together, and people in new relationships who took the plunge to lockdown together, and that spirit of togetherness really moved me. The blossoming of those relationships reminded me of Van Gogh's sunflowers, stuck in a single vase but so full to the brim of the energy of life that they almost fall from their stalks.
- [Business Card](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/business-card/) - A poem based on Autumn.
- [Dating App](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/dating-app/) - All about a single friends experiences on one of the dating apps.
- [April 21, 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/april-21-2020/) - “But this will cure all streight, one sip of this Will bathe the drooping spirits in delight Beyond the bliss of dreams. Be wise, and taste” Comus by John Milton The kettle’s on and while I wait, I dance my way through Twitter, wasting time because there’s not much going on for me except tea.
- [All of a Sudden](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/all-of-a-sudden/) - This poem was inspired by a bittersweet conversation I shared with my mother after she developed dementia. I originally wrote it in my native Swedish and then also created versions in English and Spanish. I would be happy to share the versions in Swedish and Spanish as well.
- [Poem](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/poem/) - We’re all in this together they said But not true, when some are in bed And others erecting a garden shed Many lost their lives Others came out in hives, A small symptom of covid The dreaded word that no one wants to hear It creeps out of nowhere, but yet it is here Silent
- [I Long](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/i-long/) - I long for better days. And to forget the yesterdays. I long for peace. And for this heartache to ease. I long to see the sky again, I long to see the sea. I long to hear the birds, I long to hear voices and words. I long for the little things in life once
- [Coronavirus](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/coronavirus/) - London 2020
- [Socrates Awaiting](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/socrates-awaiting/) - London 2020
- [Coronavirus Days](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/coronavirus-days/) - We tell each other: Endure. There will be a day When someone Will give you a hand. I will fall Into the land of sleep enchanting, Happy feast. But now We tell each other…
- [Coronavirus Shopping Time](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/coronavirus-shopping-time/) - Pirouettes with the baskets Coronavirus dance in a supermarket Gloves are ready For the ballet Masks on the faces Time for a carnival, Time for Venice
- [That day, I was lost](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/that-day-i-was-lost/) - I love to write about small things which make a big difference in one's life, little attention little care , a very little love and affection, and how it works......in human beings life.
- [Carriage Horses](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/carriage-horses/) - I was going for a walk with the aim to purchase paper and envelopes for my vintage typewriter, and on the way, I came across an old stone water trough for horses filled with flowers, spotted on Cromwell Gardens, opposite the V&A Museum which began speaking to me poetically, and as I crossed the lights towards Cromwell Road, I became inspired to string words together.
- [Autumn](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/autumn/) - About autumn in lock down and the wonder of nature through despairing circumstances.
- [Brick Lane Street Art Cavalry](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/brick-lane-street-art-cavalry/) - During the pandemic, I was visiting Brick Lane on a weekly basis to see how the street artists and commentators were responding to it, with the intention of recording it for prosperity with photography. It was the gift that kept on giving, providing me hours of joy and food for thought. My poem is a celebration of that and them. https://www.catastro-fille.com/covid-19pandemiclockdown-london
- [As I Walked](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/as-i-walked-2/) - This poem is about the three months I spent separated from my partner during the lockdown, on opposite sides of London.
- [April 2021](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/april-2021/) - I found inspiration during the pandemic to keep occupied whilst I couldn't work.
- [The Brown Feathered Bird Sings the Blues](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-brown-feathered-bird-sings-the-blues/) - The Brown Feathered Bird sings the Blues was written during lockdown last year and emerged out my solitary walks along the River Thames in Thamesmead. Lockdown meant that I was often alone but also that I had time to go on walks and reflect on my surroundings. I was struck by the presence of a lone bird sitting on rusting barbed wire instead of on the branch of a tree. I became aware of the industrial London landscape, the human waste and yearned to be "re-wilded".
- [A Song of Life](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/a-song-of-life-2/) - I wrote this poem shortly after my 65th birthday this year to not only mark my age, but also to celebrate having survived a year of covid, lockdowns and isolation...and to look forward to more 'melodic and mad' times.
- [A Pathway to Beautiful Peace](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/a-pathway-to-beautiful-peace/) - About coming together to find peace and harmony.
- [Truth](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/truth/) - I wrote the first line of this poem many years ago and came back to it recently. I have lived in Walthamstow for many years and love the sense of community and diversity which exists in the borough. The last year has certainly shown me that 'fellowship is life' and what brings us together is so much greater than what divides us. This poem for me is about the plurality of identity and in many ways how we craft that identity by the experiences we seek out, the choices we make and the stories we share.
- [How Long?](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/how-long/) - My poem is about corona virus and how it affected so many people over lock down.
- [They’re My Friends, They’re My Stem](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/theyre-my-friends-theyre-my-stem/) - Inspiration is a winner, And always comes to me at dinner. Hope comes very easy, When something turns pretty cheesy. Desperation has the same reaction, Especially when something is a big distraction . But this is when my fellow friends come in role, They make me feel pure in soul. I can always depend on
- [Hope Smells Like Home](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/hope-smells-like-home-2/) - About the forest and what you can see when you pay attention. E17 6AJ
- [Pollution](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/pollution-2/) - I wrote this at school from scratch.
- [Corona Corona](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/corona-corona/) - I wrote this poem to explain how I felt during lockdown. When we weren't at school, I missed my friends a lot but became best friends with my little 2 year olds sister, she is my lockdown hero because she played with me.
- [We Need Another Virus](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/we-need-another-virus/) - I'm not a poet but a couple of days before I received the WF update the idea for the poem came to me so I thought I'd give it a go.
- [Silent Hybrids](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/silent-hybrid/) - I wrote Silent Hybrids as a set of lyrics, for a song, to describe my anxieties just over a year after I started full-time working from home, during the pandemic. Silent Hybrids is about the fear of venturing outside as lockdown eases, despite feeling stir crazy and in need of fresh air and exercise, not to mention a change of scenery. It also references the things I'm missing most like my family in France and being able to spontaneously go for a swim. It is an observation also of how the demographic has changed when going outside on foot or on bike, with the traffic mostly electric and food delivery related too!
- [Bloom](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/bloom/) - Coming back from an unsuccessful job interview, I took pictures on my walk back to the tube station and when I looked back at them when I was home, I realized why flowers are special to me, what their presence means to me. From that, I started and finished writing 'bloom'. I hope you enjoy it.
- [University Viva, in Zoom](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/university-viva-in-zoom/) - I am working as a teaching assistant at the University College London. The covid-19 pandemic changed the learning and assessment methods and one of the changes was to run a series of viva exams via Zoom. I was often one of the examiners and started noticing the examiners’ and students’ facial characteristics, specifically during the first part of the exam, when the student was given time to think over an exam question and formulate an answer. I believe this is a detail I wouldn’t have noticed in physical exams. On the contrary, when running an exam online, the main channel of communication is looking (if not staring) at the camera.
- [The Edmonton Rubbish Incinerator is for Lovers](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-edmonton-rubbish-incinerator-is-for-lovers/) - The Incinerator sees all, has Cerberus cameras of a million eyes, But is more like someone courted, someone loved. It throbs on the horizon, watching with delight, through all its cameras, The million trucks, turning and returning, filled with newspapers And packets, all filled with the million kisses the burners crave: The discarded presents from
- [Piccadilly Line](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/piccadilly-line/) - Deep in the Piccadilly Line, one Friday night, Among the pulsing trains, I saw my mother, dead for twenty-four years, Standing on the tracks in a tunnel. She stood where the platform lights connect with sound and dark, Like the stripes on Union Flags. My Uncle stood next to her, With one hand in his
- [Giddy Touch](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/giddy-touch/) - My poem is a expressive piece all about the changes of life through a restricted environment and people unable to show their feelings and leads them to live in the false feelings of what they would like to happen but can't due to lock down and services closing it gives us insight to how every one in different circumstances struggle and how they are surviving.
- [The National Health](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-national-health/) - This poem is the product of a fractured mind worried about a fractured country, and the issue of who will put the pieces back together afterwards. It was written right in the heart of lockdown in May 2020, as the sickness that had infected so many also began to expose the weakness in our nation's political, cultural and economic immune system. As the National Health Service became the cause that we were all asked to rally around and protect, the phrase 'The National Health' seemed to me to carry a lot of potential meanings, not all of which were to do with the virus and its effects.
- [The 11th Hour](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-11th-hour/) - They wait till the 11th To get Brexit done He tried putting one foot forward But the other wouldn't follow Almost fell over Like that newscaster on 'Strictly' But at least he was dancing brogues Those winking gems in the Shoelaces catch the eye But make sure there's No celebrity bake off
- [War of the Words](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/war-of-the-words/) - This slam poetry battle took place between two secondary school pupils in class. Rather than concentrate on their teacher’s lesson, the follies of youth took hold and both girls felt unable to contain their creative flow, resulting in these verses.
- [September](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/september/) - I wrote this poem as an unemployed graduate, inspired by the anxiety of that back to school month rolling round once more. The freedom from the institution I'd fought for so desperately was bitter sweet and as the nights lengthened, the days shortened and the temperature dropped I found myself wholly unprepared for the winter before me. But it was ok. Because I had my London.
- [SWANNET](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/swannet/) - My wife Caroline and I live next to the Woodberry Down Wetlands Centre in North Hackney which was closed during the first lockdown. As a 72-year-old with health issues, I regularly walked our dog along the nearby River New footpath for exercise and to raise my spirits. In Spring the diverse local community became obsessed with the wellbeing of a pair of nesting swans, with a degree of intensity way above that in a ‘normal’ year as if their successful breeding could mitigate our anxiety and give us all cause for hope. Rituals emerged as we learned to make adjustments for social distancing while seeking prime positions to observe the swans. I drafted, and constantly re-drafted, the sonnet ‘Swannet’ to try and evoke something of the swans’ activities and struggles, while exploring the behaviour of our community of watchers.
- [Our Greatness](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/our-greatness-2/) - I wrote this poem for Black History Month. For me, this poem was about explaining to people the inequalities faced by black people like myself and the reality of what life is like. I was inspired by the unfortunate death of George Floyd and the protest sparking from it. From then, my mum and I had many conversations about what was happening about the Black Lives Matter movement.
- [Conclude](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/conclude-2/) - I really enjoyed writing this poem and I hope you enjoy reading it!
- [Crying Corona](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/crying-corona-2/) - My poem is about, how during lockdown some thought it was going very slowly however that was not the case, we were all growing older or being brought to planet Earth. I chose the name 'Crying Corona' because I thought that although we cry for being sad, miserable or devastated, we also cry due to happiness and gratefulness. And we must realise that even though we were in Lockdown or quarantine it was low, nevertheless we know we are not the only ones. We learn from this, so that we are prepared for if there were a next.
- [Year 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/year-2020-2/) - The year of the 2020 The hardest we ever had The mask and the virus that Put people to an end So many of us suffered And so many had died! It happened to sister, brothers It happened to uncles and ants. Neighbors and many more! It is still happening but We Have to stay
- [Hope in Lockdown](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/hope-in-lockdown/) - She waits quietly in my cell. I squint but all I see is a shape of light by the window. I reach out to try to touch her but my hands pass through cumulus clouds her shape shifts in the confined space, until suddenly she’s next to me Who are you I ask her lullaby
- [Seeking Redress](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/seeking-redress-2/) - This poem about the limitations on public assembly imposed during the Covid pandemic was first published in this anthology last summer. https://poetsuniteworldwide.org/2020/10/21/1573/
- [South Song](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/south-song/) - Growing up and being submerged in London's youth culture myself I wanted to write something that would capture the intrinsically melancholic yet celebratory experiences of young people growing up on these streets. I performed this poem at a fundraiser event with the Young Actors Theatre Islington, along with a monologue from Kate Tempest's 'Wasted'. Such experiences have left me empowered and humbled by the power that literature and language have to tell stories of resilience and connect people under a shared imagination.
- [THE VIRUS LASTS](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-virus-lasts-2/) - It is about the virus, and we wanted it to stop. It inspired me to write different poems, when I found a poem book, then I read some, it was interesting, so I thought why can’t I do one.
- [Friendship](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/friendship/) - Friendship Caring parents Inconsolable time Me and my parents together Siblings.
- [Zooming the Cousins](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/zooming-the-cousins/) - Someone says, if there are more than can share a pizza there’s too many, so we discuss pizza, because food is in our blood. And sewing—the nap of velvet draws a consensus (once, their mum said I’d put up my hem with a trowel.) My youngest cousin is showing us her dog now; screenful of
- [Why Can't I?](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/why-cant-i-2/) - My poem was inspired by all the ups and downs we experienced in 2020, including the wild fires that led to large amounts of pollution and all the waste in the sea (animals dying).
- [Home](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/home/) - Home, a place where you feel home and sleep like a baby, smiling your heart in place and soul one with the core. Home, like the freedom, felt by caged birds just released not worried to get shot down or pulled by a string unseen. Home, where nothing matters once lights go off and the
- [Ode to 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/ode-to-2020/) - I wrote this poem about the life we were suddenly plunged into last year. I wanted to end it with a sense of hope. I think the hope is building. I hope it is!
- [The Worst Year after Eavan Boland](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-worst-year-after-eavan-boland/) - I wrote this poem after reading Eavan Boland's poem about the Irish famine;the imagery is haunting and the notion of helping oneenother through hardship applied to what we've experienced in 2020.
- [Forest Friends United](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/forest-friends-united/) - Forest Friends cast away your fear, A bright new dawn is nearly here, The dark clouds are drifting away, It’s the start of a brand new day. We’ve all been through a Hell of a year, With pain and loss and little to cheer, You should be proud of what you’ve done, Side by
- [Our Square](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/our-square-2/) - This poem was inspired by the William Morris love poem Our hands have met, however rather than a love poem it's about our strong community in Waltham Forest and the fellowship of meeting hands. It takes us on a journey from meeting in a round ( a group together) to meeting in a square, (the new Fellowship Square).
- [Crowspeak](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/crowspeak-2/) - The pandemic has thrown into stark relief, the inequalities and iniquity's of our society. The only forward is in cooperation rather than competition. Cohesion rather than cohabitation, this poem seeks to promote that.
- [No more applause on Thursday night](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/no-more-applause-on-thursday-night-2/) - No more applause on Thursday night I'm not sure if that's really right The NHS have pulled us through And done so much for me and you Not only by there constant labours But helping us contact with neighbours At eight pm it all began We made a noise with pot and pan And waved
- [Crime Rhyme](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/crime-rhyme/) - We are grateful to our colleagues at Inside Time for allowing us to reproduce these poems. Inside Time is the national newspaper for prisoners and detainees. Read more here https://insidetime.org/
- [Life journey](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/life-journey/) - We are grateful to our colleagues at Inside Time for allowing us to reproduce these poems. Inside Time is the national newspaper for prisoners and detainees. Read more here https://insidetime.org/
- [Lifelines](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/lifelines/) - We are grateful to our colleagues at Inside Time for allowing us to reproduce these poems. Inside Time is the national newspaper for prisoners and detainees. Read more here https://insidetime.org/
- [Someone’s banging](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/someones-banging/) - We are grateful to our colleagues at Inside Time for allowing us to reproduce these poems. Inside Time is the national newspaper for prisoners and detainees. Read more here https://insidetime.org/
- [Time](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/time/) - We are grateful to our colleagues at Inside Time for allowing us to reproduce these poems. Inside Time is the national newspaper for prisoners and detainees. Read more here https://insidetime.org/
- [All in this together?](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/all-in-this-together/) - I wrote this poem early on in the pandemic of April 2020, referencing the early warm summer and the time before vaccinations. In London 53 bus drivers have sadly died from Covid. Below is from the Mayor of London in answer to a question of the number of deaths of transport workers. I don't have the national figures Business Area Total Tube and Rail 17 Head Office 2 Buses and Dial-a-Ride 67 • Metroline • Go Ahead • Tower Transit • Abellio • Arriva • RATP • HCT • Stagecoach • Cordant • TfL (Dial a Ride) Partner Organisation 4 • Interserve • Cleshar • ABM Total 90
- [Awake](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/awake/) - when this all started I knew things were unequal it’s true, you knew too we knew all along something was wrong just about on an even keel rudderless now on stormy seas contracts given to contacts heard its mates rates track, but no accountable trace no tendering tenderly over the phone the nurse explains a
- [BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S…OR EVEN AT THE GREASIEST GREASY SPOON – BREAKFAST AT ANYWHERE BUT HOME (A PANDEMIC PARODY)](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/breakfast-at-tiffanysor-even-at-the-greasiest-greasy-spoon-breakfast-at-anywhere-but-home-a-pandemic-parody/) - During the first lockdown, stuck at home in Stratford, I was re-reading Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and it got me imagining how Holly Golightly would cope (or not) with lockdown. I imagined she’d hate it intensely and I ended up writing this poem, and though it’s a parody, it reflected how I felt at the time about having to go through a lockdown in a big city (albeit not New York, but London).
- [Regent’s Park, April 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/regents-park-april-2020/) - Then I thought I heard a lion’s roar, a command to surrender. But all I could see was cow parsley lapping the legs of silver birches, an ice house overtaken by ivy. All flights grounded, birdsong was flooding the quiet – chinking, fluid, making a wonder of the midweek. A green woodpecker laughed from above.
- [“How has your lockdown been?”](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/how-has-your-lockdown-been/) - This poem was written for The January Challenge, a month-long series of creative challenges run by an organisation called 64 million artists that are all about promoting creativity. I wrote this about my experience during the lockdowns of 2020, my feelings and coping mechanisms while all the things that I usually do to be creative and help create a work/life balance were no longer available to me. While my experience was definitely not the worst I believe it reflects the feelings of a lot of people who struggled in 2020 and are still struggling. It's all the things you do and don't and do want to say when someone asks "how are you"?
- [On a Sunday Morning in London](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/on-a-sunday-morning-in-london/) - On one of the many early morning walks across the central bridges of the City of London, I was captured by the shades that the city managed to capture, of dawn and of life. In the poem On a Sunday Morning in London lies the heartbeat of the city and its many delicate threads that it unravels every day. *I reside in the City of London, between the Tower Bridge and the London Bridge and my official postcode borough is the City of London, an option not listed above. Hence, I am selecting Tower Hamlets as the borough closest to my home.
- [Tunnel](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/tunnel/) - If this once held glory No remains now show, Left, a built over waterway: Abandoned wall, fossil air, Forgotten opaque flow, The sheen of shit caked bricks Gives an almost organic look Worn to knobs of brown bone, Weak waves trickle homage at its feet In shallow lap-lap bows But where the water comes from
- [The Great Plague Of London](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-great-plague-of-london/) - I was very conscious of my good fortune in having a home of my own (and garden!) during lockdown but acutely conscious of those who didn't share my privilege. I've always had a loathing of so-called "second homes" and so the spectacle of people fleeing London for their rural pads while others were left to stew really enraged me; I was grateful I could challenge that anger into this poem, one of several dozen "lockdown sonnets" I wrote during the pandemic. I'm convinced being able to write those poems kept me sane.
- [Collected from the marquee](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/collected-from-the-marquee/) - The sky ablaze with excitement. As the day dawned, they did too. It had been erected from their hopes and dreams. Firm and strong and steady. Its four walls housed their dreams, despite their baying in the wind. One by one they entered. Neatly framed by the door, as each was handed their score. It
- [Where I Come From](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/where-i-come-from/) - From the earth I come From the heart of Africa From the kidneys of Asia From India with its spices I come From a deep Amazonian forest From a Tibetan meadow I come From an ivory land From far away From everywhere around me From where there are trees, mountains, rivers and seas From here,
- [Swaying, Swaying in the Breeze](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/swaying-swaying-in-the-breeze/) - It was a slightly windy day and I was walking down the garden path. As it were, I saw a few flowers moving back and forth, and a bumble-bee lighting on one, then another. All the time this was happening my mobile phone was on video mode, capturing the scene. The next morning this imagery was still in my mind, and so I wrote the whole poem before breakfast. I also made a video of myself performing the poem.
- [Isolation](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/isolation-2/) - This happened to the son of a friend in the early days of the pandemic. Having said goodbye to his dying father in intensive care the boy then had to isolate at home, separated from his vulnerable mother who could only communicate with him through the bedroom door
- [Isolation](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/isolation/) - Isolation Surrey UK - 8th March 2020 – (No. 318) A frosted morning, burned gold by the morning sun For us, another day in isolation has begun Yet violets are generously scattered down the bank And as glorious gorse begins to flower ~ still my heart gives thanks A pheasant on his morning round proudly
- [Bulbs](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/bulbs/) - This was written in the middle of the winter lockdown, just as the bulbs I'd planted in my window-boxes the previous autumn were starting to come up. It also relates to my experience as an LGBTQ+ person.
- [Spring will come, morning, Walthamstow](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/spring-will-come-morning-walthamstow/) - You will grasp the closed curtains and tug them apart opening your heart to the clear window over the dark-tiled roofs of the bungalows opposite the heavy grey clouds will crack so veiled sunlight can enter your room, then the clouds parting further shafts of sunlight will strike through they will burn with pink light
- [I want to grow old](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/i-want-to-grow-old/) - We are lucky enough to live near Park Wood in Ruislip, one of the largest ancient woods in England, predominantly hornbeam and oak. As an NHS doctor, mother of teenagers and daughter of elderly parents, walks during the pandemic have been a respite. We have seen deer leaping through the snow, carpets of bluebells and wood anemones and now, once more, the leaves beginning to turn a rich yellow. Sometimes, pausing in the woods, you feel the presence of the trees around you: their quiet strength, their watchfulness and contentment in simply being.
- [Finsbury Park Covidarium](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/finsbury-park-covidarium/) - This was my first Covid time poem and I submit it because they became increasingly rant like, perhaps this one is not the best but it's gentle, perhaps the only one that is, because as the death figures ratcheted up. So my anger and feelings came out in poetry, which is both expression and communication.
- [Three Pandemic Poems](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/three-pandemic-poems/) - I wrote these in mid-2020, the Yeats one after Cheltenham races.
- [In Between Storms We Walk in the Park](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/in-between-storms-we-walk-in-the-park/) - I walk in the park most days with my dog, Macy Gray. Mostly I find myself in Wormwood Scrubs Park or in the Little Wormwood Scrubs. I have found that through the lockdown, people have held each other's fears, offered easy laughter and celebrated that we were outside together. Walking in the park saved me during this time. It gave me air, breath, space and hope.
- [Ye Cherry Pey](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/ye-cherry-pey/) - This poem was taken from my poetry collection - A Child of the Jago - which focused on my upbringing on a council estate in East London in the 1970's & 1980's.
- [Liner Notes](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/liner-notes/) - I took up poetry in June 2020 making work live in Wallson Glass, whose participants are mainly on the other side of the world. I found that my interest in sound and in the materiality of language now preoccupies my artistic practice, and has been a wholesome and wholly life-changing experience to emerge from this global pause that I would never otherwise have accessed or experienced, feeling that I'm too stupid for poetry and that it's such a high art, I couldn't possibly fit.
- [Back to Normal](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/back-to-normal/) - It is not a fruit. But it has fallen off the tree with a stone. Just because it has fallen off the tree it is categorised as a fruit. For days, no one bothered. The rumour is moths ate all leaves. The trees mutated as the viruses do! These latest nuts have plagued the grounds
- [IN THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/in-the-royal-courts-of-justice/) - IN THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE was written as I waited for yet another day in court to begin. The case was IRVINE V IRVINE 2006 and made legal history. My husband Malcolm Campbell Irvine died on 1st March 1996 aged 52. Malcolm left (in his Will) one share of our 50% holding in the family company to his brother, who owned the other 50%. Malcolm was confident that his brother would be able to drive forward the company without interruption and would always continue to care for Malcolm's own family. This did not happen. My brother in law began stripping the company profits for himself, leaving my three school-age sons and I at his mercy. Legal help was sought. After ten long years we won our case, which is recorded in legal history books. I also wrote about this experience. My book was published by Ozark Mountain Press in August, 2019. The book is "In Light and In Shade" - Patricia Irvine. "Black city suits and sombre faces Are putting clients through their paces Stained glass and grey stone set the stage Absorbing pain from every age Mosaic tiles and ancient splendour Greet those, whose paths now bid them enter Cold marble, stone and coloured glass Record poignant times ~ present and past And here sit I … silent and alone My back pressed against the cold, grey, stone Prayers nestle deep within my heart While waiting for the day to start 'Lord, hold fast my hand and comfort me Please, help me be the finest I can be' "
- [Geese Crossing](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/geese-crossing/) - This poem is inspired by the Canada geese living at the old Peter Pan's Pool outside the Homebase store in Catford, Lewisham, close to the border with Bromley borough. They can often be seen crossing the road with their goslings to feed on the grass outside St John's Church opposite. During lockdowns, I have often taken my young daughter to look at the surprisingly diverse wildlife at the pond. Not just geese but moorhens, herons, mallards, tufted ducks, cormorants, little egrets and even terrapins. You can see a video of passers-by assisting the geese here
- [WHO](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/who/) - I wrote this poem in lockdown. It is funny and I guess being lockdown things comes in your head. This is one of them.
- [Birds](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/birds/) - During the pandemic, I found solace in London's urban wildlife and green spaces. Like so many others, I was separated from both my family and my partner, confined to one room in a small flat without a garden. As a Year 6 teacher, I found the experience of online teaching sad and draining: my most at-risk pupils seemed suddenly so unreachable and I could do nothing to help them. Observing the birds in nearby Stationers Park helped me to feel moments of genuine calm in this time of loneliness and worry. I felt great admiration for the moorhen fledglings who I was told so rarely survived to maturity and were there, very much surviving. For the woodpecker: so light and yet able to bore its way through the hardest of challenges. Following their lead, I found that being alone in nature was something altogether different to loneliness. If these tiny feathered things could navigate this world, the painful fragility of life, so could I.
- [Vaccine Queue](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/vaccine-queue/) - Signs of spring were starting to show, I was taking my dog for a walk, when I turned the corner and saw the most hopeful sight, a long queue from the doctors surgery, stretching right round the street. A photo wouldn't have captured my feelings and been intrusive to those in the queue, so I had to write a poem as a snap shot of how I felt in the moment. A joyful, hopeful feeling.
- [Painful Birth of Inspiration](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/painful-birth-of-inspiration/) - In this case my poem was inspired by heartbreak. The overall essence reflects on how my depression and emotionally turbulent experiences birth inspiration that fuels me to write. My pain ultimately is my muse.
- [I Didn't Mean It](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/i-didnt-mean-it/) - Someone suggested to me, that I write about my experiences of the personal struggles, when faced with being a full time carer, dealing with my Father's illness regarding Vascular dementia. There were good days, bad days and ugly days. This was a very unpleasant end stage Vascular dementia for both my Father, myself and Family. I like to write the truth in my own way and this reflects my regrets through poetry.
- [Pandemic Blues](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/pandemic-blues/) - I slowed down To mum’s Pace On our walk On Saturday Afternoon, No longer Striding ahead With youth’s impatience. I slowed down To mum’s Pace And truly listened To her Blues. I slowed down To mum’s Pace And realised It’s been hard for Her too With the fear Of the maskless And A microscopic assailant,
- [See the Sound of Panpipes](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/see-the-sound-of-panpipes/) - What if a short-sighted man who’s also hard of hearing is informed of the daunting reality that he will unavoidably go completely deaf & blind next month? The poem is about how he aches to hear the sound of panpipes played from the mouth of an unforgettable woman whom he knew long ago. Indeed, he craves to see her just the once, so he may go deaf and blind in peace. Alas, his hearing and myopia worsen; any view of the world is barely visible to him, much less audible. His prayers to finally see and hear the woman that haunts him go unanswered. He loses both his senses on the way home from work in a tube station, when he unexpectedly senses a familiar figure standing next to him.
- [Where is my iPhone did I leave it on the bed?](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/where-is-my-iphone-did-i-leave-it-on-the-bed/) - Did I drop it down the sofa, down the back of my head? Why do I lose it just when I need it? Why do I need it just when I lose it? Should I strap it to my chin? Should I throw it in the bin? I never needed one before, in those distant
- [CRYING CORONA](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/crying-corona/) - My poem is about how during lockdown some thought it was going very slowly, however that was not the case, we were all growing older or being brought to planet Earth. I chose the name 'Crying Corona' because I thought that although we cry for being sad, miserable, or devastated. We also cry due to happiness and gratefulness. And we must realise that even though we were in lockdown or quarantine and it was low, nevertheless we know we are not the only ones. We learn from this so that we are prepared for if there is another.
- [In Other News](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/in-other-news/) - Apples ripen and fall. Bread becomes sacred again. Crayon rainbows proliferate. Daylight waxes and wanes. Empty streets begin to rewild. Fuses shorten. Good deeds grab headlines. Homeless people lose Invisibility cloaks, briefly. Joggers clog pavements and parks. Knees are taken as Black Lives Matter. Normal has never seemed so new Or so extraordinary. Panic simmers
- [Anatomy Lesson](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/anatomy-lesson/) - I lead a creative writing group for Redbridge and District U3A. I wrote this poem in January when the NHS was stretched to the limit. I was inspired by Michael Rosen's moving poem 'These Are The Hands'
- [The Crown is Ours](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-crown-is-ours/) - I wrote this poem in my Greenwich garden, during the unfamiliar stillness of the first lockdown. I was struck by how Nature had been regaining her ‘rightful place’ during those months. Yet, rather than being triumphalist, She is waiting to welcome us back. Humans are slowing down under the weight of this ‘heavy crown’ (corona = crown in Latin) – and it is this slowing down that is both the burden and the cure – as we humans find balance once more. Birds are the protagonists of the poem, embodying Nature – and ultimately, they choose to help bear this burden with us, even though humans have long-since cast themselves as ‘rulers’ of Nature. I’m hoping this new balance will continue with us, into our Post-Corona World.
- [The Pit](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-pit/) - To call it by its name would Make it real Feed it Empower it Permit it to control you So instead you dig a depth so devastatingly deep that it loses itself in the recesses of your mind To cry would be too easy To scream—a concession And you wouldn’t want anyone to get the
- [Spring 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/spring-2020/) - Not since my great great something left the village, wherever that was, Have we seen a spring like this. Our walk to work takes in the wood, I saw a flash, a dart and day by day tracked it back to the secret of its nest. An old tree. A hole filled with noise, getting
- [Mapping the Muddle](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/mapping-the-muddle/) - The poem underlines the odd use of the term "road map" by the Department of Health and Social Care to represent a staged procedure over an extensive (and possibly unending) time period, commencing when the first Covid-19 cases were observed in the United Kingdom. Ideally, it should be pinned to the Department's main building ie. 39 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0EU.
- [Work From Harm](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/work-from-harm/) - This poem is an expression of my disdain for corporate working life. Day to day life spent in the company of colleagues and the investment of time trying to navigate ‘office politics’ and it’s culture. When the lockdown enforced work from home, I look back at why I changed career to this before the pandemic. Lives and mental health matters when it should have before. I have poems published with indy pub MT Ink. I submitted a poem One Way Ticket To Lockdown for Untitled Writing Salon which was well received.
- [We Want To Live](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/we-want-to-live/) - My poems touch on the theme of migration, refugees and asylum seekers. In these difficult times, people from these backgrounds suffer twice, first with the COVID19 pandemic, secondly with their uncertainty regarding their status.
- [I'm No Dummy](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/im-no-dummy/) - Curated, she sits at the window framed by Edwardian glass and a touch of Orla Keily. She cannot look up Or down Or to any side. Frozen with a drape of Hepburn around her throat. Still, in time and space. High, high above the street; her view is good. Down on the street I walk
- [The storm, the storm, the storm is coming](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-storm-the-storm-the-storm-is-coming/) - With enlarged pupils she looks out at the brewing storm It is purple, she guesses She’s not sure She’s five – the colour of the sky looks like her mother’s bruises She has black button eyes And they are afraid Flashes of neon lightening scribble Onto the canvas of the sky and it is
- [Hourglass](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/hourglass/) - I work in the mental health and homelessness sector and have a mental health diagnosis myself. A lot of the people I work with have commented that the isolation that shocked the world and was so publicised during the pandemic can be an everyday occurrence for somebody living with an acute mental health illness. I wrote this poem hoping to capture something of the torment and loneliness of flashbacks and anxiety.
- [Rebels](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/rebels/) - For a friend found, then lost. Covid wasn't the only killer of the pandemic.
- [The Songbird Once Sang](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-songbird-once-sang/) - I was reading in the newspaper about heavy traffic causing the songbirds to stop singing which was the inspiration for this poem. In London there has been an increase in traffic in main roads and building works which unfortunately came to halt over lockdown leaving shells of buildings. It was also my first attempt to use the poetry form of Rubaiyat.
- [Lost](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/lost-2/) - It's about the loss of my best friend.
- [One Pan, Two Plates (A wedding rubaiyat)](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/one-pan-two-plates-a-wedding-rubaiyat/) - My husband and I got married during the pandemic (we were allowed only 5 guests). To make it special I wrote this poem in the Arabic poetry style of a rubaiyat (though I wrote in English). It is inspired by the first cookbook we purchased together, and the simple way love manifests itself in the small things.
- [The Quiet](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-quiet/) - While working from home and when lockdown was at its height with no cars or aeroplanes to interfere, I noticed the birds in such detail. The words fell just like a stream of birdsong.
- [Self Isolation](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/self-isolation/) - During the pandemic it was great to see people doing great things to support the NHS such as Captain Tom Moore. But against these wonderful acts of community and helping each other I was shocked and saddened when shopping to see people fighting over a bag of pasta or abusing shop workers. Instead of being angry I have tried to use a bit of humour in my poem.
- [Spring Journal: Canto III](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/spring-journal-canto-iii/) - This 'canto' is an extract from my book-length poem 'Spring Journal', which I originally wrote on Twitter between Match and August 2020, and was published in full by CB Editions in December 2020. It was intended as an in-the-moment response to the coronavirus pandemic, and modelled on Louis MacNeice’s long poem 'Autumn Journal', which he wrote in late 1938 in response to the impending world war. He described it as “not strictly a journal but giving the tenor of my emotional experiences during that period. It is about everything which from first-hand experience I consider important.” I took the poem as a loose model: sometimes working out from specific lines, sometimes engaging more broadly with the themes of individual cantos, sometimes ignoring the original as I responded to world events. The final canto was performed as part of a complete readthrough of all 24 cantos on the online salon ‘Leap in the Dark’, curated by David Collard, on Friday 28th August.
- [Corvid 19](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/corvid-19/) - In the zoom meeting I’d realized after three months away I didn’t really understand what anyone was talking about I felt out of my depth Even tho’ it was raining I went for a walk outside I put on my winter coat and took the big umbrella not the little disposable one that is almost
- [British Seaports](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/british-seaports/) - I was inspired to write about the Sea-ports I have visited, as part of my job. I worked in the old HM Customs & Excise department of the government, and saw the freighters landing cargo and other activities - particularly at Tilbury Dock, on the River Thames. I have journeyed around the British Isles quite a bit, and gained insight into other port towns - some memories of which I've put into this poem.
- [A Bit Rough](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/a-bit-rough/) - People often talk about how Brockley used to be so rough back in the day. I was born in Brockley, grew up in Lewisham and often bristle at these comments (often by people who have moved into the area) and their very narrow ideas of what constitutes 'progress' or 'community' – but which essentially seem to boil down to less black and brown faces, or signs that we exist. I wrote this poem after passing through Brockley on the way home and feeling somehow alienated in a place I once knew so well. Everywhere changes, it's true, but the sense that it is 'better' because it adheres to one particular aesthetic feels exclusive and judgemental.
- [Chingford Station](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/chingford-station/) - I recently moved to Chingford, having lived in Waltham Forest and Redbridge for the last few decades. I wanted to celebrate something very much a part of Chingford, the area really grew with the arrival of the railways, taking people out to the forest. I read about the owl to scare off pigeons and keep looking for him, haven't seen him yet!
- [The Goats at London Zoo (Lock Down Week 2)](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-goats-at-london-zoo-lock-down-week-2/) - In March 2020 I was ill with Covid-19. As I lay in bed I heard a story on the radio about the goats in the Children's section of London Zoo. The keepers realised that the goats were missing the children who normally came to pet them. Writing this poem was partly about feeling so privileged to be getting well when so many other people had lost their lives or were seriously ill. It made me think about all the things that we had taken for granted and actually how much damage we had been doing to London and the world around us by not taking better care.
- [The Queue](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-queue/) - This one I was inspired to write while in a queue for the supermarket when panic buying was rife. I am a published poet and soon to be published writer and the lockdown gave me the perfect opportunity and inspiration for eight poems regarding the Corona crisis.
- [Dogs View](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/dogs-view/) - I have two poems, the first one is from a family pets perspective and what having us hanging about the house is like.
- [The Shadows of my Dream](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-shadows-of-my-dream/) - This poem was inspired by my travelling to Central London from Barking. I tried to capture the difference I saw from my borough to another borough as well as the beginning stages of gentrification in Barking.
- [Year of Covid](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/year-of-covid/) - I’m 81 and the chilling thing about Covid is the effect it has had on the NHS. Personal advice has stopped. I got a hearing aid through the post with unintelligible instructions as to how to use it. No one will see me and show me what to do, as I had been promised. I am not blaming them. It’s not their fault. It was inevitable, given the nature of the disease. I felt the need to express this in a poem.
- [The Silent War](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-silent-war/) - Oriana is a writer, poet, multi discipline creative and wellbeing professional. She was awarded with a learner award in 2017 for her non-fiction work 'Journey to Now' based on her diagnoses of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. She was later presented with a High Commendation for her dedication to adult learning and creativity for wellbeing. Oriana was invited to speak at the EAEA in Brussels at the EU Summit and Dublin University as a learner ambassador. This poem was written in March 2020 in response to the first lockdown.
- [Drinking Tea](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/drinking-tea/) - My father died the second day of lockdown and I was unable to visit him in his care home prior to his death. Living alone, the rituals of bereavement were denied me and I grieved alone, with no family or mourners visiting the house nor offering condolences nor cups of tea. Then I dreamt of my father some months later in which he sat quietly and unaware of me, sipping a cup of tea. The tea symbolises the small luxuries of life we take for granted, as well as being what is offered during times of bereavement.
- [Old Battersea Bridge](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/old-battersea-bridge/) - Inspired by James Whistler's painting of Old Battersea Bridge
- [Hot Dog](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/hot-dog/) - It was inspired by thoughts of saving a dog from a fire using only monosyllabic language. From an exercise in a creative writing class.
- [To keep the Pandemic away..](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/to-keep-the-pandemic-away/) - I shall wear some different socks today, Not just different from yesterday, but different from each other, I meant to say, One shall be very bright and new and bold, The other, dark and grim and old, And then I guess my shoes would look strange, If they were going to be both the same,
- [Field Hospital](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/field-hospital/) - This poem is a psychogeography prose poem examining the emotional and psychological impact of place, particularly my emotional response to the building of the Nightingale Hospital, a field hospital built in the ExCel centre. It was built on the same street of the house I grew up in. Unlike typical psychogeographical poems, the exploration, rather than being about the city of London, is about our own relationship with space at home and our local area, especially when confined and spending long periods of time inside. It’s a reversal of what psychogeography typically concerns itself with, the growth of a modern urban city, as in the pandemic, London has shrunk. I brought my family history to the poem, as with the absence of travel and stay at home orders in place, our homes and local areas take on new roles and have new connotations. For me, having to return to Newham from university so suddenly, was a time to reflect and rediscover my local area, especially in light of the geographical history that binds me to it, through my working-class grandparents. Although my family achieved social mobility the history that binds us both together is still there, especially as class divides were strengthened in the pandemic and an awareness of class was brought into our collective consciousness. The poem is about place and staying home, and our familial ties that perhaps strengthen in the midst of a pandemic.
- [Sundowner](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/sundowner/) - I wrote this poem early in the pandemic, struck by the incredible loss of life we witnessed especially within care homes. I wanted to write some sort of tribute to the elderly and vulnerable who have been lost to us whether through the pandemic, dementia, cancer or simply by being forgotten.
- [Where is my Taxi?](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/i-am-a-taxi-2/) - The sequel to I Am A Taxi.
- [And All of the Flowers Have Lost Their Smell](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/and-all-of-the-flowers-have-lost-their-smell/) - I wrote this poem towards the end of the first lockdown just after restaurants had opened back up and we were navigating all of the change and strangeness. I was furloughed for a short while and suddenly had all of this time and space- things that you never seem to have in London. I worked throughout the pandemic in hospitality. This is about that time and how surreal it was and about how it made me slow down and look for the small things. It is about endings and beginnings. It is about loosing things and reclaiming power.
- [Praise Song for the Road Sweepers of Hammersmith & Fulham](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/praise-song-for-the-road-sweepers-of-hammersmith-fulham/) - Halleluiah! for your dawn bravado, sporting neon so highly visible. Hurrah! for your proud selection of lurid green brooms. Hurray! for your cheerfulness faced with pavement pizzas. Hail! your corner diligence for cellophane and fag butts. All hail! your tolerance of foxes, should-know-better kids and grown men too far in their
- [Lost](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/lost/) - It's about the loss of my best friend.
- [Footprints of the soul](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/footprints-of-the-soul/) - Reason eludes these tortured moments Vacuousness embraces the hollow silences, suffocating any embers of new found flights of fancy Solace to the unforgiving night Relentless in its onslaught Yet still defiant - Burgeoning cries await release signals, gestures convoluted to a muffled cacophony No indelible memory etched within these walls Resolute affirmations awash on a
- [Earth's Cry](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/earths-cry/) - I wrote this poem on the night the first lockdown was announced. I am self employed and had lost all my work in the space of two hours the week beforehand. I knew then that the world had changed. I was so angry; humanity still didn't seem to understand (or didn't want to understand) what its inhumanity was doing to the planet. Suddenly forbidden to meet friends, sit on a park bench, stroll along the Thames - even to see and kiss my own Mum - it was as if the only power I had left was poetry. Now, over a year later, I still have no work and the streets are filled with masks, gloves and sanitised wipes - the new litter of the new normal. And we still aren't listening to the earth.
- [Ennui](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/ennui/) - This poem came up during a writing exercise in December 2020, where the prompt was an object or food that we associated with lockdown. I realised I was eating more seeds and nuts than before the pandemic, and I wondered what my brain was craving for, the nutrients from these superfoods or the repetitive gesture of eating them. Or maybe both.
- [Morning Corner](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/morning-corner/) - I like to write about how I feel and what I see at the time. This is what goes on, on my street in the mornings, I love it, it makes me feel alive to see all the goings-on of mummies and working commuters.
- [Cronus - Virus Poetry](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/cronus-virus-poetry/) - The poem is inspired by the virus and the world's challenging weather conditions.
- [Snapshot, pose!](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/snapshot-pose/) - I wrote this poem as a means of capturing London as the busy, bustling place it tends to be. I think it can be easy to feel lost or insignificant in a city like this, but I think feeling small can sometimes feel liberating and relaxing. That a place as busy as London can be relaxing in this way is the paradox I hope to convey in this poem.
- [30 Second Introduction](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/30-second-introduction/) - As a retail employee I am constantly having to adapt to the changes around me, traveling into Central London, taking public transport and serving people from across London. Adopting masks, queues and imposing restrictions in-store is just one part of the conversation. The other is in the interaction with the customer. It is in these first moments of contact on which this poem is based.
- [INBETWEEN](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/inbetween-2/) - This is a short poem reflecting on the passage of time for all in and out of lockdown; of those admitted for Covid; and those waiting for vaccination. I wrote this in the hospital, looking after my child and listening to the beeping machines through the nights.
- [The Motivator's Verses](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-motivators-verses/) - Life and nature as I passed through hurdles to see the world.
- [Covid Poem](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/covid-poem-2/) - So many deaths and new infections. The crisis continues and is worsening, but our government responses are still too little too late. They don't seem to care.
- [Walthamstow Observed](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/walthamstow-observed/) - This is non-fiction poetry, observed in my walks around Walthamstow, where I live.
- [Inbetween](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/inbetween/) - This is a short poem reflecting on the passage of time for all in and out of lockdown ; of those admitted for Covid; and those waiting for vaccination. I wrote this in the hospital, looking after my child and listening to the beeping machines through the nights.
- [A school is not just a place](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/a-school-is-not-just-a-place/) - I have worked as a primary school teacher for nearly a year now, but have worked in my school as a teaching assistant and a student teacher for 3 years prior to qualifying. I felt compelled to write this poem as I wanted to express my gratitude to all school staff. I also wanted to write something to uplift the school community as I know how challenging these times have been for staff, parents, and children. This poem challenges the assumption that all children loathe school as it is a place they are forced to go. Many children realised how much they value school, learning, and interacting with their peers once they began home learning. I am really looking forward to the day when I am reunited with all of my class and they can do what children do best once more: be children!
- [And ever ache](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/and-ever-ache/) - Dawn breaks unlike the human need to be touched. On wards, when hands don’t shake, they fold. The same again tonight; making rubber gloves last. All wrapped in various plastics, a second skin that still my heart reverberates through. Shut the door between function and emotion. Texting my mother on toilet breaks. Staff room full
- [The story of everything and nothing](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-story-of-everything-and-nothing/) - I am Dr Juno Sunny, currently working at the Newham University hospitals in London. I usually work in the cardiology department and the past year has brought in many changes to my life and everybody surrounding me due to the overwhelming covid pandemic. Overnight our cardiology unit had been converted to an intensive care unit to cater to the needs of patients suffering from covid-19. This pandemic has brought with it not only a tide of sorrow for those who lost their dear ones but also a gloom of uncertainty regarding the future for many who survived. Amongst all this, I have to testify that my faith in God and Christ sustained me. As a medical staff, I have never seen anything like this what I have seen last year. It's difficult to watch a person's life fade away when we frantically try everything we know to save him. I still remember, at first, his hands were warm, full of hope and revival but then I could feel coldness set in his fingers as life slowly drifted apart from him. He was only 25 at the time. That's how old my brother is. I couldn't sleep that night nor had the will to carry on. The only way I could get myself back to work again was my thought or call it a vision of hope wherein I could see him walking with Christ our God in peace. I dedicate this poem to my beloved God (my everything) who is by my right side to help me and everyone through each day, every day of our lives.
- [I am a taxi](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/i-am-a-taxi/) - Inspired by a taxi being dumped in our Close at the beginning of coronavirus in March 2020 by, no doubt, a redundant taxi driver. It is still here untouched and uncollected.
- [Once upon a Covid](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/once-upon-a-covid/) - I have been living in London for 5 years and during the pandemic I lost my main job and I was not allowed to go back to the country I, originally, am from. I love fairy tales, so I tried to stay positive and think of their optimistic endings. Inspired by them, I wrote down some characters that have faced a lockdown situation and related their experiences to ours. They say that these characters live in us, anyway, because we grow up with them. Finally, I believe we can learn from everything and the lockdown has taught me that happiness can be found in simple things like the ones I mention at the end of the song and I am grateful for that.
- [No more applause on Thursday night](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/no-more-applause-on-thursday-night/) - No more applause on Thursday night I'm not sure if that's really right The NHS have pulled us through And done so much for me and you Not only by there constant labours But helping us contact with neighbours At eight pm it all began We made a noise with pot and pan And waved
- [Standing alone](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/standing-alone/) - Standing alone Alone I stand, A mortal entity Seeking resplendent light Amongst many moons Throughout untold realms Realms of the hereafter For ever after
- [Hope smells like home](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/hope-smells-like-home/) - About the forest and what you can see when you pay attention
- [SILENT HYBRIDS](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/silent-hybrids/) - I wrote Silent Hybrids as a set of lyrics, for a song, to describe my anxieties just over a year after I started full-time working from home, during the pandemic. Silent Hybrids is about the fear of venturing outside as lockdown eases, despite feeling stir crazy and in need of fresh air and exercise, not to mention a change of scenery. It also references the things I'm missing most like my family in France and being able to spontaneously go for a swim. It is an observation also of how the demographic has changed when going outside on foot or on bike, with the traffic mostly electric and food delivery related too!
- [Our Greatness](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/our-greatness/) - I wrote this poem for Black History Month at my school. For me, this poem was about explaining to people the inequalities faced by black people like myself and the reality of what life is like. I was inspired by the unfortunate death of George Floyd and the protest sparking from it. From then, my mum and I had many conversations about what was happening about the Black Lives Matter movement.
- [Solace](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/solace/) - As someone who struggled severely with depression and mental health issues during lockdown despite having access to material items - internet access, online shopping, it dawned on me that the only thing that truly brings me happiness are other human beings. The poem talks about how superficiality is merely a facade and how the pandemic has caused a global revelation that only human contact can fill that emptiness inside. I became very emotional writing this poem, albeit it being quite short. I'm extremely honoured to even have entered this competition and thank you for even reading it.
- [As I walked](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/as-i-walked/) - This poem is about the three months I spent separated from my partner during the lockdown, on opposite sides of London.
- [Seeking Redress](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/seeking-redress/) - This poem about the limitations on public assembly imposed during the Covid pandemic was first published in this anthology last summer. https://poetsuniteworldwide.org/2020/10/21/1573/
- [A C*VID POEM 4 U](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/a-cvid-poem-4-u/) - One of those writing exercises that just flowed from my pen. The restriction allowed me to really select the words I needed to use, and I hope also gives a sense of being confined to certain rules during lockdown. I'd like to thank poetic licence, abbreviations and the letter Y.
- [Walls](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/walls/) - The poem is about a man who has been convicted for an offence he hasn’t even committed, which has led him to spend 14 years in the prison. While being in the prison, he often hallucinates of good times. In that course of time, all unknown to him, his father dies and his mother gets paralysed.
- [Deptford Market](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/deptford-market/) - I remember writing this poem when walking around Deptford, during a writing workshop at The Albany. Aside from three years in Norwich at university, one year in Córdoba in Spain, and some time as a baby in Hammersmith and Reading, I've lived all my life in South London. Having recently moved to the Borough of Lewisham, I feel connected to my roots and feel a strong sense of home. When I grew up in Tooting, I would go to the market every weekend with my dad. This poem ties together that sense of nostalgia, as well as my shared love for lots of onions with the other 'character' in the poem, featuring through overheard conversation.
- [AS I PLUMMET AT RUSSELL SQUARE](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/as-i-plummet-at-russell-square/) - This poem reflects on the first time I wore a face mask, taking a tube at Russell Square station, with its links with the 7/7 bombing and literary connections to TS Eliot. The poem tries to capture the psycho-geography of this underground/underworld place, and reflects on how London's history of disaster (including the plague) repeats itself in the present.
- [Art is something to get up for](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/art-is-something-to-get-up-for/) - ART IS SOMETHING TO GET UP FOR is for the part-time artists, full-time artists, unpublished and emerging ones. Covid-19 has impacted us greatly, but adding to culture must go on. This poem is for all artists in any discipline to always get up from their beds and make art. It is the only thing keeping our souls alive.
- [This is how we love in a pandemic](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/this-is-how-we-love-in-a-pandemic/) - I think the way we love and have relationships in lockdown deserves so much attention. My marriage ended just before the first lockdown and I've been parenting two small children and navigating their own emotions - and mine - while also working and homeschooling. Long-distance love, online dating and the physical hunger for touch and intimacy have all played on my mind over the past year. It's been a very lonely time.
- [Adventures from under the fleece blanket: part eighty-two](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/adventures-from-under-the-fleece-blanket-part-eighty-two/) - Written in response to a friend who posted up an album of holiday adventure pictures (all experienced pre-pandemic) during lockdown and a period of deteriorating mental health.
- [10 O'Clock Appointment](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/10-oclock-appointment/) - Some people have withdrawn since lockdown.
- [Golden Square](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/golden-square/) - I had pneumonia just before zombie apocalypse started and go on a daily walk around Soho, where I live, often stopping in Golden Square, where the table tennis tables remind me of my friend Harry, who died recently; and was obsessed with ping-pong.
- [Creatively Express](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/creatively-express/) - This piece was inspired during the lockdown/pandemic , it’s about equal opportunity and true identity, having a speech impediment a lisp it has always held me back from fulfilling my dreams, during the lockdown/pandemic I have learnt to love the fact I am unique and I aim to empower others to discover their true selfs and embrace regardless of stigma and stereotypes
- [Restore The Song](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/restore-the-song/) - In March 2020, I was forced to leave a shared space in order to self isolate as an identified clinically vulnerable person. I lived in a hostel while searching for a home and not in a rush. In April, I left the hostel and still enjoy my freedom, the space to dance and work from home. But travelling to Africa to see my children was on hold as eyes expected millions to die in that continent, freezing airlines. Differing lockdowns ran into December; I had to escape, forgetting my Fostair asthma pump in London. Tests and restrictions of receiving country meant I could not go anywhere but home for fourteen anxious days and then it was time to run back to London, just before Christmas. This 'thing' stole my hugs, my confidence to enjoy some sun and goat ribs barbeque, with kids running under skirts to hide from more food from gran. Just before Christmas, I stood for three hours at Heathrow, not even half-a-meter apart from untested travellers entering the UK. Covid re-ignited the fire within. I had kept the 'law' only to be re-exposed to this thing. And although England has introduced mandatory testing for all travellers coming in from everywhere in the world, I am still not keen on one rule for me and the next rule for some civil servants who can see their children or parents while I miss both and watch party goers threaten my Passover. Spring is coming, what will the trees say if I don’t smell their cheer?
- [Through Mesh](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/through-mesh/) - This poem is inspired by my everyday view working from the kitchen table, what I see and hear and feel throughout the day and how my experience has changed through the seasons. The hope and wish for brighter days, inspired by the first vaccinations, is what brought me to write it. I hope you enjoy
- [Streets with the same name](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/streets-with-the-same-name/) - Brixton and Peckham were the first places I felt at home in London. The place always reminded me of my grandmother and her hometown, São Paulo (Brazil). Her address - Augusta Street - has been dramatically changed by gentrification, and I wanted to draw a parallel to what was happening in Brixton as well.
- [Sweaty](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/sweaty/) - A poem written for my best friend who suffers with a medical condition. The symptoms of this coincide with the way in which my mind goes into overdrive at moments of anxiousness. A situation which many of us have found our selves in during 2020 - a year of realities, similarities and everything in between.
- [Somerset House](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/somerset-house/)
- [Crystal Palace Park](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/crystal-palace-park/)
- [Museum Of London](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/museum-of-london/)
- [Alexandra Palace](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/alexandra-palace/)
- [Year 2020](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/year-2020/) - The year of the 2020 The hardest we ever had The mask and the virus that Put people to an end So many of us suffered And so many had died! It happened to sister, brothers It happened to uncles and aunts. Neighbors and many more! It is still happening but we Have to stay
- [Conclude](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/conclude/) - I really enjoyed writing this poem and I hope you enjoy reading it!
- [POLLUTION](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/pollution/) - I wrote this at school from scratch.
- [Fellowship](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/fellowship/) - I wrote this in response to fellowship, and how this year has been a struggle to get through. COVID has inspired me to write about it.
- [Our Square](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/our-square/) - This poem was inspired by the William Morris love poem "Our hands have met", however rather than a love poem it's about our strong community in Waltham Forest and the fellowship of meeting hands. It takes us on a journey from meeting in a round ( a group together) to meeting in a square, (the new Fellowship Square). Then not touching at all, but alone in hospital , touch is only through latex gloves, with an invisible smile hidden behind masks. "No capes here" refers to the language sometimes used of superheroes for medical staff. I felt this was far too superficial for such a horrendous time with relentless hard work and dedication. They weren't and aren't superheroes but hugely brave, hard working, dedicated professionals. I was inspired by cycling along the River Lea and wetlands in lockdown for the verses that talk of recovery and safety like the little egret that was once hunted almost to extinction for its white feathers for hats. Its now one of the success stories of the wetlands. And full circle we go back again to the square, to fellowship and being together.
- [The virus lasts](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/the-virus-lasts/) - It is about the virus, and we wanted it to stop. It inspired me to write different poems, when I found a poem book, then I read some, it was interesting, so I thought why can't I do one.
- [Why can't I?](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/why-cant-i/) - My poem was inspired by all the ups and downs we experienced in 2020, including the wild fires that led to large amounts of pollution and all the waste in the sea (animals dying).
- [Letters to the Human Body](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/letters-to-the-human-body/) - https://youtu.be/DSkUEBv0dVk
- [Corona; A Covid Blessing](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/corona-a-covid-blessing/) - I have lost a lot of weight during shielding and was considering this whilst walking. I came up with the first haiku and posted it on the Daily Haiku (facebook) where it met with much humour and appreciation. I built the other haikus as a consequence of this reception. The humour subsided and something else took its place. Though it still tickle me. Out on a rare spring time walk this morning. Plodding on wearyily. I consider my tortoise speed and whether it is a sign. Health has been a key motif this week. My partners head thinks I may have cancer. I don’t think I do. I feel well. But as she is concerned I have dropped my shield. GP surgery. Blood test, poo test. I have also returned to a lung cancer study i’m supporting. Hospital visit. CT scan. The weather has been too wonderful not to want to walk. Whilst walking I engage with my thoughts. I look at the world refreshed. Liz Atkin’s recent studies of lichen and blossom on #texturehuntergatherer have awoken something in me. My weight loss is probably associated with a no chocolate, cake, crisps lock down full of qi gong and Joe Wicks exercising seniors.
- [Apr-21](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/apr-21/) - I found inspiration during the pandemic to keep occupied whilst I couldn't work.
- [A Song of Life](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/a-song-of-life/) - I wrote this poem shortly after my 65th birthday this year to not only mark my age, but also to celebrate having survived a year of covid, lockdowns and isolation...and to look forward to more 'melodic and mad' times.
- [Crowspeak](https://rsliterature.org/poems-/crowspeak/) - The pandemic has thrown into stark relief, the inequalities and inequities of our society. The only forward is in cooperation rather than competition. Cohesion rather than cohabitation, this poem seeks to promote that.

## People

- [Mekella Broomberg](https://rsliterature.org/people/mekella-broomberg/) - Mekella is a Creative Producer and maker of festivals working across several disciplines, but she particularly loves the process of transforming the solitary acts of reading and writing into a collective encounter. She has worked with stories on film, on stage, in galleries, in a circus, through puppetry and in print. Before joining the RSL
- [Ailinn Santos](https://rsliterature.org/people/ailinn-santos/) - Originally from Boston, Ailinn moved to London in 2021 to pursue a Masters in Art History and Visual Cultures at Richmond. She joined the RSL for a six-month placement in 2023 and returned to the team in May 2024 after completing a placement with Somerset House's Exhibition team. In her free time, you can usually
- [Khadija Ali](https://rsliterature.org/people/khadija-ali/) - Khadija Ali joined the RSL in 2023 as a Project Assistant, and was promoted to Programmes Officer in 2024. She studied an MLitt in Women, Writing and Gender at The University of St Andrews. In her spare time, she writes and pampers her cat.
- [Catherine Riley](https://rsliterature.org/people/catherine-riley/) - Catherine Riley joined the RSL in 2023. She was previously director of the Primadonna Festival, a weekend of books, ideas and inspiration based in Suffolk, and prior to that worked in comms in the third sector and for the Women’s Equality Party. She has also worked as a university tutor and lecturer, and spent many

## Literature Matters Hub

- [Why Writing Matters by Michael Rosen](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/why-writing-matters-by-michael-rosen/) - The following talk was given by Michael Rosen, for the RSL, to celebrate the first National Writing Day, 21 June 2017. We cannot know everything. We cannot remember everything. Each of us cannot know everything there is to know about ourselves. Each of us cannot know everything there is to know about everyone else. For
- [Scottish BAME Writers Network](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/scottish-bame-writers-network/) - In early 2019, the Scottish BAME Writers Network partnered with the Scottish Poetry Library to offer writers of colour a space where they could develop their craft as a community. The pamphlet 'Ceremony' is the result. It is a collaboration between fifteen authors, and lives at the intersection of multiple traditions, landscapes, and languages. From
- [Interview with Pascale Petit](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/interview-with-pascale-petit/) - We’ve asked for a picture of what you see from your writing desk – what does your typical writing day look like? Thanks to my Literature Matters Award I’ve had two whole delicious uninterrupted writing months so far, and one more to come in December. My favourite routine is to wake up really early and
- [Literature Matters: Identity and Idealism](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/literature-matters-identity-and-idealism/) - Novelist and journalist Hari Kunzru is the author of The Impressionists, Transmission, My Revolutions, Gods Without Men and White Tears. His work has been translated into twenty languages. In 2003, he caused a sensation when he turned down the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize on the grounds that it was backed by the Mail on Sunday,
- [Imagination in Action (full transcript)](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/imagination-in-action-full-transcript/) - This is the full transcript of Marina Warner's Literature Matters: Imagination in action lecture, given at the British Library, 26 September 2017. (This version as delivered on the night, not fully referenced; please quote only with permission - contact info@rsliterature.org) A different version appeared in the London Review of Books on November 16 2017. Introduction:
- [Literature In Britain Today](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/literature-in-britain-today/) - On 1 March 2017 we published our report Literature in Britain Today The report summarised the findings from our ground-breaking opinion poll, carried out by Ipsos MORI. It is, as far as we know, the first time that anyone has attempted to find out how many people read literature, what it means to them, and which
- [Why Literature Matters by Kamila Shamsie](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/why-literature-matters-by-kamila-shamsie/) - My first inclination was to reach for the loudest, grandest claims. I was going to write about growing up in a time and place (Pakistan, the 1980s) when writers were censored, threatened, forced into exile, trailed by intelligence agencies. Literature matters, I was going to say, because it threatens dictators who have all the force
- [Why Writing Matters by Jonathan Coe](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/why-writing-matters-by-jonathan-coe/) - The following talk was given by Jonathan Coe, for the RSL and Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, to celebrate the first National Writing Day, 21 June 2017. A few years ago, I found myself travelling back to the UK from Italy by train. Actually, I didn’t ‘find myself’ – I’d chosen to travel this way. I’d
- [Books, by Caleb Femi](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/books-by-caleb-femi/) - A hospital is never a good place to die – At least not the right place. You were in one once, recovering from a fever. A man, late in his years, lying in the bed next to yours called to you after the morning nurse did her rounds. This is me when I was twelve
- [Interview with Matt Bryden](https://rsliterature.org/literature-matters/interview-with-matt-bryden/) - Matt Bryden is one of the six recipients of the RSL's Literature Matters Awards 2018. He discusses his time in residence at Bristol Temple Meads train station’s Lost Property Office, with RSL Director Molly Rosenberg, which he is using to inspire him to write a new collection of poetry. Recipient of 2018 RSL Literature Matters

## Library of articles

- [A vanishing and a Christmas quarrel: on the emotion behind Thomas Hardy's Christmas cards](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-vanishing-and-a-christmas-quarrel-on-the-emotion-behind-thomas-hardys-christmas-cards/) - As she is introduced as President of the RSL, Marina Warner addresses Fellows and Members on the duty of writers to retell history.
- [Poems for Peace competition - 3rd Prize: Alwiyah Qassim](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-3rd-prize-alwiyah-qassim/) - Marina Salandy-Brown is awarded an honorary RSL Fellowship
- [Beginning, middle and end](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/beginning-middle-and-end/) - Tens of thousands of novels are published in the UK every year – so how do new voices get heard? Two well-established authors, Michael Holroyd and Deborah Moggach, introduce two outstanding young writers with novels coming out this month. Karin Altenberg’s first novel, Island of Wings, was set on St Kilda, and was shortlisted for
- [News From Nowhere](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/news-from-nowhere/) - Last October Theresa May announced to her party conference: “If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere.” So I am a citizen of Nowhere. Intellectually, culturally and as member of my species, I am and must be a citizen of the world. This is simply logical and
- [Coming Out](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/coming-out/) - Fifty years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality, Dean Atta, Neil Bartlett and Maureen Duffy talk about how changing attitudes to homosexuality have been reflected in literature and performance. Dean Atta’s debut poetry collection, I Am Nobody’s Nigger, was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize and he was named one of the most influential LGBT
- [Whatever Next?](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/whatever-next/) - As part of CogX Festival, the RSL presented an interactive, online book club hosted by author Temi Oh and the RSL's Rosie Beaumont-Thomas. They discussed Ted Chiang's short story, 'The Lifecycle of Software Objects' - here are some suggested questions for readers who would like to set up their own book club.
- [Feeling Jewish](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/feeling-jewish/) - In the wake of accusations of antisemitism in the British political sphere, four writers explore the portrayal of Jews in American literature and ask how such evocations might affect social perceptions. Zachary Leader is the biographer of Saul Bellow, whose Herzog and Sammler acquired iconic status. Devorah Baum lectures at the University of Southampton and
- [Picasso's Faces](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/picassos-faces/) - In his BBC series ‘The Face of Britain’ historian and writer Simon Schama explored British portraiture and what it revealed about the ‘individual and collective psyche’ of the time. With the NPG’s wide-ranging Autumn 2016 exhibition of Picasso’s portraits, he turns his attention to the painter’s evocations of lovers, family and friends. With writer and
- [The Good Immigrant](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-good-immigrant/) - What does it mean to be an immigrant in the UK today? Journalist and BBC presenter Razia Iqbal chairs a discussion on immigration, race, identity and writing. Vahni Capildeo’s latest poetry collection, Measures of Expatriation, speaks of ‘the complex alienation of the expatriate’, and addresses wider issues around identity in contemporary Western society. Writer and
- [Sarah Losh: architect, antiquarian and visionary](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/sarah-losh-architect-antiquarian-and-visionary/) - Jenny Uglow celebrates National Women's History Month, and its theme 'women inspiring innovation through imagination', with a talk about Sarah Losh, who built an extraordinary church in a village near Carlisle in the 1840s. As a woman innovator, Losh broke all conventions in designing the church, supervising its building, and even carving the alabaster –
- [Norman Manea in conversation with Paul Bailey](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/norman-manea-in-conversation-with-paul-bailey/) - Pascale Petit reads her commissioned poem 'The Spring' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Jane Ridley and William Shawcross on writing about royalty](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/jane-ridley-and-william-shawcross-on-writing-about-royalty/) - Pascale Petit reads her commissioned poem 'The Spring' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [What's so great about Proust?](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/whats-so-great-about-proust/) - Published in seven parts between 1913 and 1927, Marcel Proust's A la recherche du temps perducould be seen as a monumental relic anchored in a historical moment that is no longer of any great concern. So why does it remain so popular to such a cariety of twenty-first century readers? Novelist and critic Margaret Drabble,
- [Virginia Woolf in the 21st century](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/virginia-woolf-in-the-21st-century/) - Helen Mort reads her commissioned poem 'The Swimmer' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Damian Barr and Tracey Thorn on their memoirs](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/damian-barr-and-tracey-thorn-on-their-memoirs/) - Helen Mort reads her commissioned poem 'The Swimmer' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Eleanor Catton in conversation with Robert Macfarlane](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/eleanor-catton-in-conversation-with-robert-macfarlane/) - Last October, the New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton became the youngest ever winner of the Man Booker Prize. Her epic 832-page murder mystery The Luminaries, set in the New Zealand gold rush of 1866, has been praised as ‘dazzling, luminous, vast’, ‘carefully executed, relentlessly clever, easy to read’, and ‘breathtakingly ambitious’. The novel, which each
- [License to Kill?](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/license-to-kill/) - Daphne Park does not look like James Bond - in fact her beady cosiness is more reminiscent of Miss Marple - but she was the true face of British Intelligence for the second half of the twentieth century. She served in the SOE during the Second World War, in Moscow during the Cold War, and
- [Iris Murdoch, revisited](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/iris-murdoch-revisited/) - From the publication of Under the Net in 1954 until she was overtaken by Alzheimer's in the mid 1990s, the philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch wrote prolifically, establishing herself as one of the great British fiction writers of the twentieth century. Her novels, which include The Bell, The Black Prince (winner of the James Tait
- [Six characters in flight from an author](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/six-characters-in-flight-from-an-author/) - Michael Holroyd, perhaps the most influential of all modern biographers, decided some years ago to write no more full-scale biographies. He would turn instead to pen-portraits-in-miniature, beginning with Ellen Terry and then perhaps Henry Irving - and what about Ellen's illegitimate son Edward Gordon Craig? Soon he was confronted by six elusive characters and a
- [Translating Russia: on writer and translator Boris Pasternak](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/translating-russia-on-writer-and-translator-boris-pasternak/) - Russia's novelists have enriched English literature from the first translations of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky onwards, and our knowledge of twentieth-century Russia has been ennobled by understanding the courage of its great poets. To mark the fiftieth anniversary both of the Translators' Association and of the first English translation of Dr Zhivago, Dmitry Bykov, visiting from
- [Diffuse muses - Fiona Sampson on writers and music or art](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/diffuse-muses-fiona-sampson-on-writers-and-music-or-art/) - Poet David Harsent and composer Harrison Birtwistle have worked together for over 30 years. They talk to Maggie Fergusson
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Mohamed Assaf](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-mohamed-assaf/) - Marina Salandy-Brown is awarded an honorary RSL Fellowship
- [Poems for Peace competition - 2nd Prize: Halema Malak](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-2nd-prize-halema-malak/) - Sarah Sanders is awarded an honorary RSL Fellowship
- [Peace Poetry](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/peace-poetry/) - BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker Shahidha Bari chairs a conversation between three RSL poet Fellows, in which they consider Wilfred Owen’s life and death, and the relationship between poetry and peace in their own lifetimes. Born in Cardiff, Gillian Clarke’s work has been on the GCSE and A Level exam syllabus for the past
- [Lifting the Curtain: Theatre and censorship](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/lifting-the-curtain-theatre-and-censorship/) - If we can't be provocative in the theatre where can we be provocative. Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti Marking 50 years since the Lord Chamberlain was stripped of his power to censor plays, three theatre writers examine playwriting in the UK and freedom of expression. The panel, including director Sir Richard Eyre and playwrights Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti,
- [Literature Matters: The Stories that Shape Us](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-the-stories-that-shape-us/) - ‘Creed. Colour. Country. Culture. All these things can become forms of confinement, conceptual mistakes underwriting moral ones. But that’s not to deny that they can also give contours to our freedom. Social identities connect the small scale where we live our lives alongside our kith and kin with larger movements, causes, and concerns. They can
- [Peace Poetry anthology](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/peace-poetry-anthology/) - Click the cover above to download the Peace Poetry anthology. In his poem ‘From My Diary, July 1914’, Wilfred Owen recalls a time before war, with Bees Shaking the heavy dews from bloom and frond. Boys Bursting the surface of the ebony pond. Flashes Of swimmers carving thro’ the sparkling cold. Fleshes Gleaming with
- [Naw dros heddwch/ Nine for Peace](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/naw-dros-heddwch-nine-for-peace/) - November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of the First World War. The RSL is marking this anniversary by looking back to Wilfred Owen’s words for peace, and looking forward to how poetry today can take us towards a more peaceful future. We have commissioned 14 of our poet Fellows to respond to Wilfred
- [Recruitment](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/recruitment/) - November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of the First World War. The RSL is marking this anniversary by looking back to Wilfred Owen’s words for peace, and looking forward to how poetry today can take us towards a more peaceful future. We have commissioned 14 of our poet Fellows to respond to Wilfred
- [Peace < Water](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/peace-water/) - November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of the First World War. The RSL is marking this anniversary by looking back to Wilfred Owen’s words for peace, and looking forward to how poetry today can take us towards a more peaceful future. We have commissioned 14 of our poet Fellows to respond to Wilfred
- [White Sheets](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/white-sheets/) - November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of the First World War. The RSL is marking this anniversary by looking back to Wilfred Owen’s words for peace, and looking forward to how poetry today can take us towards a more peaceful future. We have commissioned 14 of our poet Fellows to respond to Wilfred
- [The Few](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-few/) - November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of the First World War. The RSL is marking this anniversary by looking back to Wilfred Owen’s words for peace, and looking forward to how poetry today can take us towards a more peaceful future. We have commissioned 14 of our poet Fellows to respond to Wilfred
- [The Spring](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-spring/) - November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of the First World War. The RSL is marking this anniversary by looking back to Wilfred Owen’s words for peace, and looking forward to how poetry today can take us towards a more peaceful future. We have commissioned 14 of our poet Fellows to respond to Wilfred
- [The Swimmer](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-swimmer/) - November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of the First World War. The RSL is marking this anniversary by looking back to Wilfred Owen’s words for peace, and looking forward to how poetry today can take us towards a more peaceful future. We have commissioned 14 of our poet Fellows to respond to Wilfred
- [T. S. Eliot Memorial Reading with Carol Ann Duffy](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/t-s-eliot-memorial-reading-with-carol-ann-duffy/) - Born in the Gorbals in 1955, Carol Ann Duffy has been Poet Laureate for the past eight years. Her poems blend humour and warmth with sharp social commentary and are on GCSE and A-level syllabuses.Her work has been garlanded with prizes, including the Forward Prize, the T.S. Eliot Prize and the PEN/Pinter Prize. She reads
- [Masked/Unmasked](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/masked-unmasked/) - ‘Man is least himself when he talks in his own person,’ wrote Oscar Wilde. ‘Give him a mask and he will tell the truth.’ During the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition ‘Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun: behind the mask, another mask’ the RSL co-hosts a discussion about how masks can both hide and reveal. Novelist and
- [Women in Power](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/women-in-power/) - On International Women’s Day 2019, three women working in the fields of business, law and politics discuss affecting change through writing, and what it means to be a woman with influence. Baroness Helena Kennedy is a leading barrister and expert in human rights law. In her 1992 book Eve Was Shamed, which was re-issued in
- [Literature Matters: Writing and Frankness](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-writing-and-frankness/) - Why do we read? Why do we write? What do we reveal when we do? A writer (Deborah Levy), a psychotherapist (Adam Phillips) and a philosopher (Amia Srinivasan) discuss what we reveal about ourselves through literature and the difference, if any, between non-fiction, novels and the psychotherapist’s couch. The conversation is chaired by writer and
- [Truth to Life](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/truth-to-life/) - In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in 1995, Seamus Heaney said, ‘I credit poetry because credit is due to it, in our time and in all time, for its truth to life, in every sense of that phrase.’ Five years after his death, we celebrate the lasting power of Heaney’s verse, his ability to ‘credit
- [Poems for Peace competition - 1st Prize: Heather Glover](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-1st-prize-heather-glover/) - Kate Gavron is awarded an honorary RSL Fellowship
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Felix Stokes](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-felix-stokes/) - the poetry is in the pity. war and the pity of war and the pity of war and the pity (oh god let him come home alive or let me never live again),ringing in his ears, he swallows. iron turns to burgundy and blood blocks the sun upon the blade, a father’s love burns for
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Waseem Sherzad](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-waseem-sherzad/) - Last Year, This Year Last year I slept in the sweetcorn fields. This year I sleep in my own room. Last year, when the sun shone I searched for shade. This year I look for the sun’s rays. Last year we tried to find food. This year I can buy food. Last year at sunset
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Gwenllian Rees](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-gwenllian-rees/) - Peace The war against the rainbow has ceased. Slurs dissolve in the rain And sunshine welcomes the reign of acceptance. We eat pronouns like cherries on cake And they don’t turn our stomachs anymore. People are no longer magnets Because North and North attract And South kisses South, hand in hand, On a safer street.
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Diana Ozola](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-diana-ozola/) - Dulce bellum inexpertis The sweat. It bleeds through the pores of your skin, melding together to form a bead. It drips down your back as you perch behind a tall boulder, covered in blood, on the balls of your feet. Almost unwillingly, You block out the sound of agonizing screams and bullets, As all you
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Jenny O’Gorman](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-jenny-ogorman/) - Farewell My to-be mother is sad, as if she were Waiting on a sandy coast of some vast Firth of the tide’s tug, & precious Grains were slipping through her fingers Cupped around her unborn child, Never suspecting her baby Would fall in blood drenched lands Of war Or that his life would be a
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Tuan Nguyen](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-tuan-nguyen/) - Flame I have a dream about my family: where I have happiness and peaceful tranquillity; where I can come back whenever I want; where love can’t be counted; where smiles can’t be forgotten; where tears are always remembered; where I can rest when I’m tired; where wishes are completed; where someone wakes me up every
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Tanushree Nag](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-tanushree-nag/) - Hope Sleeping silently, tucked up in my bed The fighting and shouting drowned out Suddenly, BANG! A shock awakens me Not sure what it’s all about My mother runs in, tears in her eyes She tells me, ‚ÄúWe have to go.‚Äù My mind floods with many questions As there is so much I do not
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Tito Molokwu](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-tito-molokwu/) - To My Future Child- December 2018 To My Future Child, I long for your days to never know the destruction of tyrants, Colour trumping compassion, regime abolishing reconciliation, The future must know that peace is acceptance I wish that each person, over the shouts of division, whispers unity, cessational spirants, Respect not possession over the
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Haroon Malik](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-haroon-malik/) - Andrew Holgate is awarded an honorary RSL Fellowship
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Ambar Madhok](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-ambar-madhok/) - The Snowdrop His head drooped down, as he ventured away from the battlefield, He had travelled so far, compared to the British He was one of the last left, no one to talk to Everyone felt far from home, but they evidently didn’t know what far was, All the way from the Indian ocean to
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Rosie Lewis](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-rosie-lewis/) - A Polite Request Do not cast aside the ties that bind us, Without them we are isolated, And without the fellowship of other nations, We are fearful, capricious and febrile. Do not cut the bonds of trade, And thereby sever the prosperity, And the mutual benefit that commerce brings; It overrides the desire to damage
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Sayandeep Das](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-sayandeep-das/) - A Tree In The Bloom She has always remembered The day she left her soul behind In a land Torn with violence and war‚Ķ She left her life --- Almoud, Mia and other children she played with Down the street ‚Ķ. She couldn’t see straight Her eyes were blurred with tears With the memories of
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Olivia Darby](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-olivia-darby/) - Shirley May is awarded an honorary RSL Fellowship
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Ciéra Cree Drury](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-ciera-cree-drury/) - Shirley May is awarded an honorary RSL Fellowship
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Izzy Crane](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-izzy-crane/) - Ursula Owen is awarded an honorary RSL Fellowship
- [Poems for Peace competition – Highly Commended: Angelina Borzini-Castor](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/poems-for-peace-competition-highly-commended-angelina-borzini-castor/) - Ursula Owen is awarded an honorary RSL Fellowship
- [Literature Matters RSL 200: Neil Gaiman and Marlon James in conversation](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-rsl-200-neil-gaiman-and-marlon-james-in-conversation/) - RSL 200 is the Royal Society of Literature’s bicentenary event series bringing together some of the world's best-known writers to explore the impact of literature on their lives. Neil Gaiman and Marlon James, two of the most revered fantasy writers of their generation, share a life-long love of the mythic and the transcendent power of
- [RSL 200: Stephen Fry and Shaparak Khorsandi](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-stephen-fry-and-shaparak-khorsandi/) - Stephen Fry talks to Shappi Khorsandi about writing across forms – from sketch comedy to poetry, independently and in collaboration, written and performed – that has elevated him to the status of national treasure.
- [RSL 200: Colm Tóbín, Vice-President](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-colm-tobin-vice-president/) - Colm Tóbín elected as a Fellow of the RSL in 2007, is a novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and poet. Colm was appointed Chancellor of Liverpool University in 2017 and honoured with An Post Irish Book Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
- [RSL 200: Edna O’Brien CRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-edna-obrien-crsl/) - Edna O'Brien is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [New Daughters of Africa](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/new-daughters-of-africa/) - Winsome Pinnock is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Sylvia Plath by Izzy Goldberg](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/sylvia-plath-by-izzy-goldberg/) - History is in the Making 13-15-year-olds 1st Prize Competition Winner When I think of Sylvia Plath, I think of the sort of person who reads The Bell Jar in high school and proclaims themselves – for the first time – wholly seen. For me, The Bell Jar failed to have this effect. Although deeply moving
- [Seamus Heaney by Ruby Campbell](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/seamus-heaney-by-ruby-campbell/) - History is in the Making 16-18-year-olds 1st Prize Competition Winner During the mid 20th century, to be an Irish man was less of what you were, and more of what you were not. Namely, you were not expressive; your heart was tucked firmly into a back pocket. You were not sensitive; you bore it until
- [George Orwell by Pinar Atamusa](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/george-orwell-by-pinar-atamusa/) - History is in the Making 13-15-year-olds 2nd Prize Competition Winner The writer I would like to nominate for an RSL Fellowship is Eric Arthur Blair, or more commonly known by his pen name, George Orwell. George Orwell is known for his many works, such as Animal Farm and 1984, where he emphasises and clearly demonstrates his political and societal
- [Helen Maria Williams by Rhea Kaur Pardesi](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/helen-maria-williams-by-rhea-kaur-pardesi/) - History is in the Making 16-18-year-olds 2nd Prize Competition Winner The romanticism era is widely renowned and defined by awe-inspiring poets like Wordsworth, Lord Byron and Blake. However, I argue that Helen Maria Williams is as equally deserving of a Royal Society of Literature Fellowship than any Romantic poet. Romanticism has flickers of spontaneity, liberation
- [Literature Matters: Michael Imperioli and Ocean Vuong](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-michael-imperioli-and-ocean-vuong/) - Please enjoy Michael Imperioli and Ocean Vuong in this exclusive online conversation about their writing and the importance of literature in their lives. Both Michael and Ocean published their debut novels in recent years, The Perfume Burned His Eyes and On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous respectively. They discussed the experience of writing and releasing
- [RSL Remembers: Fleur Adcock Recordings](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-remembers-fleur-adcock/) - Fleur Adcock’s work defined a new tone in 20th century poetry. Her writing was, and remains, beloved by poets, teachers and a wide range of readers, who value her incisive wit, beautiful frankness and often surprising humour. To quote Carol Ann Duffy’s description of Fleur Adcock’s poetry: “The sharper edge of her talent is encountered like
- [Why Race Matters](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/why-race-matters/) - How has the intersection of race, feminism and class evolved since the 1980s? Reni Eddo-Lodge is a young, black, feminist journalist who burst on to the literary scene with her 2014 blog post ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race’, which went viral. Her first book – of the same title –
- [Why Writing Matters](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/why-writing-matters/) - Marking the first ever National Writing Day, children’s novelist, poet and performer Michael Rosen speaks about the power of writing, especially the need for creativity in the school curriculum. Rosen has written 140 books, including We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, written after the sudden death of his son Eddie at
- [The Art of Non-Fiction](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-art-of-non-fiction/) - As non-fiction writers become more innovative in finding new structures and voices with which to tell their stories, how do they decide on their approach? What are the literary models on which they draw? Hisham Matar’s first novel, In the Country of Men, won several prizes, including the 2007 RSL Ondaatje Prize. Last year he
- [Encore: The Phenomenon of the second novel](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/encore-the-phenomenon-of-the-second-novel/) - Some novelists hit a remarkable seam on their second outings, and among the second novels that have earned their place in history are The Mill on the Floss, Pride and Prejudice, The Master and Margarita, Fahrenheit 451 and Midnight’s Children. This year the RSL takes over the administration of the ¬£10,000 Encore Award, founded in
- [RSL 200: Kazuo Ishiguro](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-kazuo-ishiguro/) - Kazuo Ishiguro elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1989, is a novelist, screenwriter and short-story writer. Kazuo was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 2017 and won The Booker Prize in 1989 for his novel Remains of the Day.
- [RSL 200: Hilary Mantel CRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-hilary-mantel-crsl/) - Hilary Mantel, elected as a Fellow of the RSL in 1990, was the first woman to be awarded The Booker Prize twice, first for Wolf Hall in 2009 and secondly for Bring Up The Bodies in 2012.
- [RSL 200: Colin Thubron CRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-colin-thubron-crsl/) - Colin Thubron CBE CRSL FRSL was elected an RSL Fellow in 1969. He is a British travel writer and novelist. In 2008, The Times ranked him among the 50 greatest postwar British writers. Colin is a former President of the RSL and holds the position of President Emeritus.
- [RSL 200: Anita Desai CRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-anita-desai-crsl/) - Anita Desai was elected as an RSL Fellow in 1978. Anita is a novelist and the Emerita John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at MIT. She has been shortlisted for the The Booker Prize three times and won the Guardian Book Award for The Village By The Sea.
- [RSL 200: Simon Armitage, Vice-President](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-simon-armitage-vice-president/) - Simon Armitage CBE, elected a Fellow of the RSL in 2004, is a poet, essayist, and playwright. He is UK Poet Laureate, and founded the Laurel Prize.
- [Dalloway Day 2020: Queer Bloomsbury](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/dalloway-day-2020-queer-bloomsbury/) - Let us admit in the privacy of our own society that these things sometimes happen. Sometimes women do like women. Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own Almost the entire body of Virginia Woolf’s writing – her novels, essays and letters – have been interpreted from a variety of queer perspectives, and her work has
- [RSL 200: Mary Beard, Vice-President](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-mary-beard-vice-president/) - Mary Beard was elected a Fellow of the RSL in 2019. Mary Beard is one of Britain’s best-known Classicists, a distinguished Professor of Classics at Newham College and Classics editor of the The TLS and a broadcaster.
- [RSL 200: Jackie Kay, Vice-President](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-jackie-kay-vice-president/) - Jackie Kay MBE , Fellow of the RSL since 2002, is a poet, playwright and author of novels and memoir and short stories. Jackie has been Scots Makar, national poet laureate of Scotland, since 2016 and is Chancellor of Salford University.
- [RSL 200: Blake Morrison, Vice-President](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-blake-morrison-vice-president/) - Blake Morrison was elected as a Fellow of the RSL in 1988. Blake is a poet, novelist and librettist, as well as the author of two bestselling memoirs. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Goldsmiths.
- [RSL 200: Grace Nichols, Vice-President](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-grace-nichols-vice-president/) - Grace Nichols FRSL is a Guyanese poet who moved to Britain in 1977. Her first collection, I is a Long-Memoried Woman, won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize.
- [RSL 200: Elif Shafak, Vice-President](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-elif-shafak-vice-president/) - Elif Shafak was elected as Fellow of the RSL in 2019. Elif has published 18 books, 11 of which are novels. Her latest, published by Penguin Random House, was shortlisted for The Booker Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize.
- [RSL 200: Kamila Shamsie, Vice-President](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-kamila-shamsie-vice-president/) - Kamila Shamsie was elected as a Fellow of the RSL in 2011. Kamila was named Granta Magazine's Best Young British Novelist in 2013. Her novel Home Fire was longlisted for the The Booker Prize in 2017.
- [Fellows and Friends Writing Workshops: Neil Gaiman and Yetide Badaki](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/neil-gaiman-and-yetide-badaki-fellows-and-friends-writing-workshops/) - Join in this free write-along workshop. RSL Fellow Neil Gaiman and actor Yetide Badaki play writing game ‘The Exquisite Corpse’. You’ll need something to write with, and a partner for this workshop.
- [Fellows and Friends Writing Workshops: Nikesh Shukla and Josie Long](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/nikesh-shukla-and-josie-long-fellows-and-friends-writing-workshops/) - RSL Fellow Nikesh Shukla leads a free writing workshop with comedian Josie Long. All you need is a pen and paper!
- [Fellows and Friends Writing Workshops: Inua Ellams and Gemma Cairney](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/fellows-and-friends-writing-workshops-inua-ellams-and-gemma-cairney/) - RSL Fellow Inua Ellams and DJ Gemma Cairney play a poetry writing game using text messages.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Damian Barr 5 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-damian-barr-5-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Damian Barr share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Damian Barr 4 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-damian-barr-4-of-5-2/) - Watch RSL Fellow Damian Barr share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Damian Barr 3 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-damian-barr-3-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Damian Barr share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Damian Barr 2 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-damian-barr-4-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Damian Barr share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Damian Barr 1 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-damian-barr-1/) - Watch RSL Fellow Damian Barr share his advice for he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Catherine Johnson 1 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-catherine-johnson-1-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Catherine Johnson share her advice for what she finds helps in her writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Catherine Johnson 3 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-catherine-johnson-3-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Catherine Johnson share her advice for what she find helps in her writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Catherine Johnson 4 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-catherine-johnson-4-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Catherine Johnson share her advice for what she find helps in her writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Catherine Johnson 5 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-catherine-johnson-5-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Catherine Johnson share her advice for what she find helps in her writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Vinay Patel 5 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-vinay-patel-5-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Vinay Patel share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Vinay Patel 4 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-vinay-patel-4-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Vinay Patel share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Vinay Patel 3 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-vinay-patel-3-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Vinay Patel share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Vinay Patel 2 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-vinay-patel-2-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Vinay Patel share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Vinay Patel 1 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-vinay-patel-1-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Vinay Patel share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Deborah Moggach 5 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-deborah-moggach-5-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Deborah Moggach share her advice for what she find helps in her writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Deborah Moggach 4 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-deborah-moggach-4-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Deborah Moggach share her advice for what she find helps in her writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Deborah Moggach 3 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-deborah-moggach-2-of-5-2/) - Watch RSL Fellow Deborah Moggach share her advice for what she find helps in her writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Deborah Moggach 2 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-deborah-moggach-2-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Deborah Moggach share her advice for what she find helps in her writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Deborah Moggach 1 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-deborah-moggach-1-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Deborah Moggach share her advice for what she find helps in her writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Peter Frankopan 1 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-peter-frankopan-1-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Peter Frankopan share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Peter Frankopan 2 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-peter-frankopan-2-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Peter Frankopan share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Peter Frankopan 3 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-peter-frankopan-3-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Peter Frankopan share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Peter Frankopan 4 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-peter-frankopan-4-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Peter Frankopan share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Peter Frankopan 5 of 5](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-peter-frankopan-5-of-5/) - Watch RSL Fellow Peter Frankopan share his advice for what he finds helps in his writing.
- [Literature Matters: Top Tips with Salena Godden](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-top-tips-with-salena-godden/) - Watch RSL Fellow Salena Godden share her advice for what she find helps in her writing.
- [Newcastle Poetry Festival 2023](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/newcastle-poetry-festival-2023/) - Celebrating its seventh year, the Newcastle Poetry Festival theme last year was ‘Community’, exploring poetry’s contribution to different communities and the power of writing collectives to encourage creativity. As part of the festival on the 13 May, we introduced RSL Fellow Sandeep Parmar, who gave a lecture on ‘Motherhood, Whiteness and Empathy in Contemporary British Poetry’: considering
- [Seamus Heany: A life in poetry](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/seamus-heany-a-life-in-poetry/) - Seamus Heaney in conversation with Bernard O'Donoghue A joint event with Poet in the City A life in poetry An event celebrating the works of Seamus Heaney. Bernard O'Donoghue interviewed Seamus Heaney and poets Andrew O'Hagan, Nick Laird, Jo Shapcott, and Jon Stallworthy read Heaney's work and talked about how he influenced them. Recorded Monday
- [Hilary Mantel, Harriet Walter: the lives of others](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/hilary-mantel-harriet-walter-the-lives-of-others/) - In a recent Guardian interview, the actress Harriet Walter reflected on the impossibility of ever really knowing another human being. Yet, like the novelist Hilary Mantel, she has devoted her professional life to inhabiting characters not her own, often historical ones. Walter’s notable roles include Elizabeth I, Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra, while Mantel has twice
- [David Harsent discusses Seamus Heaney's life and work](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/david-harsent-discusses-seamus-heaneys-life-and-work/) - AS PART OF THE RSL/NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY SERIES David Harsent, who won the Griffin International Poetry Prize for his tenth collection, Night, in 2012, discusses and reads from the work of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney. Recorded on Thursday 13 September 2012.
- [Alice Oswald and Robin Robertson read from their work](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/alice-oswald-and-robin-robertson-read-from-their-work/) - THE T.S. ELIOT MEMORIAL MEETING For Alice Oswald, a poet committed to the live performance of her work, the role of poetry is to go 'lower than rhetoric, lower than conversation, lower than logic, right down to the very faint honest voice at the bottom of the skull'. Noted for her visionary precision and love
- [Auden and us](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/auden-and-us/) - THE T.S. ELIOT MEMORIAL MEETING W.H. Auden once called poetry “a way of happening”, and in his own work the way was a marvellous one, striking a deep, popular chord. His 'Funeral Blues' provides the only moment of gravity in Four Weddings and a Funeral; “September 1, 1939” was faxed around New York in the
- [A poetry discussion between Mimi Khalvati and Fiona Sampson](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-poetry-discussion-between-mimi-khalvati-and-fiona-sampson/) - Poetry at King's Mimi Khalvati has published six collections, including Selected Poems and The Chine, The Meanest Flower (2007) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, a Financial Times Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. In 2006, she received a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors. Her New &
- [European Literature Night](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/european-literature-night/) - What is the future of European authorship in a post-Brexit context? In an event celebrating European Literature Night, A.L. Kennedy gives a keynote address, and will then join in discussion with Clemens Meyer from Germany and Francesca Melandri from Italy. Born in Dundee, A.L. Kennedy is a novelist, short story writer and non-fiction writer. She
- [RSL 200: Salena Godden FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-salena-godden/) - Simon Armitage is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [Oscar Wilde by Emma Wright](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/oscar-wilde-by-emma-wright/) - History is in the Making 16-18-year-olds 3rd Prize Competition Winner ‘This wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. Either it goes, or I do.’ An everyday mundane object such as ‘wallpaper’ seems an easy opponent in a battle, yet this simile clearly portrays a feeling of struggle and withdrawal from a long,
- [Seamus Heaney discussing his life and work](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/seamus-heaney-discussing-his-life-and-work/) - THE RSL/STIRLING UNIVERSITY LECTURE 'I crept before I walked,' Seamus Heaney has written, and his early work appeared under the pseudonym 'Incertus'. But for nearly half a century now he has been recognised as a towering presence in the world of poetry - though he continues to move, as one friend has noted, 'in a
- [The missing piece of the jigsaw: John Carey on meeting someone from William Golding's past](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-missing-piece-of-the-jigsaw-john-carey-on-meeting-someone-from-william-goldings-past/) - What compels writers to share their private stories? Rupert Christiansen, Aida Edemariam, Sigrid Rausing and Philippe Sands discuss writing memoir.
- [The golden sketchbook - writers' portraits](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-golden-sketchbook-writers-portraits/) - Paul McVeigh, Aaron Reeves, Sarah Shaffi and Kit de Waal reflect on whether literature can solve poverty.
- [Weal and Woe: on struggles and successes](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/weal-and-woe-on-struggles-and-successes/) - Paul McVeigh, Aaron Reeves, Sarah Shaffi and Kit de Waal reflect on whether literature can solve poverty.
- [Anne Chisholm: The human factor](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/anne-chisholm-the-human-factor/) - Paul McVeigh, Aaron Reeves, Sarah Shaffi and Kit de Waal reflect on whether literature can solve poverty.
- [The Road from Damascus: Colin Thubron considers past versions of himself, and the future of literature](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-road-from-damascus-colin-thubron-considers-past-versions-of-himself-and-the-future-of-literature/) - Paul McVeigh, Aaron Reeves, Sarah Shaffi and Kit de Waal reflect on whether literature can solve poverty.
- [Penelope Lively and Helen Simpson on literary brevity](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/penelope-lively-and-helen-simpson-on-literary-brevity/) - Tracy Chevalier speaks to Nicolette Jones about some of her favourite paintings and reflects on the tales they tell.
- [A.S. Byatt reflects on the experience of having her portrait painted](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-s-byatt-reflects-on-the-experience-of-having-her-portrait-painted/) - A discussion on how the Harry Potter books have changed the landscape of children’s literature and permeated our cultural consciousness.
- [Rose Tremain on writing about subjects removed from her own life](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rose-tremain-on-writing-about-subjects-removed-from-her-own-life/) - A discussion on how the Harry Potter books have changed the landscape of children’s literature and permeated our cultural consciousness.
- [V.S. Naipaul in conversation with John Carey](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/v-s-naipaul-in-conversation-with-john-carey/) - A discussion on how the Harry Potter books have changed the landscape of children’s literature and permeated our cultural consciousness.
- [Telling lives: Penelope Lively leads a conversation about biographical fiction](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/telling-lives-penelope-lively-leads-a-conversation-about-biographical-fiction/) - A discussion on how the Harry Potter books have changed the landscape of children’s literature and permeated our cultural consciousness.
- [Lost and found in London: Romesh Gunesekera on the lure of the capital](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/lost-and-found-in-london-romesh-gunesekera-on-the-lure-of-the-capital/) - As she is introduced as President of the RSL, Marina Warner addresses Fellows and Members on the duty of writers to retell history.
- [Two-way traffic: Rory Stewart on writing about place](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/two-way-traffic-rory-stewart-on-writing-about-place/) - As she is introduced as President of the RSL, Marina Warner addresses Fellows and Members on the duty of writers to retell history.
- [The fundamental paradox: Michael Frayn and A.C. Grayling on philosophy and writing](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-fundamental-paradox-michael-frayn-and-a-c-grayling-on-philosophy-and-writing/) - Sue Gaisford drinks rose tea with the RSL’s new President Marina Warner.
- [How to beat the Bounderbys: Jonathan Keates reviews the rewards and difficulties of teaching](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/how-to-beat-the-bounderbys-jonathan-keates-reviews-the-rewards-and-difficulties-of-teaching/) - As the RSL prepares to elect a band of younger Fellows, nine writers made Fellows in their twenties and thirties remember what it meant to them.
- [Pepys: the making of a diarist](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/pepys-the-making-of-a-diarist/) - Claire Tomalin looks at the background, language and themes of Pepys' diary, and at how it relates to his life as a whole. Chaired by John Carey.
- [Amrou Al-Kadhi and Tom Rasmussen in conversation: ‘Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things’](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/amrou-al-kadhi-and-tom-rasmussen-in-conversation-cecil-beatons-bright-young-things/) - Diana Evans is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Ted Chiang book club Temi Oh: 'The Lifecycle of Software Objects'](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/ted-chiang-book-club-temi-oh-the-lifecycle-of-software-objects/) - April De Angelis is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [What's So Great About George Eliot?](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/whats-so-great-about-george-eliot/) - April De Angelis is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [On the Same Page: Anne Fine and Romesh Gunesekera](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/on-the-same-page-anne-fine-and-romesh-gunesekera/) - Yvette Edwards is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [On Nurses by Roger Robinson](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/on-nurses-by-roger-robinson/) - Daniel Hahn is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Millicent Bevan](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-millicent-bevan/) - James Meek is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Courtney Hart](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-courtney-hart/) - Michael Palin is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Kaiya Johnson](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-kaiya-johnson/) - Michael Palin is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Amelia Jones](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-amelia-jones/) - Michael Palin is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Katie Kirkpatrick](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-katie-kirkpatrick/) - Sandeep Parmer is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Katie Martin](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-katie-martin/) - Sandeep Parmer is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Olivia Thurlby](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-olivia-thurlby/) - Sandeep Parmer is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Blue Pencil, Blank Page: Diana Athill, Carmen Callil and Jeremy Lewis on editing](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/blue-pencil-blank-page-diana-athill-carmen-callil-and-jeremy-lewis-on-editing/) - Reni Eddo-Lodge, Bernardine Evaristo and Heidi Safia Mirza discuss how the intersection of race, feminism and class has evolved since the 1980s.
- [Jonathan Keates on poetry and song](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/jonathan-keates-on-poetry-and-song/) - Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy reads at our Annual T.S. Eliot Memorial alongside two of her Laureate Choices: Keith Hutson and Mark Pajak. Plus a reading from Young People's Laureate Caleb Femi.
- [The Stories We Tell](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-stories-we-tell/) - Chloe Aridjis is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [On the Same Page: Tahmima Anam and Ian Rankin](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/on-the-same-page-tahmima-anam-and-ian-rankin/) - Chloe Aridjis is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [There We Stop; There We Stand': Exploring London's Black cultural heritage with S. I. Martin](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/there-we-stop-there-we-stand-exploring-londons-black-cultural-heritage-with-s-i-martin/) - April De Angelis is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Dicing with darkness: Hilary Mantel on the darkness in her writing](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/dicing-with-darkness-hilary-mantel-on-the-darkness-in-her-writing/) - Tracy Chevalier speaks to Nicolette Jones about some of her favourite paintings and reflects on the tales they tell.
- [A Life with Joyce](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-life-with-joyce/) - Michael Symmons Roberts reads his commissioned poem 'The Few' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Who needs stories? Romesh Gunesekera talks to Michael Morpurgo](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/who-needs-stories-romesh-gunesekera-talks-to-michael-morpurgo/) - Michael Symmons Roberts reads his commissioned poem 'The Few' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Leonard Woolf: the whole man](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/leonard-woolf-the-whole-man/) - Michael Symmons Roberts reads his commissioned poem 'The Few' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Getting to grips with ghosts: Susan Hill and Sarah Waters](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/getting-to-grips-with-ghosts-susan-hill-and-sarah-waters/) - Ian Duhig reads his commissioned poem 'White Sheets' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Belles at midnight](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/belles-at-midnight/) - Sabrina Mahfouz reads her commissioned poem 'Peace < Water' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Peter Porter: The product I tested is life](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/peter-porter-the-product-i-tested-is-life/) - A celebration of Jane Austen - 200 years since her death.
- [On the Same Page: Nadifa Mohamed and Irenosen Okojie](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/on-the-same-page-nadifa-mohamed-and-irenosen-okojie/) - Throughout 2020, as part of our bicentenary celebrations, we have curated a special series of conversations: On The Same Page brings together RSL Fellows who would not normally share a stage, to discuss the role of the writer in uncertain political times. Elected by their writer peers, each new RSL Fellow signs the Society&#146;s historic
- [Goodnight Mrs Tom](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/goodnight-mrs-tom/) - At the end of a day of research in Mrs Eliot&#146;s flat in Kensington, as I prepared to return to America, I was told by her care-givers that I might not see her again. Thankfully, I was given the opportunity to sit at her bedside for a few minutes and, in paying my last respects,
- [Emotion and daring: remembering Lesley Blanch](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/emotion-and-daring-remembering-lesley-blanch/) - Former campaigners in Salman Rushdie's defence come together with writers and activists to talk about their fight for freedom of expression then and now.
- [Vikram Seth: Love bade me welcome](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/vikram-seth-love-bade-me-welcome/) - Former campaigners in Salman Rushdie's defence come together with writers and activists to talk about their fight for freedom of expression then and now.
- [Writing the Silk Road: Colin Thubron in conversation with Tash Aw](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/writing-the-silk-road-colin-thubron-in-conversation-with-tash-aw/) - Reni Eddo-Lodge, Bernardine Evaristo and Heidi Safia Mirza discuss how the intersection of race, feminism and class has evolved since the 1980s.
- [Kate Pullinger thrills to the rise of digital fiction](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/kate-pullinger-thrills-to-the-rise-of-digital-fiction/) - Reni Eddo-Lodge, Bernardine Evaristo and Heidi Safia Mirza discuss how the intersection of race, feminism and class has evolved since the 1980s.
- [Lara Feigel and Juliet Gardiner discuss writing of the Blitz](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/lara-feigel-and-juliet-gardiner-discuss-writing-of-the-blitz/) - Reni Eddo-Lodge, Bernardine Evaristo and Heidi Safia Mirza discuss how the intersection of race, feminism and class has evolved since the 1980s.
- [Writing the fighting: war correspondence as literature](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/writing-the-fighting-war-correspondence-as-literature/) - Reni Eddo-Lodge, Bernardine Evaristo and Heidi Safia Mirza discuss how the intersection of race, feminism and class has evolved since the 1980s.
- [To a Mountain in Tibet: Colin Thubron and Victoria Glendinning](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/to-a-mountain-in-tibet-colin-thubron-and-victoria-glendinning/) - Women are increasingly taking lead roles in the theatre, but there&#146;s still a long way to go. Tanika Gupta examines the glass ceiling
- [Mere fact, mere fiction: David Hare on journalism and art](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/mere-fact-mere-fiction-david-hare-on-journalism-and-art/) - As the RSL takes on the administration of the Encore Award for best second novel, arts journalist Alex Clark, chair of this year&#146;s judges, reflects on the joys and pitfalls of the fictional follow-up
- [Dr Johnson and Frank Barber](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/dr-johnson-and-frank-barber/) - Three novelists consider their own second novels
- [Philip Pullman, Frances Wilson and Jenny Uglow on the e-book](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/philip-pullman-frances-wilson-and-jenny-uglow-on-the-e-book/) - Poet David Harsent and composer Harrison Birtwistle have worked together for over 30 years. They talk to Maggie Fergusson
- [A Story-maker's Journey (Michael Morpurgo)](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-story-makers-journey-michael-morpurgo/) - The writer and broadcaster Nicolette Jones talks to bestselling children&#146;s author Michael Morpurgo.
- [The short story: a new future?](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-short-story-a-new-future/) - The writer and broadcaster Nicolette Jones talks to bestselling children&#146;s author Michael Morpurgo.
- [Travelling Across Genres (William Dalrymple & Colin Thubron)](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/travelling-across-genres-william-dalrymple-colin-thubron/) - The writer and broadcaster Nicolette Jones talks to bestselling children&#146;s author Michael Morpurgo.
- [William Boyd: adapting words for the screen](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/william-boyd-adapting-words-for-the-screen/) - What does it mean to be an immigrant in the UK today? Journalist and BBC presenter Razia Iqbal chairs a discussion on immigration, race, identity and writing.
- [Colin Thubron: the evocation of place](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/colin-thubron-the-evocation-of-place/) - What does it mean to be an immigrant in the UK today? Journalist and BBC presenter Razia Iqbal chairs a discussion on immigration, race, identity and writing.
- [Mimi Khalvati: poetry](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/mimi-khalvati-poetry/) - A celebration of one of the most original and distinguished novelists of the late twentieth century
- [The RSL welcomes new Companions of Literature – RSL Review 2013](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-rsl-welcomes-new-companions-of-literature-rsl-review-2013/) - Margaret Atwood As soon as I saw the name in the list of RSL autumn events I knew I had to act at once. Few women writers enjoy an international reputation like Margaret Atwood &#150; only perhaps Nadine Gordimer, Toni Morrison, Marguerite Duras and Doris Lessing. Few have been made Companions of Literature: eleven women
- [On Translated Literature](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/on-translated-literature/) - Of the thousands of books published in Britain each year, only a handful are translated from foreign languages. Given the dominance of English as the international language of business and politics, perhaps our literary chauvinism is inevitable. Does this narrowing of our reading world matter? Are we in danger of missing out on today's Tolstoy
- [Dervla Murphy & Sara Wheeler on women travel writers](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/dervla-murphy-sara-wheeler-on-women-travel-writers/) - A lady an explorer? A traveller in skirts? … Let them stay and mind the babies, or hem our ragged shirts. So wrote a contributor to 'Punch' in 1893. Yet since then women have proved that travel writing is not &#150; and should not be &#150; a male preserve. Dervla Murphy&#146;s first book, 'Full Tilt:
- [Penelope Lively: what we remember](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/penelope-lively-what-we-remember/) - Top Tips A memoir is concerned with memory. Think about how memory works? Is it linear, chronological? Or not? Let your memoir writing reflect the workings of memory itself. Does the accuracy of memory matter above all? Or is the significance that you have a form of it &#150; whether or not it would stand
- [Jim Crace: the writing is in the rewriting](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/jim-crace-the-writing-is-in-the-rewriting/) - The joys and pitfalls of the fictional follow-up.
- [John Burnside: capturing moments of wonder](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/john-burnside-capturing-moments-of-wonder/) - The joys and pitfalls of the fictional follow-up.
- [On the Importance of Reading](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/on-the-importance-of-reading/) - Fifty years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality, Dean Atta, Neil Bartlett and Maureen Duffy talk about how changing attitudes to homosexuality have been reflected in literature and performance.
- [Commitment to the Short Story](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/commitment-to-the-short-story/) - In an event celebrating European Literature Night, A.L. Kennedy gives a keynote address, and is then joined in discussion with Clemens Meyer from Germany and Francesca Melandri from Italy. This event is part of the European Writers' Tour 2017.
- [The Sri Lankan Novel](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-sri-lankan-novel/) - In an event celebrating European Literature Night, A.L. Kennedy gives a keynote address, and is then joined in discussion with Clemens Meyer from Germany and Francesca Melandri from Italy. This event is part of the European Writers' Tour 2017.
- [Rowan Williams in conversation with Fiona Sampson](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rowan-williams-in-conversation-with-fiona-sampson/) - In a conversation chaired by literary journalist Alex Clark, Nikita Lalwani, Iain Sinclair and Evie Wyld speak about the pleasures and pitfalls of writing and reading fictional follow-ups.
- [Claire Tomalin and Philip Pullman on John Milton](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/claire-tomalin-and-philip-pullman-on-john-milton/) - In a conversation chaired by literary journalist Alex Clark, Nikita Lalwani, Iain Sinclair and Evie Wyld speak about the pleasures and pitfalls of writing and reading fictional follow-ups.
- [A celebration of Peter Porter, led by Sean O'Brien](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-celebration-of-peter-porter-led-by-sean-obrien/) - In a conversation chaired by literary journalist Alex Clark, Nikita Lalwani, Iain Sinclair and Evie Wyld speak about the pleasures and pitfalls of writing and reading fictional follow-ups.
- [Wendy Cope, Jackie Kay and Hugo Williams discuss their favourite poetry](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/wendy-cope-jackie-kay-and-hugo-williams-discuss-their-favourite-poetry/) - How do non-fiction writers decide on their approach to telling their stories,
- [Memories of Morecambe Winter Gardens - Extract](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/memories-of-morecambe-winter-gardens-extract/) - Alison Armstrong was a 2020 RSL Literature Matters Award winner for her project 'The Lost Voices of Morecambe Winter Gardens'. A play based on the real and fictional voices of characters that have worked and performed at Morecambe Winter Gardens was performed at the venue in August 2021 and you can see an extract from
- [RSL 200: Chloe Aridjis FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-chloe-aridjis-frsl/) - Philip Pullman is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Raymond Antrobus FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-raymond-antrobus-frsl/) - Philip Pullman is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: April De Angelis FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-april-de-angelis-frsl/) - Colin Thubron is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Jill Dawson FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-jill-dawson-frsl/) - Colin Thubron is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Susan Cooper FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-susan-cooper-frsl/) - Colin Thubron is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Cressida Connolly FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-cressida-connolly-frsl/) - Colin Thubron is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Damian Barr FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-damian-barr-frsl/) - Colin Thubron is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Peter Frankopan FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-peter-frankopan-frsl/) - Anita Desai is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Diana Evans FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-diana-evans-frsl/) - Anita Desai is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Yvette Edwards FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-yvette-edwards-frsl/) - Anita Desai is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Sasha Dugdale FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-sasha-dugdale-frsl/) - Anita Desai is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Jane Draycott FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-jane-draycott-frsl/) - Anita Desai is made a Companion of Literature in 2020.
- [RSL 200: Kirsty Gunn FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-kirsty-gunn-frsl/) - Simon Armitage is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Colin Grant FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-colin-grant-frsl/) - Simon Armitage is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Kate Mosse FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-kate-mosse-frsl/) - Mary Beard is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: James Meek FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-james-meek-frsl/) - Mary Beard is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Andrew McMillan FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-andrew-mcmillan-frsl/) - Mary Beard is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Daniel Hahn FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-daniel-hahn-frsl/) - Mary Beard is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Max Porter FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-max-porter-frsl/) - Max Porter is a former bookseller & editor. His novel ‚ÄØ&#146;Grief Is the Thing with Feathers&#146; won the Young Writer of the Year, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Europese Literatuurprijs and the Books Are My Bag Readers&#146; Award.
- [RSL 200: Winsome Pinnock FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-winsome-pinnock-frsl/) - Winsome Pinnock is a playwright & screenwriter. Her work has been produced by the National Theatre, Bush Theatre, @LyricHammer, @royalcourt & BBC TV. Awards include the George Devine Award & the Alfred Fagon Award. She was 2019 UNESCO Fellow of the University of East Anglia.
- [RSL 200: Sandeep Parmer FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-sandeep-parmer-frsl/) - Sandeep Parmer is a poet and Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool. She is a BBC New Generation Thinker and co-founder of the Ledbury‚ÄØPoetry Critics scheme for‚ÄØreviewers of‚ÄØcolour.
- [RSL 200: Michael Palin FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-michael-palin-frsl/) - Michael Palin is the author of 10 travel books, 2 novels‚ÄØ& a non-fiction work‚ÄØ. He wrote & performed in the 'Monty Python' series, 'Ripping Yarns' and a series of travel documentaries including 'Around the World in Eight Days'‚ÄØto‚ÄØNorth Korea.
- [RSL 200: Philippe Sands FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-philippe-sands-frsl/) - Jackie Kay is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Katherine Rundell FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-katherine-rundell-frsl/) - Jackie Kay is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Roger Robinson FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-roger-robinson-frsl/) - Jackie Kay is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Sigrid Rausing FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-sigrid-rausing-frsl/) - Jackie Kay is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Mair Bosworth Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-mair-bosworth-hon-frsl/) - Blake Morrison is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Linda Anderson Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-linda-anderson-hon-frsl/) - Blake Morrison is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Melanie Abrahams Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-melanie-abrahams-hon-frsl/) - Blake Morrison is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Jack Thorne FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-jack-thorne-frsl/) - Blake Morrison is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Lennie Goodings Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-lennie-goodings-hon-frsl/) - Grace Nichols is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: David Godwin Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-david-godwin-hon-frsl/) - Grace Nichols is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Kate Gavron Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-kate-gavron-hon-frsl/) - Grace Nichols is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Tony Brown Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-tony-brown-hon-frsl/) - Grace Nichols is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Shirley May Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-shirley-may-hon-frsl/) - Elif Shafak is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Andrew Holgate Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-andrew-holgate-hon-frsl/) - Elif Shafak is elected a Vice-President of the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Tom Sutcliffe Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-tom-sutcliffe-hon-frsl/) - Kamila Shamsie is elected a Vice-President of the RSL
- [RSL 200: Sarah Sanders Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-sarah-sanders-hon-frsl/) - Kamila Shamsie is elected a Vice-President of the RSL
- [RSL 200: Marina Salandy-Brown Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-marina-salandy-brown-hon-frsl/) - Kamila Shamsie is elected a Vice-President of the RSL
- [RSL 200: Ursula Owen Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-ursula-owen-hon-frsl/) - Kamila Shamsie is elected a Vice-President of the RSL
- [Writing Lives](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/writing-lives/) - Colm Tóbín is elected a Vice-President for the RSL.
- [Maggie Fergusson remembers Ronald Harwood](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/maggie-fergusson-remembers-ronald-harwood/) - Colm Tóbín is elected a Vice-President for the RSL.
- [RSL 200: Lola Young Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-lola-young-hon-frsl/) - Colm Tóbín is elected a Vice-President for the RSL.
- [RSL 200 Boyd Tonkin Hon FRSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/rsl-200-boyd-tonkin-hon-frsl/) - Colm Tóbín is elected a Vice-President for the RSL.
- [Letters From America](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/letters-from-america/) - Raymond Antrobus is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Literature Matters: In The Moment](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-matters-in-the-moment/) - Raymond Antrobus is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Telling Histories](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/telling-histories/) - Raymond Antrobus is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Remaking the Remarkable](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/remaking-the-remarkable/) - Raymond Antrobus is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition – Highly Commended: Holly White](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-highly-commended-holly-white/) - Chloe Aridjis is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition – Third Prize: Manon Heard](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-third-prize-manon-heard/) - Damian Barr is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition – Highly Commended: Peter Bird](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-highly-commended-peter-bird/) - Damian Barr is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition – Highly Commended: William Berkshire](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-highly-commended-william-berkshire/) - Damian Barr is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition – Highly Commended: Karina Trifonova](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-highly-commended-karina-trifonova/) - Cressida Connolly is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition – Highly Commended: Laiq Ahmed](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-highly-commended-laiq-ahmed/) - Cressida Connolly is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition – Winner: Lisa Elliot](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-winner-lisa-elliot/) - Cressida Connolly is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition – Highly Commended, Anoushka Baluja](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-highly-commended-anoushka-baluja/) - Susan Cooper is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories – Highly Commended, Ben Woodward](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-highly-commended-ben-woodward/) - Susan Cooper is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories – Highly Commended, Daniele Ricotta](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-highly-commended-daniele-ricotta/) - Susan Cooper is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition – Highly Commended: Hazel Morpurgo](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-highly-commended-hazel-morpurgo/) - Susan Cooper is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Skinning the lion (A dialogue between Derek Walcott and Ben Okri)](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/skinning-the-lion-a-dialogue-between-derek-walcott-and-ben-okri/) - #N/A
- [Black in the Union Jack?](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/black-in-the-union-jack/) - In 2002, 15 years after his seminal text, There Ain&#146;t No Black in the Union Jack, was first published, Paul Gilroy hoped that the book had &#145;been kept alive by its solid sense that alongside all the grand but empty political gestures… of Britain&#146;s decaying institutional machinery, there are other stories about “race” and racism
- [Tall Tales, Short Stories writing competition РSecond Prize: Amelia Jones](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/tall-tales-short-stories-writing-competition-second-prize-amelia-jones/) - Amelia completed Martina Devlin's short story 'Singing Dumb': Mama told me I was a big girl after it happened. “All grown up,” she whispered as she scrubbed dry red from under my nails. She washed my hands with hot water until it hurt. My skin went a bright pink. That same night she burned my
- [A Room of My Own competition – 1st Prize: Dominique Vincent](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-1st-prize-dominique-vincent/) - Andrew McMillan is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Rajiyah Ahmed](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-rajiyah-ahmed/) - James Meek is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – 3rd Prize: Martine Maugüé](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-3rd-prize-martine-maugue/) - James Meek is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – 2nd Prize: Jia-Yan Xue](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-2nd-prize-jia-yan-xue/) - James Meek is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Alice Garcia Kalmus](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-alice-garcia-kalmus/) - Kate Mosse is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Abigail Butler](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-abigail-butler/) - Kate Mosse is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Eva Brand-Whitehead](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-eva-brand-whitehead/) - Kate Mosse is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Anya Biletsky](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-anya-biletsky/) - Kate Mosse is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [A Room of My Own competition – Highly Commended: Alex Garrett](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-room-of-my-own-competition-highly-commended-alex-garrett/) - Michael Palin is elected a Fellow of the RSL.
- [Originality in science and the arts](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/originality-in-science-and-the-arts/) - Sabrina Mahfouz reads her commissioned poem 'Peace < Water' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Literature and political violence](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/literature-and-political-violence/) - Ian Duhig reads his commissioned poem 'White Sheets' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [American women writers and the Brontës](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/american-women-writers-and-the-brontes/) - Ian Duhig reads his commissioned poem 'White Sheets' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [Making fiction out of history](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/making-fiction-out-of-history/) - Ian Duhig reads his commissioned poem 'White Sheets' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [The Road Not Taken: Edith Wharton's English Life](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-road-not-taken-edith-whartons-english-life/) - Michael Symmons Roberts reads his commissioned poem 'The Few' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [For heaven's sake](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/for-heavens-sake/) - Pascale Petit reads her commissioned poem 'The Spring' - commemorating 100 years since the death of Wilfred Owen.
- [On Tove Jansson](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/on-tove-jansson/) - A celebration of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, one of the 20th Century's most important novels.
- [Jenny Uglow is to be the next Chair of the RSL](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/jenny-uglow-is-to-be-the-next-chair-of-the-rsl/) - A celebration of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, one of the 20th Century's most important novels.
- [Fare forward, travellers](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/fare-forward-travellers/) - A celebration of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, one of the 20th Century's most important novels.
- [Jung Chang in conversation with Colin Thubron](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/jung-chang-in-conversation-with-colin-thubron/) - A celebration of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, one of the 20th Century's most important novels.
- [Pitt and Wilberforce: contrasting friends](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/pitt-and-wilberforce-contrasting-friends/) - THE ROY JENKINS MEMORIAL LECTURE Since resigning as the youngest-ever Leader of the Conservative Party, in 2001, William Hague has combined his continued work as MP for Richmond (Yorkshire), with the publication of two historical biographies. In the first, William Pitt the Younger, he explored a subject for whom he had an obvious sympathy: William
- [On Penelope Fitzgerald](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/on-penelope-fitzgerald/) - In support of Refugee Tales Vanessa Redgrave and Neel Mukherjee read Tales of refugees, asylum seekers and immigration detainees indefinitely detained in the UK. Introduced by Abdulrazak Gurnah.
- [Voices of the Great War](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/voices-of-the-great-war/) - In support of Refugee Tales Vanessa Redgrave and Neel Mukherjee read Tales of refugees, asylum seekers and immigration detainees indefinitely detained in the UK. Introduced by Abdulrazak Gurnah.
- [Writing the Blitz](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/writing-the-blitz/) - Ali Smith remembers Muriel Spark in what would have been her centenary year.
- [Bringing up baby](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/bringing-up-baby/) - Ali Smith remembers Muriel Spark in what would have been her centenary year.
- [Memory, magic and survival: Neil Gaiman](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/memory-magic-and-survival-neil-gaiman/) - Ali Smith remembers Muriel Spark in what would have been her centenary year.
- [Life is tweet: Margaret Atwood on her passion for new technology](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/life-is-tweet-margaret-atwood-on-her-passion-for-new-technology/) - Ali Smith remembers Muriel Spark in what would have been her centenary year.
- [Ruth Rendell on crime writing](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/ruth-rendell-on-crime-writing/) - Tracy Chevalier speaks to Nicolette Jones about some of her favourite paintings and reflects on the tales they tell.
- [Michael Morpurgo on child literacy](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/michael-morpurgo-on-child-literacy/) - As she is introduced as President of the RSL, Marina Warner addresses Fellows and Members on the duty of writers to retell history.
- [Words and deeds: Caroline Moorehead on her work with refugees in Cairo](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/words-and-deeds-caroline-moorehead-on-her-work-with-refugees-in-cairo/) - Sue Gaisford drinks rose tea with the RSL&#146;s new President Marina Warner.
- [Immortal prose: how to preserve a writer's work by James Fergusson](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/immortal-prose-how-to-preserve-a-writers-work-by-james-fergusson/) - Sue Gaisford drinks rose tea with the RSL&#146;s new President Marina Warner.
- [Bankers daft: Michael Holroyd on the inability of banks to deal with writers](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/bankers-daft-michael-holroyd-on-the-inability-of-banks-to-deal-with-writers/) - Sue Gaisford drinks rose tea with the RSL&#146;s new President Marina Warner.
- [The house of fame](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/the-house-of-fame/) - Children&#146;s writer S.F. Said on how Philip Pullman has changed the literary landscape.
- [A narrative gift: Katie Waldegrave on her charity, First Story](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/a-narrative-gift-katie-waldegrave-on-her-charity-first-story/) - Children&#146;s writer S.F. Said on how Philip Pullman has changed the literary landscape.
- [What's the use of literature? A panel discussion chaired by Polly Toynbee on studying English](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/whats-the-use-of-literature-a-panel-discussion-chaired-by-polly-toynbee-on-studying-english/) - As the RSL prepares to elect a band of younger Fellows, nine writers made Fellows in their twenties and thirties remember what it meant to them.
- [Edmund de Waal in conversation with Penelope Lively](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/edmund-de-waal-in-conversation-with-penelope-lively/) - As the RSL prepares to elect a band of younger Fellows, nine writers made Fellows in their twenties and thirties remember what it meant to them.
- [Letter from Shortlist Land: Ysenda Maxtone Graham on being a nominee-turned-judge](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/letter-from-shortlist-land-ysenda-maxtone-graham-on-being-a-nominee-turned-judge/) - As the RSL prepares to elect a band of younger Fellows, nine writers made Fellows in their twenties and thirties remember what it meant to them.
- [How sport took over my life: Lynne Truss confesses to a journalistic addiction](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/how-sport-took-over-my-life-lynne-truss-confesses-to-a-journalistic-addiction/) - Julia Copus talks with Ian McGuire, winner of the 2017 RSL Encore Award.
- [All in the mind: Adam Phillips on creativity and mental health](https://rsliterature.org/library-of-articles/all-in-the-mind-adam-phillips-on-creativity-and-mental-health/) - Julia Copus talks with Ian McGuire, winner of the 2017 RSL Encore Award.

## Anthologies

- [Sarah Kane](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/sarah-kane/) - When I think of the playwright Sarah Kane, I am reminded of a line from Chris Marker’s 1983 film Sans Soleil: “I found small fragments of war enshrined in everyday life.” Kane’s work finds these fragments too. Her plays, which on the surface might appear to be about the unravelling of individual, private psyches, reveal
- [Saki](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/saki/) - A nervous young man, convalescing in the country, arranges a courtesy call on a lady in a nearby house. Arriving early, he is entertained by a self-possessed 15-year-old niece. Conversation is stilted, and the niece apologizes for the French window being left open onto the garden. She quietly explains that two years ago her aunt’s
- [Parv Bancil](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/parv-bancil/) - Dear Parv, It’s too late to tell you what your work meant to me. I could have told you in person, but the two times we were in the same room and introduced, I was shy and you were with old friends, and I felt that rather than have your ear chewed off by a
- [Mary Shelley](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/mary-shelley/) - Few books have gripped the popular imagination as fiercely as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). In the two centuries since its publication, Frankenstein has been adapted hundreds of times, appeared in different languages and in every conceivable genre. There are Frankenstein novels, poems, plays, operas, ballets, musicals, films, computer games and manga comics, as though each
- [Martin Bell](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/martin-bell/) - Martin Bell was a paradox. Most poets publish several books before being granted the honour of a volume of Collected Poems, Bell did not. His Collected Poems of 1967, was the first and also last book of his lifetime, though Bloodaxe published his Complete Poems (including unpublished later poems), in 1988 ten years after his death
- [Ken Smith](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/ken-smith/) - I trail Ken Smith’s ghost around the University of Leeds campus. He’s long dead – claimed by Legionnaire’s disease in 2003 – and I’m an unreliable witness, living in the creative fog of a two-year Cultural Fellowship in the School of English. Still, I kid myself that I can hear his heavy footsteps on the stairs,
- [J.L. Carr](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/j-l-carr/) - Joseph Lloyd Carr (1912-1994), better known as Jim, disliked London, the establishment, publishers, the media and the business world. If he’d been offered a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Literature, he might well not have wanted to join. But it would have been very good for the RSL if he had. Carr was a remarkable individual and a
- [Ian Fleming](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/ian-fleming/) - Readers remember characters. They know Falstaff, Fagin, Sherlock Holmes and Jeeves, even if they cannot name a book or play in which the character appeared. No one remembers my plots, but they name their daughters after Aliena and tell me how much they hate William Hamleigh. James Bond must be the best known fictional character
- [H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/h-d-hilda-doolittle/) - To begin writing, we need to feel free: free of the pressure to conform to expectations, free of the inner critic that wants to censor what we write, free of worrying about whether the writing will be good enough. Before H.D. started work on a poem, she would deliberately splash ink all over her clothes.
- [Gertrude Bell](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/gertrude-bell/) - It’s difficult not to think that, had she lived in a different age, the writer, explorer, archaeologist, civil servant, kingmaker and co-founder of the Iraqi state Gertrude Bell would have stormed into the Royal Society of Literature and become one of its leading lights and Fellows. With a bit of luck she might have been elected
- [George Eliot](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/george-eliot/) - George Eliot was never elected a Fellow of the RSL. When I first became aware of this, I couldn’t quite believe it. Silly men, I thought. They weren’t able to read past their beards or past the scandal of her transgressive living arrangements with the married writer-philosopher George Henry Lewes. Yet how could they have
- [G.V. Desani](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/g-v-desani/) - If I’d lived through the 1940s, say a bit after that hideous war against fascism, then the Fellow I’d have asked on to the podium of RSL stage would have been G.V. Desani. Which is to say, Govindas Vishnoodas Desani, a joyous mouthful of mighty India. I say India but Mr G.V. Desani was born
- [Flann O’Brien](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/flann-obrien/) - If there is one writer who should have become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in the last century it would be Brian Ò Nualláin (anglicised as Brian O’Nolan), even though he would have refused to accept an honour from a society of literature, let alone a British one prefaced by the word
- [Tayeb Salih](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/tayeb-salih/) - Hanan: Tayeb, guess what? I am nominating you to become a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature. Tayeb: Even though I am dead? Hanan: Yes, you constantly come into my thoughts – and help me think again as I am pondering or writing. I still remember when I read your brilliant novel Season of Migration to
- [W.H. Auden](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/w-h-auden/) - Anyone who has tried to write a poem has wondered, long before the words settle into lines, at the compulsion itself, the sense of urgent waiting in the room, and no one has described the feeling as beautifully as W.H. Auden. It was his life-long subject, in fact: how to respond to an encounter with
- [Elizabeth Taylor](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/elizabeth-taylor/) - “She recalled her past kindness – the kindness, the affection of sixteen years – how she had taught and how she had played with her from five years old – how she had devoted all her powers to attach and amuse her in health – and how she nursed her through the various illness of
- [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/elizabeth-gaskell/) - I used to go past your house on the bus, just after the museum where behind the old brick walls the mummies lay blackened and flaking in their glass sarcophagi. Men were building the museum when you lived here, and the university and the art gallery and the library, the edifices of Victorian municipality, culture to
- [Constance Garnett](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/constance-garnett/) - When I was allowed to leave the children’s library and join the grown-ups library next door, it was like being let loose in a giant sweetshop, and, for reasons I still don’t quite understand, I felt drawn to a hexagonal bookshelf at the far end of the library. It was full of books with red
- [Charlotte Brontë](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/charlotte-bronte/) - When Charlotte Brontë was 18, she sent a poem to the Poet Laureate Robert Southey and asked what he thought of her writing. This was the 19th-century version of sending a song you had recorded on your phone to Stormzy and asking for feedback. Now, Stormzy is a generous musician and might even respond to
- [Andrea Dunbar](https://rsliterature.org/anthologies/andrea-dunbar/) - “Andrea is not God. She must come to terms with this.” Or at least this is what her Religious Studies teacher put on Andrea Dunbar’s school report. That same school report shows her failing in most subjects except English, where she got an A. She might not have been God but there was something miraculous about

## Fellows

- [Shafak, Elif](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/elif-shafak/) - Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish writer, whose work has been translated into fifty-eight languages. The author of twenty books, thirteen of which are novels, she is a bestselling author in many countries around the world. Shafak’s novel The Island of Missing Trees was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize
- [Evaristo, Bernardine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bernardine-evaristo/) - Bernardine Evaristo won the Booker Prize 2019 with her eighth book, Girl, Woman, Other, the first black woman and black British person to win it. It was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller for five weeks, the first woman of colour to achieve this position in the paperback fiction chart, spending 44 weeks in the Top
- [Robinson, Roger](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/roger-robinson/) - Roger Robinson is a writer who has performed worldwide, and an experienced workshop leader. His poetry collection, A Portable Paradise, won the 2019 T.S. Eliot Prize and the 2020 RSL Ondaatje Prize, was shortlisted for the inaugural Derek Walcott Prize, and was chosen as a New Statesman book of the year. His work has been
- [Doughty, Louise](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/louise-doughty/) - Louise Doughty is the author of ten novels, most recently A Bird in Winter, published by Faber & Faber UK Ltd in 2023. Her previous books include Platform Seven, filmed for ITVX; Black Water, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; the bestseller Apple Tree Yard, adapted for BBC One; and Whatever You Love, nominated
- [Adcock, Fleur](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/fleur-adcock/)
- [Pryce-Jones, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-pryce-jones/)
- [Gardam, Jane](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jane-gardam/)
- [Gardner, Philip](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/philip-gardner/)
- [Stoppard, Sir Tom](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-tom-stoppard/)
- [Brownjohn, Alan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alan-brownjohn/)
- [Tindall, Gillian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gillian-tindall/)
- [Patten, Brian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/brian-patten/)
- [Bryce, Colette](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/colette-bryce/) - Colette Bryce is an Irish poet and editor. Her five poetry collections are published by Picador, including The Full Indian Rope Trick (Picador, 2004) and Self-Portrait in the Dark (2008). The Whole & Rain-domed Universe (2014), which draws on her experience of growing up in Derry during the Troubles, was shortlisted for the Costa and Forward prizes and received a
- [MacCulloch, Diarmaid](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/diarmaid-macculloch/) - Diarmaid MacCulloch (Kt, DD, FBA) is Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford, Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford and of Campion Hall, Oxford, and prize-winning author and TV presenter. His History of Christianity: the first three thousand years (2009) won the 2010 Cundill Prize. Among his other books are Thomas Cromwell: a
- [Persaud, Ingrid](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ingrid-persaud/) - Ingrid Persaud is a Trinidadian writer, artist and former legal academic who lives in London. Her prize-winning debut novel Love After Love, (Faber & Faber 2020) won the Costa First Novel Award (2020), Author’s Club First Novel Award (2020) and the Indie Book Award for Fiction (2021). Her short story The Sweet Sop also won the BBC National Short
- [Stroud, Rick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rick-stroud/) - Rick Stroud is a writer, producer and director. His books include: I Am Not Afraid of Looking into the Rifles, (2024) Lonely Courage (2017), Kidnap in Crete (2014), The Phantom Army of Alamein (2012) and The Book of the Moon (2009). With Victor Gregg he co-authored Rifleman, A Front Line Life (2011), King’s Cross Kid (2013), Soldier Spy (2015) and Dresden (2019) He is currently
- [LeFanu, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sarah-lefanu/) - Sarah LeFanu is author of biographies of Rose Macaulay and Samora Machel and of the life-writing memoirs Dreaming of Rose: A Biographer’s Journal and Talking to the Dead: Travels of a Biographer. Her first book, In the Chinks of the World Machine: Feminism and Science Fiction, won the MLA Emily Toth Award; her group biography,
- [Makoha, Nick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nick-makoha/) - Dr Nick Makoha is a Ugandan poet and playwright based in London and founder of Obsidian Foundation. His new collection, The New Carthaginians, is published by Penguin. Winner of the 2021 Ivan Juritz Prize and the Poetry London Prize. In 2017, Nick’s debut collection, Kingdom of Gravity, was shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Prize for
- [Allen-Paisant, Jason](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jason-allen-paisant/) - Jason Allen-Paisant is a Jamaican writer and award-winning poet, author of Self-Portrait as Othello, which won both the Forward and T.S. Eliot Prizes in 2023, and of Thinking with Trees. His latest book, The Possibility of Tenderness, is a work of literary nonfiction. He holds a doctorate from Oxford and is Professor of Critical Theory and Creative Writing at
- [Benson, Fiona](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/fiona-benson/) - Fiona Benson is the author of four poetry collections: Bright Travellers, Vertigo & Ghost, Ephemeron and Midden Witch, and one poetry script Infamous Offspring in collaboration with Wim Vandekeybus / Ultima Vez. Her books have won the Forward Prize, the Seamus Heaney Prize, the Roehampton Poetry Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, and she is a Society
- [Wright, Patrick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patrick-wright/) - Patrick Wright is the author of The Sea View Has Me Again: Uwe Johnson in Sheerness (2020) and of seven books before that. A freelance writer, broadcaster and occasional curator for many years, he is now an emeritus professor in the Department of English at King’s College London and a fellow of the British Academy.
- [Sumption, Jonathan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jonathan-sumption/) - Jonathan Sumption (Lord Sumption) began his career as a history Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford) before leaving to practice commercial and constitutional law at the bar. In 2012, he served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2108. He is the author of a number of books on
- [Seiffert, Rachel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rachel-seiffert/) - Rachel Seiffert has published five novels, Once The Deed Is Done, A Boy in Winter, The Dark Room, Afterwards, and The Walk Home, and one collection of short stories, Field Study. Her novels have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Dublin/IMPAC Award, and longlisted three times for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, most
- [Abdullah, Kia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kia-abdullah/) - Kia Abdullah is the bestselling author of five novels. She has been longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award and won the Adult Fiction Diverse Book Award (2022) and a JB Priestley Award for Writers of Promise (2020). She has written for the New York Times, the Guardian and the FT among others, and has
- [Le Bas, Damian ](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/damian-le-bas/) - Damian Le Bas’s first book The Stopping Places won the Somerset Maugham Award, an RSL Jerwood Award, and was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year. Widely published as a journalist and poet, he has received a Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship and an honorary Master of Education from the University of Chichester. Damian read Theology at the
- [Harvey, Samantha](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/samantha-harvey/) - Samantha Harvey is the author of five novels, The Wilderness, All Is Song, Dear Thief, The Western Wind and Orbital. She is also the author of a memoir, The Shapeless Unease. Her latest novel, Orbital, takes place on a space station and is an account of a single 24-hour day in low earth orbit. Orbital
- [Kennedy, Louise](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/louise-kennedy/) - Louise Kennedy grew up near Belfast. She was educated at University College Dublin and Queens University Belfast. She is the author of the critically acclaimed short story collection; The End of the World is a Cul de Sac (2021). Trespasses (2022), her debut novel, won several awards and was shortlisted for others, including the Women’s
- [Eshun, Ekow](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ekow-eshun/) - Ekow Eshun is a writer, curator and broadcaster. He is the author of books including The Strangers, longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and the Jhalak Prize, and the memoir Black Gold of the Sun, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. Hailed by the Guardian as ‘a cultural polymath’, he was the first Black editor of
- [Ellmann, Lucy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lucy-ellmann/) - Lucy Ellmann is a novelist. Her first novel, Sweet Desserts, won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1988. Her most recent, Ducks, Newburyport, was shortlisted for the Booker, won the Goldsmiths Prize and the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction, and shared Sweden’s Kulturhuset Stadsteatern’s 2023 International Book of the Year award with its translator. Born
- [Harrison, M. John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/m-john-harrison/) - M. John Harrison has been writing fiction since 1966. He has also written about fiction–in the TLS, Guardian, Telegraph, NYT & elsewhere–since 1989; and was a judge for the 2022 Booker Prize. His previous books include Climbers, which won the 1989 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Writing; an “anti-memoir”, Wish I Was Here, 2023; and
- [Brahmachari, Sita](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sita-brahmachari/) - Sita Brahmachari is an award-winning author celebrated for her rites of passage children's and young adult novels and her work with diverse communities in theatre. Since her Waterstones Award Winning debut ‘Artichoke Hearts’ Sita’s novels, plays and short stories have received international critical acclaim. Her works include: ‘Kite Spirit,’ ‘Tender Earth’ ‘When Shadows Fall,’ ‘When Secrets
- [Miller, Lucasta](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lucasta-miller/) - Lucasta Miller is a critic and scholar, best known on both sides of the Atlantic for her influential book The Bronte Myth. Her articles and reviews have appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, where she was a longform profile-writer. Formerly deputy literary editor of the Independent, and later editorial director of Notting Hill
- [Farr, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-farr/) - David Farr is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He was previously Artistic Director of London’s Gate Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and The Lyric Hammersmith. He has written six original plays, published by Faber and Faber. His adaptations for stage include Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Homer’s The Odyssey. His first film The Ones Below premiered in 2015
- [McNish, Hollie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hollie-mcnish/) - Hollie McNish is a bestselling poet and author based between Cambridge and Glasgow. She won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry for her poetic memoir – Nobody Told Me. She has published four further collections of poetry – Papers, Cherry Pie, Plum and Virgin, as well as her Sunday Times bestselling hybrid
- [Sansom, Ian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ian-sansom/) - Ian Sansom is a novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of more than 20 books.
- [Allnutt, Gillian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gillian-allnutt/) - Gillian Allnutt has published ten poetry collections, all but two with Bloodaxe Books. The latest, lode, came out in May 2025. How the Bicycle Shone: New & Selected Poems (2007) includes work from Nantucket and the Angel (1997) and Lintel (2001), both shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. She has taught creative writing in universities,
- [Gardner, Sally](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sally-gardner/) - Sally Gardner is a writer who is also severely dyslexic. She started her career in theatre as a set and costume designer. She is known for her imaginative plots and her love of history. Her notable works include the award-winning titles "I, Coriander" and "Maggot Moon," which have earned her critical acclaim and various awards,
- [Cocker, Mark](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mark-cocker/) - Mark Cocker is a multi-award-winning author of creative non-fiction, a naturalist and a writing tutor. He writes or broadcasts on nature in a variety of national media. He reviews for the Spectator and other publications and has written a fortnighly country diary for The Guardian and Guardian Weekly without a break since 1988. He has now written well over 1,000 articles for
- [Benjamin, Marina](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/marina-benjamin/) - Marina Benjamin is an essayist and writer of memoir. She has published six books, including Rocket Dreams and Last Days in Babylon, and most recently a trilogy of memoirs about midlife: The Middlepause (2016), Insomnia (2018) and A Little Give (2023). Her books have been translated into many languages and have been long- and short-listed for
- [Brook, Annette](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/annette-brook/) - Annette Brook has worked in literature development for 15 years, primarily in communications and marketing, for organisations including Spread the Word, the Royal Society of Literature and First Story. Her specialisms include digital communications, partnership development, volunteer management and supporting the career progression of writers. She has been an advisory board member for Penned in
- [Michel, Caroline](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/caroline-michel/) - Since 2007, Dame Caroline Michel has been both the CEO of literary and talent agency Peters Fraser and Dunlop (PFD) and has served as Chair and previously Trustee of Hay Literary festival. She is also Chair of the BFI Trust, a Fellow of the RSA and Vice President of the London Library and Trustee of
- [Bottomley, Nic](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nic-bottomley/) - Nic Bottomley is co-founder of Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, the welcoming and irreverent independent bookshop in Bath which has twice been named Independent Bookshop of the Year (UK and Ireland) and is known for bookselling innovations such as The Reading Spa, one of the UK’s largest bespoke reading subscription programmes and being the
- [Linton, Lynette](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lynette-linton/) - Lynette Linton is a writer, and BAFTA nominated director for theatre, TV and film, was the Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre from 2019 - 2025. Her programming at the Bush has centered on ground-breaking debuts from UK and Irish writers. It has seen four consecutive Olivier Award wins for Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer, Igor Memic’s Old
- [Savidge, Simon](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/simon-savidge/) - Simon Savidge is a bibliophile, broadcaster and presenter. He has judged the Costa Book Awards, Portico Prize and Desmond Elliott Prize. He has appeared on the Booker Prize Live on BBC, recommended books on BBC 5 Live plus co-hosted Turn Up For The Books on BBC Sounds. He has co-presented three seasons of Sky Arts
- [Ovenden, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-ovenden/) - Richard Ovenden is Bodley’s Librarian & the Helen Hamlyn Director of the University Libraries (the senior executive officer of the Bodleian Libraries) and is responsible for their strategic oversight. He holds this post together with being Head of Gardens, Libraries & Museums (GLAM). Richard has held positions at Durham University Library, the House of Lords
- [Soames (Baroness Soames), Mary](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mary-soames-baroness-soames/)
- [Sherry, Norman](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/norman-sherry/)
- [Lefebure, Molly](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/molly-lefebure/)
- [Hocking, Mary](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mary-hocking/)
- [Gordimer, Nadine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nadine-gordimer/)
- [Goffin, Magdalen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/magdalen-goffin/) - Magdalen Goffin has written biographies of her grandmother, Maria Pasqua, and her father, E. I. Watkin, and edited the diaries of another ancestor Absalom Watkin. She also wrote numerous articles and reviews for the New York Review of Books (1966–69).
- [Gallant, Mavis](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mavis-gallant/)
- [Furbank, P.N.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/p-n-furbank/)
- [Forster, Margaret](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/margaret-forster/)
- [Conrad, P](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/p-conrad/)
- [Cohen, Morton](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/morton-cohen/)
- [Butler, Marilyn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/marilyn-butler/)
- [Brock, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-brock/)
- [Bawden, Nina](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nina-bawden/)
- [Baldwin, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-baldwin/)
- [Woof CBE, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-woof-cbe/) - Dr Robert Samuel Woof (20 April 1931 – 7 November 2005) was an English scholar, most famous for having been the first Director of the Wordsworth Trust and Museums Director of the Wordsworth Museum at Dove Cottage in Grasmere, Lake District, Cumbria. Dove Cottage is known as the centre for British Romanticism movement, having been
- [Pearce, Phillipa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/phillipa-pearce/) - Author of Tom’s Midnight Garden, Ann Philippa Pearce was a beloved writer of children’s fiction. She was also an editor, nurturing the careers of many other writers. Writing a great many children’s books following a career in the BBC writing scripts for broadcasting, she was awarded an OBE in 1997 for contribution to children’s literature.
- [Barnes, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-barnes/) - Peter Barnes was an Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Barnes achieved critical acclaim and box-office success with his baroque comedy, The Ruling Class, in 1968. He later adapted his play into a 1972 film which garnered Peter O'Toole an Oscar nomination before becoming a cult classic. Known best as a playwright of dark historical comedies, Barnes wrote widely for films,
- [Woof, Pamela](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/pamela-woof/)
- [Trevelyan, Raleigh](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/raleigh-trevelyan/)
- [Schute, Patricia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patricia-schute/)
- [Nye, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-nye/)
- [Murphy, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-murphy/)
- [Lonsdale, Roger](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/roger-lonsdale/)
- [Lister, R.P.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/r-p-lister/)
- [Leigh Fermor, Patrick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patrick-leigh-fermor/)
- [Howard, Philip](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/philip-howard/)
- [Honan, Park](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/park-honan/)
- [Hoggart, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-hoggart/)
- [Hoban, Russell](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/russell-hoban/)
- [Hill, Reginald](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/reginald-hill/)
- [Fussell, Paul](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/paul-fussell/)
- [Dickinson, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-dickinson/)
- [Conquest, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-conquest/)
- [Adams, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-adams/)
- [Prawer Jhabvala CBE, Ruth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ruth-prawer-jhabvala-cbe/) - Ruth Prawer was born in Cologne to a Polish father and German mother. The family relocated to Britain in 1939. She married Cyrus Jhabvala in 1951 and they moved to Delhi, after 1975 splitting their time between India and New York. Although perhaps best known for her screenwriting, her love of writing books superseded her
- [Faber, Sir Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-richard-faber/) - Sir Richard Faber wrote well-crafted books of 19th-century English history, and a biography of the courtier Sir William Temple. He ended his diplomatic career as Ambassador to Algeria. Faber was appointed CMG in 1977, and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, which he served as honorary treasurer from 1986 to 1991.
- [Bedford, Sybille](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sybille-bedford/) - Sybille Bedford was a sternly disciplined novelist and travel writer. Many of her works are partly autobiographical. A Legacy, Bedford's second book and first novel, was published in 1956 and was described by Francis King as 'one of the great books of the 20th Century'. In her lifetime, she published three more novels as well as numerous
- [Townsend, Sue](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sue-townsend/)
- [Shaffer, Sir Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-peter-shaffer/)
- [Screech, The Rev Professor M.A.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/the-rev-professor-m-a-screech/)
- [Ricks, Sir Christopher](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-christopher-ricks/)
- [Rendell (Baroness Rendell of Babergh), Ruth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ruth-rendell-baroness-rendell-of-babergh/)
- [Newall, Venetia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/venetia-newall/)
- [K. Kumar, Shiv](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/shiv-k-kumar/)
- [Prawer Jhabvala, Ruth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ruth-prawer-jhabvala/)
- [Horne, Sir Alistair](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-alistair-horne/)
- [Hilton, Tim](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tim-hilton/)
- [Hill, Sir Geoffrey](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-geoffrey-hill/)
- [Heaney, Seamus](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/seamus-heaney/)
- [Havel, Vaclav](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/vaclav-havel/)
- [Eco, Umberto](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/umberto-eco/)
- [Carr, Sir Raymond](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-raymond-carr/)
- [Barstow, Stan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/stan-barstow/)
- [Barker, Sebastian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sebastian-barker/)
- [Cooper, William](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/william-cooper/) - William Cooper (Harry Summerfield Hoff), was a novelist who depicted the mysteriousness of ordinary people through a naturalistic eye. He was the author of Scenes from a Provincial Life, (1950) hailed by writers including Kingsley Amis, Braine and Anthony Burgess. Amongst Cooper's other novels - and a play - it was to be followed by
- [Bonham-Carter, Victor](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/victor-bonham-carter/) - Victor Bonham-Carter was a zealous champion of authors and the countryside and enjoyed a varied career as an author, farmer and publisher. Bonham-Carter wrote a number of books about rural matters, including The English Village (1952). In the field of military history he published Soldier True: the life and times of Field-Marshal Sir William Robertson
- [Surtees, Virginia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/virginia-surtees/)
- [St Clair, William](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/william-st-clair/)
- [Noakes, Vivien](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/vivien-noakes/)
- [Conradi, Peter J](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-j-conradi-2/)
- [Rice, Emma](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rice-emma/) - Emma is the proud Artistic Director of her company, Wise Children, and an internationally respected theatre-maker and director. For Wise Children, Emma has adapted and directed the productions The Buddha of Suburbia, Blue Beard, The Little Matchgirl and Happier Tales, Wuthering Heights, Bagdad Cafe, Romantics Anonymous, Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers and Angela Carter’s Wise Children.
- [Wack, Amy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/wack-amy/) - Amy grew up in Southern California. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in New York and worked for over 30 years as Poetry Editor for Seren Books, based in Wales, and was Director of the Cardiff Poetry Festival. Her own poems have appeared in Long Poem magazine, New Welsh Review, Poetry
- [Spawls, Alice](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/spawls-alice/) - Alice is co-editor of the London Review of Books.
- [McNicol, Jean](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mcnicol-jean/) - Jean has worked for the London Review of Books since 1987, starting as an editorial assistant, and was for many years the paper’s deputy editor before taking over the editorship with Alice Spawls in 2021.
- [Malcolm, Claire](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/malcolm-claire/) - Claire is the founder and CEO of New Writing North, the writing development organisation for the North of England. New Writing North produces major literary awards and prizes, festivals and events and programmes to support writers from underrepresented backgrounds to access the writing industries through projects such as the Northern Writers’ Awards and A Writing
- [Hannah, Lucy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hannah-lucy/) - Lucy is founder and director of Untold Narratives, a development programme for writers marginalised by community or conflict. A social entrepreneur, editor and author, she has worked with writers in the UK and worldwide to develop and promote their work. Other initiatives Lucy has established include Commonwealth Writers, Out of the Gate and BBC Writers.
- [Gee, Sue](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gee-sue/) - SUE GEE is an acclaimed and established novelist and short story writer. Her novels include The Hours of the Night (1995) which won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award, The Mysteries of Glass, long-listed for the Orange Prize in 2005, and most recently Trio (2016). Her new book, Just You and the Page: Encounters
- [Collinge, Geraldine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/collinge-geraldine/) - Geraldine is CEO of Compton Verney, Britain’s leading art space in a park. Prior to this she spent twelve years as a Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company, changing the RSC’s relationship with artists, audiences and the community. She is particularly proud of leading the £4.5m Swan Wing capital project and a series of events
- [Coady, Frances](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/coady-frances/) - Frances has spent over 40 years in publishing, first as an editor and publisher in London where she worked with many authors including with Lorrie Moore, Caryl Phillips, Edward Said, Deborah Levy, Salman Rushdie and John Pilger, and founded Vintage paperbacks. In 2000 she moved to New York where she relaunched and redefined Picador USA
- [Basu De Sarkar, Sanchita](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/basu-de-sarkar-sanchita/) - Sanchita is the owner of the Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, which was awarded the double accolade of Children’s Bookseller of the Year and Book Retailer of the Year at the British Book Awards 2024. It is the oldest running children’s bookshop in the country. Sanchita has previously been a judge for the Costa Book
- [Astor, Lucy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/astor-lucy/) - Lucy established the Encore Award in 1990 as a prize to honour the best second novel of the year. The award has been managed by the RSL since 2016 and has recently risen to £15,000 with £1,000 to be awarded to all four of its shortlisted books. Lucy is hugely proud of all the prize’s
- [Ardizzone, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ardizzone-sarah/) - Sarah is a translator of diverse French-speaking voices. Her work spans literary fiction for all ages, as well as memoir, hip-hop lyrics, graphic novels and picture books. Authors include Faïza Guène, Gaël Faye, Alain Mabanckou, Daniel Pennac and Alexandre Dumas. She has twice received the Scott Moncrieff prize and the Marsh award. In 2022 she
- [SuAndi](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/suandi/) - SuAndi is a writer, poet and arts practitioner born and raised in Manchester by a Liverpool Irish mother and a Nigerian Ijaw father. Since joining the arts she has taken up every opportunity to expand her skills; this has been particular to her role as the Freelance Cultural Director of National Black Arts Alliance as
- [Young, Louisa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/young-louisa/) - Louisa has written memoir (You Left Early); biography (Kathleen Scott, A Great Task of Happiness), and cultural history (The Book of the Heart), plus 10 novels including the My Dear I Wanted To Tell You trilogy. She is half (with her daughter Isabel Adomakoh Young) of Zizou Corder, who wrote the Lionboy books. She’s a
- [Souhami, Diana](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/souhami-diana/) - Diana is the author of Gluck: Her Biography, Gertrude and Alice, Greta and Cecil, The Trials of Radclyffe Hall (shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Biography and winner of the US Lambda Literary Award), Wild Girls, the bestselling Mrs Keppel and Her Daughter (also winner of the Lambda Literary Award and a New
- [Scott, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/scott-richard/) - Richard was born in London in 1981. His publications include Soho, which was a Gay’s the Word book of the year and shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot prize, and the pamphlet Wound. A poetry collection, That Broke into Shining Crystals, is forthcoming from Faber & Faber in February 2025. Richard is a lecturer in
- [Rees-Jones, Deryn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rees-jones-deryn/) - Deryn has written extensively about twentieth-century women’s poetry, and her landmark anthology Modern Women Poets was published in tandem with her critical work Consorting with Angels. She has received various awards for her own poetry, including an Eric Gregory and Cholmondeley award. Burying the Wren and Erato were shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Paula
- [Pullinger, Kate](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/pullinger-kate/) - Kate writes for both print and digital platforms. Her most recent novel, Forest Green, was published by Doubleday in 2020. Her most recent digital fiction Breathe, a ghost story for smartphones, was shortlisted for the New Media Writing Prize 2019, and is available for free on your phone. In 2009, Pullinger’s novel The Mistress of
- [Polley, Jacob](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/polley-jacob/) - Jacob was born and grew up in Cumbria. He has published five books of poems with Picador, UK. His fourth, Jackself, won the 2016 T.S. Eliot Prize for poetry; his third, The Havocs, won the 2012 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. His 2009 novel, Talk of the Town, set in and around Carlisle on one day
- [Pollard, Clare](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/pollard-clare/) - Clare has published five collections of poetry, most recently Incarnation. Her play The Weather was performed at The Royal Court Theatre. Her translations include Ovid’s Heroines, which she toured as a one-woman show. She has also written the non-fiction Fierce Bad Rabbits: The Tales Behind Childrens’ Picture Book, a children’s novel, The Untameables, and two
- [Parkes, Nii Ayikwei](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/parkes-nii-ayikwei/) - Nii Ayikwei is a curator, editor and writer. His debut novel, Tail of the Blue Bird, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize and won France’s two major prizes for translated fiction – Prix Baudelaire and Prix Laure Bataillon – in 2014. Translated in multiple languages, he has also written for National Geographic, Financial Times, the
- [Nzelu, Okechukwu](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nzelu-okechukwu/) - Okechukwu's debut novel The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney won a Betty Trask Award, and was nominated for a number of other prizes. In 2021, it was selected for the Kingston University Big Read. His second novel, Here Again Now was shortlisted for the Encore Award, and nominated for a number of other prizes. He
- [Kavenna, Joanna](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kavenna-joanna/) - Joanna grew up in the Midlands and has worked in the US, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Sri Lanka and the Baltic States. Her novels include Inglorious, The Birth of Love, Come to the Edge, A Field Guide to Reality and Zed. Her writing has appeared in the Paris Review, the New Yorker, Tank, Esquire and Zoetrope,
- [Ibrahiim, Khadijah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ibrahiim-khadijah/) - Khadijah was born in Leeds of Jamaican parentage. Educated at the University of Leeds, she is a literary activist, theatre maker and published writer, who combines inter-disciplinary art forms to re-imagine poetry as performance theatre. Hailed as one of Yorkshire’s most prolific poets by the BBC, her work appears in university journals and poetry anthologies.
- [Hirsch, Afua](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hirsch-afua/) - Afua is a bestselling writer and filmmaker, the author of four books including the award-winning Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging and Decolonising My Body, A Radical Exploration of Rituals and Beauty. She co-presented Samuel L. Jackson’s major TV series Enslaved in 2020, and Africa Rising, an ongoing BBC series exploring the art and culture
- [Hislop, Victoria](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hislop-victoria/) - Victoria is the author of nine novels including the multi-million copy bestseller, The Island. Her books have been translated into 40 languages and she was executive producer on the adaptations of The Island, Cartes Postales and One August Night for Greek television. She holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sheffield, is on the
- [Herron, Mick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/herron-mick/) - Mick was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and educated there and at Oxford, where he now lives with his partner Jo. He is a writer of crime fiction and spy novels, the best known of which are the Slow Horses series, which have won some awards and have been adapted for television.
- [Hannah, Sophie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hannah-sophie/) - Sophie is a Sunday Times, New York Times and Amazon Kindle UK No. 1 bestselling writer of crime fiction, poetry, short stories, self-help books and musical theatre librettos. Her books are published in 49 languages and 51 countries and have sold millions of copies worldwide. At the request of Agatha Christie’s family and estate, she
- [Gupta, Sunetra](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gupta-sunetra/) - Sunetra is the author of the novels Memories of Rain, The Glassblower’s Breath, Moonlight into Marzipan, A Sin of Color and, most recently, So Good in Black. Her novels have been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Southern Arts Literature Prize, and longlisted for the Orange Prize and the DSC Prize for South Asian
- [Groarke, Vona](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/groarke-vona/) - Vona is the author of 14 books, including eight poetry collections. She was a Cullman Center Fellow at New York Public Library and subsequently published Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O’Hara with New York University Press. Poet, essayist, reviewer, editor and former selector for the Poetry Book Society, she has taught at the University
- [Freud, Annie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/freud-annie/) - Annie's debut pamphlet was published by Donut Press and followed by four collections with Picador. The Best Man That Ever was awarded the Dimplex Prize and The Mirabelles was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize in 2015, and was followed by The Remains. Hiddensee is her most recent collection. She taught a thriving poetry composition
- [France, Linda](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/france-linda/) - Linda has published 10 collections of poetry since 1990. Her latest include Laurel Prize winner The Knucklebone Floor and Startling. Linda was named inaugural Environmental Poet of the Year 2022-23 in the Michael Marks Awards. She won the Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition in 2013 and has received a Society of Authors’ Cholmondeley Award. A
- [Dunant, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dunant-sarah/) - Sarah studied history at Newnham College, Cambridge from where she went on to become a writer, broadcaster, teacher and critic. She has written 12 novels, four of which have been shortlisted for awards, and edited two books of essays. She worked for many years for the BBC in radio and television including BBC 2’s arts
- [Day, Elizabeth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/day-elizabeth/) - Elizabeth is an award-winning author and broadcaster. Her five novels include Scissors Paper Stone (which won a Betty Trask Award), The Party (a Richard & Judy Book Club pick) and the Sunday Times bestseller Magpie. She has also written four works of non-fiction, including How To Fail (which was born out of the chart-topping podcast
- [Evans, Martina](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/evans-martina/) - Martina Evans is an Irish poet, novelist and teacher. She grew up in County Cork and has lived in London since 1988. The author of thirteen books of prose and poetry, Evans’s first novel, Midnight Feast, (Sinclair-Stevenson) won a Betty Trask Award in 1996. This was followed by The Glass Mountain (Sinclair-Stevenson 1997) and her third
- [Gopal, Priyamvada](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gopal-priyamvada/) - Priyamvada is University Reader in Anglophone and Related Literatures in the Faculty of English at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Churchill College. She is the author of Literary Radicalism in India: Gender, Nation and the Transition to Independence and The Indian English Novel: Nation, History and Narration.
- [Crooks, Jacqueline](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/crooks-jacqueline/) - Jacqueline Crooks is a writer of novels, short stories and radio dramas. Fire Rush, her novel, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Jhalak Prize, the Authors Club Best First Novel Award and the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, and selected as an Observer Best Debut Novel of the Year. For her short stories, published
- [Bradman, Tony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bradman-tony/) - Tony is an award-winning writer of children’s books. He has written poetry, picture books and stories for all ages, including historical fiction set in a wide range of periods - he was made a Fellow of the Historical Association in 2022. He has edited many anthologies, has been active in authors’ organisations - he was
- [Gunaratne, Guy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gunaratne-guy/) - Guy is a British novelist and playwright, and winner ofthe Dylan Thomas Prize and the Jhalak Prize, as well as a longlistee for the Booker, Goldsmith’s and Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. Guy served as Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge and is the current editor of The Review by Writers Mosaic
- [Gbadamosi, Gabriel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gbadamosi-gabriel/) - Gabriel is an Irish and Nigerian poet and playwright. His London novel Vauxhall won the Tibor Jones Pageturner Prize and Best International Novel at the Sharjah Book Fair. He was AHRC Creative and Performing Arts Fellow at the Pinter Centre, Goldsmiths; a Judith E. Wilson Fellow at the University of Cambridge; and Writer in Residence
- [Adam Zamoyski](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adam-zamoyski/)
- [Miranda Seymour](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/miranda-seymour/)
- [Kelly, Laurence](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/laurence-kelly/)
- [Thompson, Emma](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/emma-thompson/) - Dame Emma Thompson is one of the world’s most critically-lauded and respected talents for her versatility in acting as well as screenwriting. She is the sole artist thus far to have received an Academy Award for both acting (Howards End) and screenwriting (Sense and Sensibility). In June of 2018 she was appointed a Dame Commander of
- [Abdulrazzak, Hassan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/abdularazzak-hassan/) - Hassan is an award-winning writer of Iraqi origin, born in Prague and living in London. His plays include The Special Relationship, And Here I Am, Love, Bombs and Apples, The Prophet and Baghdad Wedding (all published by Bloomsbury). Hassan has translated numerous Arabic plays and contributed to several anthologies including Iraq +100 (Comma Press). The
- [Berry, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-berry/)
- [Burnside, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-burnside/) - I really have no sense of time, so I can’t recall how long I have been a Fellow of the RSL but it has been several years. Part of my problem with time is that so much is always going on at once: last July I moved to Berlin as a fellow of the DAAD
- [Fortey, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-fortey/)
- [Capildeo, Anthony V.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anthony-capildeo/) - Anthony V. Capildeo’s recent books include Skin Can Hold (Carcanet, 2019), poetry which arose from collaborations in various forms of performance and is intended for re-adaptation; Venus as a Bear (Carcanet, 2018), poems which centre on ‘things’ in the tradition of Francis Ponge and Gertrude Stein, with an index of places at the back for
- [Dixon, Bill](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dixon-bill/) - Bill has been a solicitor specialising in commercial dispute resolution for some 40 years and has worked for a wide range of clients (including charities and not-for-profit companies). His work includes advice on risk and regulatory issues. For many years Bill headed up the London dispute resolution team of a major international law firm. He
- [Hay, Daisy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/daisy-hay/) - Daisy Hay is an award-winning biographer whose previous work includes Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron and Other Tangled Lives (2010), Mr and Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance (2015) and Dinner with Joseph Johnson: Books and Friendship in a Revolutionary Age (2022). Her next work of narrative non-fiction, The Book of Falling Women, is due for publication with Chatto & Windus in 2026.
- [Freely, Maureen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/maureen-freely/)
- [McGuinness, Patrick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patrick-mcguinness/) - Patrick McGuinness was born in Tunisia, of Belgian and Newcastle Irish parents. His books include The Last Hundred Days (2011), about the fall of the Ceausescu régime in Romanian, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and won the Writers' Guild Award for Fiction and the Wales Book
- [Nagra, Daljit](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/daljit-nagra/) - Daljit Nagra’s parents came to Britain from the Punjab, India, in the late 1950s. Nagra comes from a Sikh background and was born and grew up in West London then Sheffield. He has published four collections of poetry all with Faber & Faber. His pamphlet, Oh My Rub! was a Smith/Doorstop winner and was the
- [Scurr, Ruth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ruth-scurr/) - Ruth Scurr is a biographer, historian and literary critic. Her first book, Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution (2006), won the Franco-British Society Literary Prize and was listed among the 100 Best Books of the Decade in The Times in 2009. Her second book, John Aubrey: My Own Life (2015) was shortlisted for the Costa Biography
- [Tonkin, Boyd](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/boyd-tonkin/) - Boyd Tonkin is a journalist, editor and critic who currently writes on literature and other arts for international media including The Economist, The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and The Spectator. As Literary Editor and then Senior Writer of The Independent, he re-founded The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, with Arts Council England, and judged it
- [Okojie, Irenosen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/irenosen-okojie/) - Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian British writer. Her debut novel, Butterfly Fish, won a Betty Trask Award. Her short stories have been published internationally, including in Salt’s Best British Short Stories 2017, Kwani? and The Year’s Best Weird Fiction. She was presented by Ben Okri at the London Short Story Festival as a dynamic writing
- [Dharker, Imtiaz](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/imtiaz-dharker/) - Dharker is a poet, artist and video film-maker. She was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2014. She received the Cholmondeley Award and Honorary Doctorates from SOAS and Manchester Metropolitan University, and in 2020 she became the Chancellor of Newcastle University. Her collections include Purdah (Oxford University Press), Postcards from god, I speak for the devil and The terrorist
- [Beauman, Nicola](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nicola-beauman/) - Nicola Beauman read English at Cambridge and afterwards was a book reviewer and worked in publishing. She has written A Very Great Profession (1983) about inter-war women writers, and biographies of Lady Cynthia Asquith (1987), EM Forster (1993) and the novelist Elizabeth Taylor (2009). In 1998 she founded Persephone Books in order to reprint (mostly)
- [Duncan-Jones, Katherine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/katherine-duncan-jones/)
- [Schlee, Ann](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ann-schlee/)
- [Beard, Mary](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/professor-dame-mary-beard/) - Mary Beard is one of Britain’s best-known Classicists - a distinguished Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Newnham College, where she has taught for the last 30 years. She has written numerous books on the Ancient World, including the 2008 Wolfson Prize-winner, Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town which
- [Arnold, Bruce](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bruce-arnold/)
- [O'Brien, Edna](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/edna-obrien/)
- [Dugdale, Sasha](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sasha-dugdale/) - Sasha Dugdale has published six collections of poems with Carcanet, her latest, The Strongbox, was published in 2024. Joy, published in 2017, was a PBS Choice. She won the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem in 2016 and in 2017 she was awarded a Cholmondeley Prize for Poetry. Sasha Dugdale’s translations of the Russian poet Maria Stepanova are published
- [Hayes, Barbara](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/barbara-hayes/) - Barbara Hayes is Chief Executive of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, a not-for-profit, non-union organisation, established in 1977 and wholly owned by the 125,000 members’ work, including photocopying, retransmission in the UK and overseas, digital reproduction, educational recording and repeat use via the Internet. Barbara regularly advocates for writers’ rights in parliament, was elected
- [Palmer, Alan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alan-palmer/)
- [Byatt (Dame Antonia Byatt), A.S.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/a-s-byatt/)
- [Hewitt, Mark C.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mark-c-hewitt/) - Mark C. Hewitt is a UK-based writer, theatremaker, and stage director. He is founder and Artistic Director of LLL Productions (a live literature production company) and Blank Productions (focused on interdisciplinary collaborations). In 2010, he co-founded intercultural performing arts company, Crosspath, with Caribbean-British poets John Agard and Grace Nichols. In 2018 he co-founded Penned Up
- [Vishkai, Reza](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/reza-vishkai/) - Reza, a founding partner of Parala, brings over thirty years of finance sector expertise in various investment strategies, including derivatives, absolute return, and private equity. He began his career as a fixed income analyst at Salomon Brothers and later joined Rogers, Casey & Associates, a leading US investment consultancy. There, he advised major corporate and
- [Kwesi Johnson, Linton](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/linton-kwesi-johnson/) - Linton Kweis Johnson is a Jamaican dub poet and activist who has been based in the United Kingdom since 1963. In 2002 he became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His performance poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican patois
- [Ashton, Zawe](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/zawe-ashton/) - Zawe Ashton is an actor, director, producer, playwright and novelist. Her portrayal of Vod in Channel 4’s FRESH MEAT won her a cult following, and the diversity of her work across television, film, and stage has attracted numerous accolades and awards. Recent credits include the BBC/Netflix TV series WANDERLUST and the Netflix feature film VELVET BUZZSAW, in which she starred
- [Bragg (Lord Bragg), Melvyn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/melvyn-bragg/)
- [Binyon, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-binyon/)
- [Ayckbourn, Sir Alan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-alan-ayckbourn/)
- [Roberts, Michèle](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michele-roberts/)
- [Figes, Orlando](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/orlando-figes/)
- [Hadley, Tessa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tessa-hadley/)
- [Adamson, Donald](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/donald-adamson/)
- [Asher, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-asher/) - Michael Asher is an author, historian, deep ecologist, teacher, and an award-winning desert explorer. A former SAS soldier, and a graduate of the University of Leeds, he worked as a volunteer teacher in the Sudan for several years, before going to live full-time with a traditional nomadic group there - the Kababish. He and Italian
- [Whitman, Sylvia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sylvia-whitman/) - Sylvia Whitman is the director of Shakespeare and Company bookstore. Born in Paris in 1981 and educated in Edinburgh, she went on to study at University College London. In 2004, she took over management of the bookstore from her father, who had opened the shop in 1951. In 2003, she created the first Shakespeare and
- [Swainson, Bill](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bill-swainson/) - Bill Swainson is an editor with forty years’ experience in independent and mainstream publishing. He was Senior Commissioning Editor at Bloomsbury (2000-15), and previously worked at the Harvill Press, Fourth Estate, Allison & Busby and John Calder. Since 2015 he has been a literary consultant and freelance editor, editing a list of translated fiction for
- [Schilz, Aki](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/aki-schilz/) - Aki Schilz is the Director of The Literary Consultancy, the UK’s longest-running editorial consultancy. She has twice featured in the Bookseller 150, a list of the most influential figures in UK publishing, in recognition of her work campaigning for more equitable cultures within the publishing and creative industries. She has been a finalist for the Kim
- [Roberts, Susan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/susan-roberts/) - Susan Roberts is the Head of BBC Culture, Arts and Music Audio North. She has directed over 200 radio plays for Radios 3 and 4 and made many arts documentaries.As well as working in Audio, Susan has directed several films including Men Who Sleep in Cars and Black Roses (RTS Award Best Drama) which she
- [Paterson, Emma](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/emma-paterson/) - Emma Paterson joined Aitken Alexander Associates in 2018 after five years at Rogers, Coleridge & White. Before that, she worked at The Wylie Agency. She was made a Director of Aitken Alexander and became a member of the Booker Prize Foundation Advisory Committee in 2020. In 2021, she was included in British Vogue’s annual list
- [Mullin, Henderson](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/henderson-mullin/) - Henderson Mullin has a long interest in how literature enables marginalised people to represent themselves, or helps people to live better together. In 1997, he joined Writers and Scholars Educational Trust, later becoming publisher of its award-winning magazine Index on Censorship, campaigning for writers under threat. In 2008 he founded Writing East Midlands with ACE
- [Marsack, Robyn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robyn-marsack/) - Born and raised in New Zealand, Robyn Marsack obtained her DPhil from Oxford, and began her career in publishing at Carcanet Press. On moving to Glasgow, she became a freelance editor, critic and occasional translator from French. Director of the Scottish Poetry Library 2000-2016, she was later an RLF Writing Fellow at Glasgow University. She
- [Kidd, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-kidd/) - Andrew Kidd worked for 20 years in publishing, at Penguin and Picador/Macmillan, where he published numerous prize-winning authors, and then as a literary agent for Aitken Alexander. In 2013 he co-founded the Folio Prize, which he continues to chair. It was the first book prize open to all genres and the first to be overseen
- [Hughes, Peggy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peggy-hughes/) - Peggy Hughes has been Executive Director at the National Centre for Writing since January 2022, and was Head of Programmes for four years before that. She comes from Northern Ireland, went to university in Scotland, and stayed to spend her formative years in literature organisations including the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Edinburgh UNESCO
- [Gribble, Chris](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/chris-gribble/) - Chris Gribble is the CEO of the National Centre for Writing. He led Norwich’s bid to become England’s first UNESCO City of Literature and its campaign to create a home for NCW in the heart of the city. NCW works with early career writers and literary translators, readers, audiences and communities to connect and transform
- [Godwin, Georgina](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/georgina-goodwin/) - Georgina Godwin is a chair of literary events, worldwide. She is Books Editor for Monocle Radio and presenter of the in-depth author interview show Meet the Writers. Born in Zimbabwe, educated there and at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London, she was a founder member of Zimbabwe’s first independent radio station (for which she was
- [Currey, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-currey/) - James Currey has enabled the first publication in the English language of novels, plays and poetry by many writers born in Africa. He added some 250 titles to the African Writers Series and also launched the Caribbean Writers Series and Arab Authors. He edited and designed 51 monthly issues of The New African in Cape
- [Beswick, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-beswick/) - Richard Beswick’s first job in publishing was at Penguin. He subsequently worked for Queen Anne Press , Futura and Cardinal, before becoming Publishing Director at Little, Brown/Abacus. In that time he has published a wide range of bestselling writers and prize-winners, from Alexander McCall Smith to Brett Anderson; Rachel Clarke to Donna Tartt; and David
- [Andrew, Nelle](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nelle-andrew/) - Nelle Andrew is an agent who was crowned Literary Agent of the Year in 2021 at the British Book Awards and was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. She represents an array of authors including a winner of the Costa Debut Fiction Award, a longlistee for the Women’s Prize and Walter Scott Prize, two HWA
- [Nasta, Susheila](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/susheila-nasta/) - Susheila Nasta MBE is a writer, critic and literary activist. In 1984 she founded Wasafiri, the Magazine of International Contemporary Writing, Britain’s first magazine to platform literary voices from Britain’s Black British, South Asian, and diasporic communities. For over three and a half decades, she published 100 issues featuring more than 5000 international writers, many
- [Chisholm, Colin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/colin-chisholm/) - Colin Chisholm has been the Honorary Treasurer of the RSL since 2014. In this time, a period of change, he has ensured continuity in the Society’s financial management, and used his specialist expertise in investment to secure its future. In particular, he has worked closely with the RSL’s investment managers, Veritas, to ensure the best
- [Ross, Leone](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/leone-ross/) - Leone Ross is a novelist, short story writer and editor. Her work has been nominated for the Women’s Prize, the Goldsmiths Prize, the RSL Ondaatje Prize, and the Edge Hill Prize, among others. In 2022, she won the Manchester Prize for Fiction. The Times Literary Supplement called her ‘a master of detail...’ She has taught
- [Singh, Sunny](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sunny-singh/) - Sunny Singh is the author of three critically acclaimed novels: Nani’s Book of Suicides, With Krishna’s Eyes and Hotel Arcadia, and a non-fiction book, Single in the City: The Independent Woman’s Handbook. Her essays, short stories, and columns are published worldwide. She has recently completed a collection of short stories examining aspects of armed conflict
- [Taneja, Preti](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/preti-taneja/) - Preti Taneja is a writer and activist whose critically acclaimed fiction and non-fiction has won and been nominated for awards including the Desmond Elliott Prize, the Gordon Burn Prize, and the Prix Jan Michalski. Her stories and prose-poetry are widely anthologised, and her work translated into several languages. Born in the UK, she lives in
- [Sheers, Owen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/owen-sheers/) - Owen Sheers is a poet, author and playwright. Twice winner of Welsh Book of the Year, he was the recipient of the 2016 St David Award for Culture and the 2018 Wilfred Owen Poetry Award. A former NYPL Cullman Fellow, he is Cennad of Wales PEN Cymru, Professor in Creativity at Swansea University and co-founder
- [Stothard, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-stothard/) - Peter Stothard is a writer of Roman history and memoir. His books include Alexandria: The Last Nights of Cleopatra, The Last Assassin: The Hunt for the Killers of Julius Caesar and Palatine: An Alternative History of the Caesars. He is a former editor of the TLS (2002-2016) and of The Times (1992-2002). In 2012 he
- [Wagner, Erica](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/erica-wagner/) - Erica Wagner was born in New York and lives in London. Her most recent book is Mary and Mr Eliot: A Sort-of Love Story. Chief Engineer: Washington Roebling, The Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge was published in 2017 and was the winner of the Eccles Centre and Hay Festival Writers’ Award. She is the
- [Wilson, Bee](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bee-wilson/) - Bee Wilson writes about food, among other subjects, and she is also the co-founder of a food education charity (TastEd). Her books include Consider the Fork, First Bite (which won the Andre Simon Special Commendation Award) and The Way We Eat Now (which won Fortnum & Mason Food Book of the Year). Her first cookbook,
- [Thompson, Tade](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tade-thompson/) - Tade Thompson is a writer of novels, short stories and screenplays in addition to being a full time consultant psychiatrist. He is best known for Rosewater and The Murders of Molly Southbourne, both of which have been optioned for adaptation. He has won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Nommo Award, the Kitschies Golden Tentacle
- [O'Reilly, Kaite](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kaite-oreilly/) - Kaite O’Reilly is an award winning writer and dramaturg. Prizes she has won include the Ted Hughes Award for new works in poetry, Peggy Ramsay Award, Theatre-Wales Award and Manchester Prize. She was honoured in the 2017/18 International Eliot Hayes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy. A leading figure in disability arts and culture internationally,
- [Ness, Patrick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patrick-ness/) - Patrick Ness is the award-winning and bestselling author of the Chaos Walking trilogy, now a major motion picture. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed novels A Monster Calls, More Than This, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Release, And the Ocean Was Our Sky and Burn. He has won every major
- [Patterson, Glenn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/glenn-patterson/) - Glenn Patterson has published eleven novels and five works of non-fiction, most recently The Last Irish Question: Will Six Into Twenty-Six Ever Go? He co-wrote the 2012 feature film Good Vibrations and is Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University Belfast.
- [Paull, Laline](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/laline-paull/) - London-born Laline Paull is a novelist and dramatist of Indian heritage. She is the author of three novels, most recently Pod, a science-backed cetacean epic. Her second, The Ice, tells of geopolitical intrigue on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, and she is currently adapting her debut novel, The Bees, at the National Theatre. She has
- [Joseph, Anthony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anthony-joseph/) - Anthony Joseph is a Trinidad-born poet, novelist, academic and musician. He is the author of five poetry collections and three novels. In 2019, he was awarded a Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship and in 2020 received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Composers Award. His most recent collection Sonnets for Albert won the 2022 T.S. Eliot Prize for
- [Lawrence, Patrice](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patrice-lawrence/) - Patrice Lawrence is a Brighton-born writer of prize-winning books for children and young people. Her debut, Orangeboy, was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Award and won the Bookseller YA Prize and Waterstones Prize for Older Children. She has won the Crimefest YA Award twice, the Woman and Home Teen Drama Book Award, the inaugural Jhalak
- [McFarlane, Roy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/roy-mcfarlane/) - Roy McFarlane is a poet, playwright and former Youth & Community worker born in Birmingham of Jamaican parentage, living in Brighton. He’s the National Canal Laureate, a former Birmingham Poet Laureate and was one of the Bards of Brum who performed in the Opening Ceremony for Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. His debut collection, Beginning With
- [McGarvey, Darren](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/darren-mcgarvey/) - Darren McGarvey, also known as Loki, is a writer, columnist and hip hop recording artist, who has made regular media appearances as a social commentator. He grew up in Pollok on the south side of Glasgow, and has lived through extreme poverty, addiction and homelessness. He has written and presented eight programmes on social deprivation
- [Millwood Hargrave, Kiran](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kiran-millwood-hargrave/) - Kiran Millwood Hargrave is the Sunday Times bestselling author of novels for children and adults. Her books have been translated into more than 30 languages and optioned for stage and screen. They’ve been short- and long-listed for numerous awards including the Carnegie Medal, Costa Book Awards, and the Jhalak Prize, and have won a Betty
- [Myers, Benjamin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/benjamin-myers/) - Benjamin Myers’s novels include The Gallows Pole, which won the Walter Scott Prize, and has been adapted for the BBC by Shane Meadows, and The Offing, which is in development as a film starring Helena Bonham Carter. Other titles include Pig Iron, winner of the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize, Beastings, recipient of the Portico Prize,
- [Litt, Toby](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/toby-litt/) - Toby Litt is a writer and environmental activist based in London. His novels include Corpsing, Ghost Story, and Patience, which was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, and A Writer’s Diary. His short stories have won the Manchester Fiction Prize and the Short Fiction/University of Essex International Short Story Prize. He is Associate Professor
- [Malik, Nesrine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nesrine-malik/) - Nesrine Malik is an award-winning author, journalist and columnist. She is the author of We Need New Stories, Challenging the Myths Behind our Age of Discontent (UK), and We Need New Stories, the Myths That Subvert Freedom (US). Her work is focused on culture wars, globalisation, and identity politics.
- [Naidoo, Beverley](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/beverley-naidoo/) - Beverley Naidoo grew up in Johannesburg. As a student she joined the resistance to Apartheid, ending up exiled in England. Her first book Journey to Jo’burg, originally banned in South Africa, opened a window for children worldwide and is now a modern classic. She has won many awards including the Carnegie Medal for The Other
- [Namjoshi, Suniti](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/suniti-namjoshi/) - Suniti Namjoshi was born in Mumbai, India and lives in the South West of England. Her books include Feminist Fables, Building Babel, Saint Suniti and the Dragon, Goja, The Fabulous Feminist, Suki, Foxy Aesop and Dangerous Pursuits. Her children’s books include the Aditi series, The Boy and Dragon Stories and Blue and Other Stories.
- [Ladipo Manyika, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sarah-ladipo-manyika/) - Sarah Ladipo Manyika is a writer of novels, short stories and essays translated into several languages. She is the author of the best-selling novel In Dependence and multiple shortlisted novel Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream To The Sun. Named one of the ‘100 Most Influential Africans’ by New African in 2022, Sarah has served
- [Erskine, Wendy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/wendy-erskine/) - Wendy Erskine’s two prize-winning collections of short stories, Sweet Home and Dance Move, are published by The Stinging Fly Press and Picador. She was editor of well I just kind of like it, an anthology focusing on art in the home and the home as art, published by Paper Visual Art Books. In 2022, she
- [Fagan, Jenni](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jenni-fagan/) - Jenni Fagan is an award-winning novelist, poet, screenwriter and artist. She has published four novels, five poetry collections and her memoir Ootlin. Jenni concluded a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2020 becoming a doctor of philosophy. Her fourth novel Luckenbooth is in adaptation for television, alongside The Panopticon, and she is writing the
- [Garland, Rosie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rosie-garland/) - Rosie Garland has a passion for language nurtured by public libraries. She writes long and short fiction, poetry and sings with post-punk band The March Violets. Her latest collection, What Girls Do in the Dark, was shortlisted for the Polari Prize. Her novel, The Night Brother, was described by The Times as ‘a delight...with shades
- [Hewitt, Seán](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sean-hewitt/) - Seán Hewitt was born in Warrington in 1990. His debut collection of poems, Tongues of Fire, won The Laurel Prize, and his memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. His study of the Irish writer J.M. Synge, J.M. Synge: Nature, Politics, Modernism, was published by Oxford University Press in
- [Francis, Gavin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gavin-francis/) - Gavin Francis’s books explore aspects of travel and medicine, and include Empire Antarctica, Adventures in Human Being, Island Dreams, and Sir Thomas Browne. He qualified in medicine in 1999, and works as a general practitioner in Edinburgh, where he is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He has lectured on the synergies between
- [Jaggi, Maya](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/maya-jaggi/) - Maya Jaggi is a writer, critic and artistic director whose essays on culture appear widely in books and periodicals such as the New York Review of Books. She is a contributing art critic for FT Weekend, and was for more than a decade a long-form profile writer, and a lead fiction critic, for the Guardian
- [Galloway, Janice](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/janice-galloway/) - Janice Galloway was born in Ayrshire in 1955. Her first novel, The Trick is to Keep Breathing, is widely regarded as a contemporary Scottish classic. She has since written further novels, (anti)memoirs and collections of short stories; poetry, radio series, libretti and a play. Her work has won several prizes both in the UK and
- [Hamilton-Paterson, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-hamilton-paterson/) - James Hamilton-Paterson spent a year with the British Council in pre-Gadaffi Libya and on his return to the UK was constantly scheming to escape abroad. His journalism has appeared in the Sunday Times, the TLS, Granta, the New Statesman and Condé-Nast Traveller and he was Nova magazine’s last features editor. He won the Whitbread First
- [Hofmann, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-hofmann/) - Michael Hofmann is the author of a couple of books of prose, several books of poems, most recently One Lark, One Horse, and many, many translations from the German, including work by Kafka, Doblin, Benn, Roth, Koeppen and Fallada. He has taught for a number of years at the University of Florida.
- [Carson, Jan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jan-carson/) - Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast. She has published three novels, two short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel The Fire Starters won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019. Her latest novel, The Raptures, was published by Doubleday in 2022 and was subsequently shortlisted for
- [Coelho, Joseph](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/joseph-coelho/) - Joseph Coelho is a multi-award-winning children’s author and playwright. The Girl Who Became A Tree (illu. Kate Milner) was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and received a special mention from the Bologna Ragazzi Award. He has written plays for Little Angel Theatre, Tutti Frutti Productions, Polka Theatre and The Unicorn Theatre amongst others. He is
- [Cumper, Patricia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patricia-cumper/) - Jamaican-born Patricia Cumper is a playwright who also writes, produces and directs audio drama. She was Artistic Director of Talawa Theatre Company for six years and has won audio drama awards — including one for Outstanding Contribution — for her original work and dramatisation, adaptations and abridgements of the work of, among others, Toni Morrison,
- [Dabiri, Emma](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/emma-dabiri/) - Emma Dabiri is an Irish-Nigerian academic, broadcaster and bestselling author. She is the author of two highly acclaimed books, including Don’t Touch My Hair, and has fronted numerous documentaries, including Hair Power for Channel 4, which won the Cannes Lion Silver award for entertainment. She co-presents Britain’s Lost Masterpieces on BBC 4 and has appeared
- [Hisayo Buchanan, Rowan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rowan-hisayo-buchanan/) - Rowan Hisayo Buchanan is the author of Harmless Like You, Starling Days, and The Sleep Watcher. She has won The Authors’ Club First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award and has been shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award. Her work has been a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and an NPR Great Read. She
- [Cohen, Josh](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/josh-cohen/) - Josh Cohen is a psychoanalyst and writer, and Professor of Literary Theory at Goldsmiths University of London. He is the author of many books and essays on psychoanalysis, literature and philosophy. His books include The Private Life, Not Working, How to Live. What to Do and Losers. In addition to numerous academic publications, he has
- [Doshi, Tishani](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tishani-doshi/) - Tishani Doshi publishes poetry, fiction and essays. For 15 years she worked as the lead dancer of the Chandralekha company, and the body has been a central preoccupation in her work. Since her debut, Countries of the Body, which won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, she has sought to find joineries between the
- [Anaxagorou, Anthony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anthony-anaxagorou/) - Anthony Anaxagorou is a British-born Cypriot poet, fiction writer, essayist, publisher and poetry educator. He has published three full volumes of poetry, and one short story collection, along with a craft book entitled How To Write It. He is the founder and artistic director of Out-Spoken Live, a monthly poetry and music night held at
- [Ante, Romalyn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/romalyn-ante/) - Romalyn Ante is a British poet, essayist, and editor. She grew up in the Philippines and migrated to her second home, Wolverhampton, at sixteen. She is co-founding editor of harana poetry, a magazine for poets who write in English as a second or parallel language, and the founder of Tsaá with Roma, an online interview
- [Aw, Tash](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tash-aw/) - Tash Aw is the author of four novels, including, most recently, We, the Survivors, and a memoir of a Chinese-Malaysian family, Strangers on a Pier. His work has won the Whitbread and Commonwealth Prizes, an O. Henry Award and twice been longlisted for the Booker Prize. His fiction has been translated into 23 languages. He
- [Aboulela, Leila](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/leila-aboulela/) - Leila Aboulela is the first-ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. She is the author of six novels, River Spirit, Bird Summons, The Kindness of Enemies, Minaret, The Translator, and Lyrics Alley — Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards. Her short story collection Elsewhere, Home, won the Saltire Fiction Book of the
- [Altenberg, Karin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/karin-altenberg/) - Karin Altenberg is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. She has published two novels; the first, Island of Wings, was nominated for the Orange Prize, the Saltire Award and the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Award. Born and brought up in Sweden, Karin holds a PhD in Archaeology, published as the award-winning monograph Experiencing Landscapes.
- [Alvi, Moniza](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/moniza-alvi/) - Moniza Alvi was born in Pakistan and grew up in Hertfordshire. She now lives in Norfolk and works as a freelance writer and tutor. Her first collection, The Country at My Shoulder, was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot and the Whitbread poetry Prizes and selected for the New Generation Poets promotion. Europa and At the
- [Bray, Carys](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/carys-bray/) - Carys Bray is a short story writer and novelist. Her short fiction has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies, and stories from her prize-winning collection Sweet Home were broadcast on BBC Radio. Her debut novel, A Song for Issy Bradley, was shortlisted for several awards including the Desmond Elliott Prize and the
- [Smyth, Cherry](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/cherry-smyth/) - Cherry Smyth is an Irish writer, living in London. Her first two poetry collections, When the Lights Go Up, 2001 and One Wanted Thing, 2006 were published by Lagan Press. Her third collection Test, Orange, 2012, and fourth, Famished, 2019 were published by Pindrop Press. Her debut novel, Hold Still, Holland Park Press, appeared in
- [Ryan, Frances](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/frances-ryan/) - Dr. Frances Ryan is a columnist and reporter for The Guardian, and author of Crippled. Ryan was highly commended for the Georgina Henry Prize at the 2020 National Press Awards, as well as highly commended Specialist Journalist of the Year in 2019. She was shortlisted for the 2020 Paul Foot Award for Investigative Journalism, and
- [Swinbourne, Charlie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/charlie-swinbourne/) - Charlie Swinbourne is an award-winning scriptwriter, director and journalist. His television work includes Deaf Funny, Found, My Song, Departure Lounge and Four Deaf Yorkshiremen plus BBC series such as Jimmy McGovern's Moving On, Casualty, and Eastenders. His writing has won RTS and BAFTA awards, and he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2021 by the University of Wolverhampton. He
- [Taylor, Joelle](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/joelle-taylor/) - Joelle Taylor is the author of 4 collections of poetry. Her most recent collection C+NTO & Othered Poems (Westbourne Press) won the 2021 T.S Eliot Prize; and is the subject of a Radio 4 arts documentary Butch. She is co-curator and host of Out-Spoken Live, resident at the Southbank Centre, and the current editor of
- [Okwonga, Musa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/musa-okwonga/) - Musa Okwonga is a writer and broadcaster. The co-host of the Stadio football podcast, he has written seven books; the first of which, A Cultured Left Foot, was nominated for the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. His other books include In The End, It Was All About Love, a novel set
- [Mozley, Fiona](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/fiona-mozley/) - Fiona Mozley is the author of two novels, Elmet and Hot Stew, and several short stories. She is the winner of a Somerset Maugham Award and The Polari Prize, has been shortlisted for The Booker Prize, The Ondaatje Prize and The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. She was longlisted for the Dylan
- [Mundair, Raman](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/raman-mundair/) - Raman Mundair is an Indian born, Queer, British Asian writer, director, dramaturg, activist, artist and filmmaker based in Shetland and Glasgow. She is the award winning author of Lovers, Liars, Conjurers and Thieves, A Choreographer’s Cartography, The Algebra of Freedom (a play) and is the editor of Incoming: Some Shetland Voices. She is a Scottish
- [Kapil, Bhanu](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bhanu-kapil/) - Bhanu Kapil is a poet. Her newest book, How To Wash A Heart (Liverpool University Press), won the T.S. Eliot Prize. Kapil lives and writes in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow of Churchill College. The recipient of a Windham-Campbell Prize and a Cholomondeley Award, both for poetry, she is the author of six full-length
- [Khalil, Hannah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hannah-khalil/) - Playwright Hannah Khalil is the Resident Writer at Shakespeare’s Globe 2022. Her stage plays include The Fir Tree and Henry VIII (Globe), A Museum in Baghdad (RSC ) The Scar Test (Soho Theatre), Scenes from 68* Years (Arcola) and Interference (National Theatre of Scotland). Hannah has also written extensively for television and radio. She was
- [Limburg, Joanne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/joanne-limburg/) - Joanne Limburg has published non-fiction, poetry and fiction. Her books include the poetry collections Femenismo, Paraphernalia and The Autistic Alice, the novel A Want of Kindness, and the non-fiction books The Woman Who Thought Too Much, Small Pieces: A Book of Lamentations and Letters to my Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism. She lives in Cambridge, where
- [Martinez, Francesca](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/francesca-martinez/) - Francesca Martinez* is an award-winning comedian, writer, actress and speaker. She has made numerous TV and radio appearances, including writing and performing for The Verb on BBC Radio 3, as well as her first radio play How We’re Loved for BBC Radio 4. Francesca’s best-selling book, What The **** Is Normal?!, was nominated Best Book
- [McCarthy Woolf, Karen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/karen-mccarthy-woolf/) - Born in London to English and Jamaican parents Karen McCarthy Woolf’s poetry collection An Aviary of Small Birds is described as a ‘pitch perfect’ début (Guardian). Karen’s radio credits include Night Shift, a reworking of Homer’s Odyssey for R4 Book of the Week; Miss Birdie’s Letter, a music/poetry travelogue for R3 Between the Ears; and
- [Fan, Kit](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kit-fan/) - Kit Fan is a poet, novelist and critic. His first book of poems, Paper Scissors Stone (2011), won the inaugural HKU International Poetry Prize. As Slow As Possible (2018) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and one of the Irish Times’ Books of the Year. He has also won a Northern Writers Award, the Times
- [Flynn, Leontia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/leontia-flynn/) - Leontia Flynn has published four collections of poetry with Jonathan Cape. She has won the Forward prize for best First Collection, the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy award for Irish poetry, and the AWB Vincent American Ireland Fund literary award. Her most recent poetry Collection, The Radio (2017) was shortlisted for the
- [Griffiths, Niall](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/niall-griffiths/) - Niall Griffiths was born in Liverpool and now lives in mid Wales. Author of novels, reviews, radio plays etc, his work has been translated into 20 languages and he has given readings on every continent on earth (except Antarctica). He has held a professorship in creative writing at Wolverhampton University and the film of his 3rd novel,
- [Kandasamy, Meena](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/meena-kandasamy/) - Meena Kandasamy (b. 1984) is an anti-caste activist, poet, novelist and translator. Her writing deconstructs trauma and violence while spotlighting the militant, collective resistance against caste, gender and state oppression. She explores this overarching theme in her books of poems Touch (2006) and Ms. Militancy (2010), and her three novels: The Gypsy Goddess (2014), When
- [McGee, Lisa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lisa-mcgee/) - Lisa McGee, an award-winning screenwriter and playwright from Derry, is the creator, writer and executive producer of the critically acclaimed Derry Girls. She co-created, co-wrote and was executive producer on The Decieved with her husband Tobias Beer and was creative director, executive producer and wrote an episode of the BBC monologues on poverty Skint. Her other TV
- [Guo, Xiaolu](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/xiaolu-guo/) - Xiaolu Guo is a Chinese British novelist, essayist and filmmaker. Her novels include A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, and I Am China. Her memoir Once Upon A Time In The East won the National Book Critics Circle Award 2017 and shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize. A Lover’s Discourse was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2020. Named as a Granta’s Best
- [Kunial, Zaffar](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/zaffar-kunial/) - Zaffar Kunial’s first poetry collection, Us, published by Faber & Faber in 2018. He is a recipient of Yale University’s Windham-Campbell Prize. Kunial’s second collection, England’s Green, is published by Faber in September 2022.
- [Davies, Carys](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/carys-davies/) - Carys Davies’s debut novel West was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, runner up for the Society of Authors' McKitterick Prize, and winner of the Wales Book of the Year for Fiction. Her second novel The Mission House was The Sunday Times 2020 Novel Of The Year. She is also the author of two collections
- [Chingonyi, Kayo](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kayo-chingonyi/) - Kayo Chingonyi is a Zambian/British poet, writer, editor, and broadcaster. His first collection, Kumukanda, won the Dylan Thomas Prize and a Somerset Maugham Award. Kayo is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Durham University, a writer and presenter for Decode on Spotify, and poetry editor at Bloomsbury. His most recent collection A Blood Condition was
- [D’Aguiar, Fred](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/fred-daguiar/) - Fred D’Aguiar grew up in Guyana, returning to England in his teens. He is the author of five novels, including The Longest Memory, which won the David Higham Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award. His eighth poetry collection, Letters to America was a Poetry Book Society Choice. His numerous plays have been
- [Boast, Rachael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rachael-boast/) - Rachael Boast was born in Bury St Edmunds in 1975 and has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of St Andrews. She has published four collections of poetry, most recently, Hotel Raphael (Picador, 2021). She is co-editor of The Echoing Gallery: Bristol Poets and Art in the City (Redcliffe Press, 2013), and The Caught Habits of Language: An Entertainment for W.S.
- [Booker, Malika](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/malika-booker/) - Malika Booker is a British poet of Guyanese and Grenadian parentage, who co-founded Malika’s Poetry Kitchen. Pepper Seed (Peepal Tree Press, 2013) was shortlisted for OCM Bocas and the Seamus Heaney Centre 2014 prize. Published with poets Sharon Olds and Warsan Shire in The Penguin Modern Poet series 3: Your Family: Your Body (2017), her
- [Burgess, Melvin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/melvin-burgess/) - Melvin Burgess has been writing fiction for young people since his first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. His 1996 novel Junk kick-started the YA genre and was acclaimed at home and abroad. Junk was also included in the top ten best Carnegie winners ever. He has also won the Guardian
- [de Waal, Kit](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kit-de-waal/) - Kit de Waal, born to an Irish mother and Caribbean father, was brought up among the Irish community of Birmingham in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Her debut novel My Name Is Leon was an international bestseller, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and won the Kerry Group Irish
- [Lowe, Hannah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hannah-lowe/) - Hannah Lowe is a poet, memoirist and academic. Her latest book, The Kids, a Poetry Book Society ‘Choice’ for Autumn, won the Costa Poetry Award and the Costa Book of the Year, 2021. Her first poetry collection Chick (Bloodaxe, 2013) won the Michael Murphy Memorial Award for Best First Collection. In September 2014, she was named as one
- [McMillan, Ian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ian-mcmillan/) - Ian McMillan was born in 1956 and he’s been a freelance writer, performer and broadcaster since 1982. He presents The Verb on Radio 3 and his latest book is My Sand Life, My Pebble Life, a collection of memories of the sea. He’s currently plugging away at translating The Barber of Seville into Yorkshire dialect.
- [Roffey, Monique](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/monique-roffey/) - Monique Roffey is an award-winning Trinidadian born British writer of novels, essays, literary journalism and a memoir. Her most recent novel, The Mermaid of Black Conch, (Peepal Tree Press) won the Costa Book of the Year Award, 2020, and was nominated for eight major awards. The film rights were sold to Dorothy Street Pictures and
- [Sissay, Lemn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lemn-sissay/) - Lemn Sissay OBE has read his poetry on stages throughout the world, from The Library of Congress in The United States to The National Theatre in Ethiopia. His memoir My Name Is Why is a number one Sunday Times bestseller. He won the indie book awards for non-fiction. Lemn was awarded The Pen Pinter Prize.
- [Arshi, Mona](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mona-arshi/) - Mona Arshi’s debut collection Small Hands won the Forward Prize for best first collection in 2015. Her second collection ‘Dear Big Gods’ was published in 2019 (both books published by Liverpool University Press’s Pavilion Poetry list). Her writing has been published in The Times, The Guardian, Granta, The Yale Review and The Times of India
- [Atkin, Polly](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/polly-atkin/) - Polly Atkin is a poet and nonfiction writer, living in the English Lake District. Her first poetry collection Basic Nest Architecture (Seren: 2017) is followed by Much With Body (Seren, 2021), awarded a 2020 Northern Writers Award. Her biography Recovering Dorothy: The Hidden Life of Dorothy Wordsworth (Saraband, 2021), is the first to focus on
- [Rose, Jacqueline](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jacqueline-rose/) - Jacqueline Rose is a feminist thinker whose books include: Sexuality in the Field of Vision and The Last Resistance (both Verso Radical Thinkers), The Haunting of Sylvia Plath, Women in Dark Times, Mothers – an essay on love and cruelty, the novel Albertine, and most recently, On Violence and On Violence Against Women. She is co-director of
- [Addonia, Sulaiman](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sulaiman-addonia/) - Sulaiman Addonia is an Eritrean-Ethiopian-British novelist. His first novel, The Consequences of Love, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, was translated into more than 20 languages. Silence is My Mother Tongue, his second novel, was longlisted for the 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, and was a finalist for the 2021 Firecracker Awards in Fiction,
- [Younge, Gary](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gary-younge/) - Gary Younge is an award-winning author, broadcaster and academic. Formerly a columnist at The Guardian he has been appointed Professor of sociology at Manchester University. He is also the Alfred Knobler Fellow for Type Media in America. He has written five books: Another Day in the Death of America, A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives;
- [Wilkins, Verna](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/verna-wilkins/) - Verna Wilkins is founder of Tamarind Books, which she ran for 23 years. She is the author of 30 Picture Books and eight biographies aimed at young people. Tamarind Books have won many awards, including the Decibel Cultural Diversity Award 2008. They have also featured on BBC TV children’s programmes and were also included in
- [Greer, Bonnie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bonnie-greer/) - Bonnie Greer OBE was born in Chicago Illinois and grew up on the Southside. She studied playwriting with David Mamet and with Elia Kazan . She has had several plays produced and was awarded The Verity Bargate Award. Bonnie also taught Shakespeare as a literacy tool. Her novels include Hanging by Her Teeth (1996) and
- [Armitstead, Claire](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/claire-armitstead/) - Claire Armitstead is associate editor (culture) for the Guardian and Observer and a Guardian leader writer on literature and the arts. She worked for the South Wales Argus, the Hampstead & Highgate Express and the Financial Times before arriving at the Guardian in 1992, where her roles have included arts editor, literary editor and head
- [Harris, Joanne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/joanne-harris/) - Joanne Harris (MBE) was born in Barnsley in 1964 and is the writer of 19 novels, plus novellas, short stories, scripts and libretti. Her books are published in 50 countries and have won a number of British and international awards. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, has honorary doctorates in literature from
- [Arditti, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-arditti/) - Michael Arditti has written twelve novels and a collection of short stories. He began his professional career writing plays for the radio and stage and has worked extensively as a literary and dramatic critic. His novels have been short- and long-listed for several major prizes. He has been a Leverhulme artist in residence at the
- [Cave, Nick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nick-cave/) - Nick Cave has been performing music for more than forty years and is best known as the songwriter and lead singer of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, whose latest album Ghosteen was widely received as their best work ever. Cave’s body of work also covers a wider range of media and modes of expression including
- [Coel, Michaela](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michaela-coel/) - Michaela Coel’s phenomenally successful and ground-breaking HBO/BBC dark comedy-drama, I May Destroy You, which she created, wrote, co-directed and starred in premiered in June 2020. The series won a host of prestigious awards including: two Emmys, five BAFTAS, three Royal Television Society awards, a Peabody Award, two Independent Spirit Awards and a GLAAD Award, amongst
- [Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/yasmin-alibhai-brown/) - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown was exiled from her birthplace, Uganda, in 1972 and is a journalist, broadcaster, and author. She writes for the i newspaper and Sunday Times magazine and has written for the Guardian, Observer, Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail, New York Times, Time Magazine and other publications. She has won several awards including
- [Boyt, Susie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/susie-boyt/) - Susie Boyt is the author of seven acclaimed novels as well as the much-loved memoir My Judy Garland Life which was shortlisted for the Pen Ackerley prize, serialised on Radio 4 and staged at the Nottingham Playhouse. She recently edited and introduced The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories by Henry James for
- [T Davies, Russell](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/russell-t-davies/) - Russell T Davies was awarded the 2006 Dennis Potter Award at BAFTA for his writing services to television and an OBE in the Queen’s 2008 Birthday Honours list for services to drama. Russell was born in Swansea in 1963. A graduate of Oxford University, he completed the BBC Director’s course before becoming a TV producer.
- [Dennis, Ferdinand](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ferdinand-dennis/) - Ferdinand Dennis attended the University of Leicester and Birkbeck College, University of London. His prose fiction works are the novels The Sleepless Summer, The Last Blues Dance, and Duppy Conqueror; and a short story collection, The Black and White Museum. His non-fiction books include Behind the Frontlines, Journey into Afro-Britain and Back to Africa, a
- [Stott, Rebecca](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rebecca-stott/) - Rebecca Stott is the award-winning author of several novels and books of non-fiction, including the best-selling historical thriller Ghostwalk (2007) and The Coral Thief (2012) which was BBC Book at Bedtime in 2012. Her most recent book, a memoir called In the Days of Rain (2017), a book about her childhood growing up in a cult called the Exclusive Brethren, won the Costa
- [Light, Alison](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alison-light/) - Alison Light is a writer and critic. She is also an Honorary Professor at University College London and at Edinburgh University, and a Senior Research Fellow at Pembroke College Oxford. Her books include Mrs Woolf and the Servants and Common People: The History of an English Family, shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize. Her memoir A Radical Romance won the 2020 PEN Ackerley award. She writes regularly for the London Review of Books. A volume of her essays
- [McWatt, Tessa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tessa-mcwatt/) - Tessa McWatt is the author of many novels and two books for young people. Her fiction has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, the City of Toronto Book Awards, and the OCM Bocas Prize. She won the Eccles British Library Award for her book, Shame On Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging, which also won
- [Marozzi, Justin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/justin-marozzi/) - Justin Marozzi has spent most of his professional life working in and writing about the Muslim world, from Iraq and Libya to Afghanistan and Somalia. He is the author of seven books, including Islamic Empires: Fifteen Cities that Define a Civilization and Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood, the winner of the RSL’s Ondaatje
- [Mehta, Gita](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gita-mehta/) - Gita Mehta is the author of three international bestseller – Karma Cola, her wry take on marketing of the mystic East; the rich historical Raj; and the hypnotic tales of A River Sutra. Her books have been translated into thirteen languages and published in twenty-seven countries. She has written, produced and directed a number of documentaries
- [O'Farrell, Maggie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/maggie-ofarrell/) - Maggie O’Farrell is the author of the Sunday Times no. 1 bestselling memoir I Am, I Am, I Am, and eight novels: After You’d Gone, My Lover’s Lover, The Distance Between Us, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, The Hand That First Held Mine, which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award,
- [Pomerantsev, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-pomerantsev/) - Peter Pomerantsev is a Ukrainian born, England raised non-fiction author. His first book, Nothing is True and Everything is Possible won the RSL Ondaatje Prize. His second, This is Not Propaganda, the Gordon Burn Prize. He also researches disinformation and what to do about it at Johns Hopkins and presents radio programmes on the BBC.
- [Runciman, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-runciman/) - David Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and a Fellow of the British Academy. His books include The Confidence Trap (2013), How Democracy Ends (2018) and Where Power Stops (2019). He writes regularly about politics for the London Review of Books, where he is also Contributing Editor. He is the founder and host
- [Said, SF](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sf-said/) - SF Said is a British Muslim children's author, born in Beirut in 1967. His first novel, Varjak Paw, won the Nestlé Smarties Prize for Children's Literature. The sequel, The Outlaw Varjak Paw, won the BBC Blue Peter Book of The Year Award. His third book, Phoenix, was chosen to represent the UK on the IBBY
- [Sebba, Anne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anne-sebba/) - Anne Sebba is a former Reuters foreign correspondent and the author of ten books for adults, mostly biographies of 20th century women but also group histories including Battling for News, a history of women reporters and Les Parisiennes, about women in Occupied Paris which was joint winner of the Franco-British literature prize. Her most recent
- [Sprackland, Jean](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jean-sprackland/) - Jean Sprackland is a poet and writer. Her most recent book is These Silent Mansions, a meditation on the character, ecology, purpose and meaning of graveyards. She is the winner of the Costa Poetry Award in 2008, and the Portico Prize for Non-Fiction in 2012. Her books have also been shortlisted for the Forward Prize, the T.S. Eliot
- [de Waal, Edmund](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/edmund-de-waal/) - Edmund de Waal CBE is both an acclaimed artist and a writer. He is best known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels, often created in response to collections and archives or the history of a particular place. His interventions have been made for diverse spaces and museums worldwide, including The British Museum, London; The
- [Eaves, Will](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/will-eaves/) - Will Eaves is a novelist, poet, teacher and musician. He has been Arts Editor of The Times Literary Supplement (1995–2011) and Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Warwick (2011–2020). His books have been shortlisted for many prizes. His most recent novel, Murmur (2018), won the tenth anniversary Wellcome Book Prize and
- [de Grazia, Margreta](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/margreta-de-grazia/) - Margreta de Grazia is Emerita Professor of English and the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania. The focus of her work is on Shakespeare and the manifold editorial and critical processes that have secured his cultural supremacy. Her first book Shakespeare Verbatim (Oxford, 1991) traces the emergence of Shakespeare as a modern author from late
- [Eddo-Lodge, Reni](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/reni-eddo-lodge/) - Reni Eddo-Lodge is a journalist, author, and podcaster. Her debut nonfiction book, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, was published in June 2017 to critical acclaim. In 2020, she made history by becoming the first Black British author to have written the number one selling book in the British book charts. A Sunday
- [Gale, Patrick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patrick-gale/) - Patrick Gale is the author of seventeen novels, the latest of which, Mother’s Boy, based on the early life of Charles Causley, comes out in Spring 2022. He also writes scripts, notably the International Emmy-winning Man in an Orange Shirt. He’s currently adapting that as a musical, and his novels A Place Called Winter and Take Nothing With You for screen and stage respectively. He
- [Hadfield, Jen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jen-hadfield/) - Jen Hadfield's fourth poetry collection The Stone Age explores neurodiversity and was published by Picador in March 2021. She is also working on Storm Pegs, a collection of essays about Shetland, where she lives. Passionately involved with the wild world, she uses poetry, lyrical essay and occasionally sculpture in cast porcelain, to try and share
- [Hooker, Jeremy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jeremy-hooker/) - Jeremy Hooker was born and brought up in Hampshire but has lived for long periods in Wales. His many published works include poetry, literary criticism and edited diaries, the most recent being Selected Poems 1965 – 2018 and Art of Seeing: essays on poetry, landscape painting and photography. His features for BBC Radio 3 include
- [Goldsworthy, Vesna](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/vesna-goldsworthy/) - Vesna Goldsworthy was born in Belgrade but has lived in London since 1986. She writes in English, her third language. Two of her internationally bestselling books, a memoir, Chernobyl Strawberries, and a novel, Gorsky, were serialised for the BBC. Her award-winning poetry collection, The Angel of Salonika, was the Times Poetry Book of the Year. A former BBC World Service
- [Applebaum, Anne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anne-applebaum/) - Anne Applebaum is a journalist and a historian. She is a staff writer for The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where she co-leads a project on 21st century disinformation. Her books include Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine; Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956; Gulag: A History, which won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction; and
- [Bhabha, Homi](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/homi-bhabha/) - Professor Homi Bhabha is an Indian English scholar and critical theorist. He is a highly important figure in contemporary post-colonial studies and has developed a number of neologisms and concepts in the field, including hybridity, mimicry, difference, and ambivalence. Born in India, Professor Bhabha graduated with a B.A. from Elphinstone College at the University of
- [Burns, Anna](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anna-burns/) - Anna Burns was born in Belfast. Her first book, No Bones, was published by Flamingo and won the Royal Society of Literature’s Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize in 2001. Her second book, Little Constructions, was published by Fourth Estate in 2006. Her third book, Milkman, was published by Faber & Faber in 2018 and won the
- [Cowell, Cressida](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/cressida-cowell/) - Cressida Cowell MBE is the author-illustrator of the How to Train Your Dragon and The Wizards of Once book series. Cressida is the current Waterstones Children's Laureate, a trustee of World Book Day, a patron of Read for Good, an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust and the Woodland Trust, and she is on the Council of the Society
- [Crawford, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-crawford/) - Robert Crawford is author of eight collections of poetry in English, most recent of which is The Scottish Ambassador (Cape, 2018); and of several collections in Scots. His biographies include The Bard: Robert Burns (Cape, 2009), Young Eliot (Cape, 2015), and an experimental life of Violette Szabo (Molecular Press, 2021). His critical books include Devolving
- [Bayley, Sally](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sally-bayley/) - Sally Bayley is a fiction and non-fiction writer. She is currently a Lecturer in English at Hertford College, Oxford. In 1990, Sally was the first child to go to university from the West Sussex Care system. She is currently completing a set of three coming of age stories that challenge our understanding of literary genre.
- [Meek, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-meek/) - James Meek is the author of six novels, two collections of short stories and two books of essays. His novel, The People’s Act of Love, won the RSL Ondaatje Prize, was nominated for the Booker and translated into two dozen languages. His essay collection, Private Island, won the Orwell Prize. Born in London, he grew
- [Mosse, Kate](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kate-mosse/) - Kate Mosse OBE is an award-winning, bestselling novelist, playwright & nonfiction writer. Historical novels include the Languedoc Trilogy (Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel), The Burning Chambers and The City of Tears. Her Gothic fiction includes The Taxidermist's Daughter, The Winter Ghosts and The Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales. Her books have been translated into 37
- [Parmar, Sandeep](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sandeep-parmar/) - Sandeep Parmar is Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool, where she co-directs Liverpool’s Centre for New and International Writing. She holds a PhD from University College London and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Her books include Reading Mina Loy’s Autobiographies: Myth of the Modern, an edition
- [Pinnock, Winsome](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/winsome-pinnock/) - Winsome Pinnock is a playwright and screenwriter whose plays have been produced at The Royal National Theatre, Bush Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Royal Court, BBC TV and radio. Her plays have been produced in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Australia and Jamaica. Awards for her work include the George Devine Award, Unity Trust Theatre Award, Alfred Fagon
- [Porter, Max](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/max-porter/) - Max Porter is a former bookseller and editor. His first novel, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers won the Sunday Times/Peter, Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year, the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Europese Literatuurprijs and the BAMB Readers’ Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. His second book, Lanny, was
- [Rausing, Sigrid](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sigrid-rausing/) - Sigrid Rausing is the Publisher of Granta Books, and the Editor of Granta magazine. She has a PhD in Social Anthropology from University College London, which was followed by a two-year Honorary Fellowship. Her academic monograph, History, Memory and Identity in Post Soviet Estonia: the End of a Collective Farm, was published in 2004 (Oxford
- [Rundell, Katherine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/katherine-rundell/) - Katherine Rundell is a £50 Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, where she works on Renaissance literature, and a writer of children’s books. Her novels include Rooftoppers and The Explorer and have won, among others, the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Boston Globe Horn Book Award in America, the Andersen
- [Sands, Philippe](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/philippe-sands/) - Philippe Sands QC is Professor of Law at University College London and a practising barrister at Matrix Chambers. He appears as counsel before international courts and tribunals, and sits as an international arbitrator. He is author of Lawless World (2005) and Torture Team (2008) and several academic books on international law, and has contributed to
- [Palin, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-palin/) - Sir Michael Palin was born in Sheffield in 1943, and educated at Shrewsbury School and Brasenose College, Oxford. He wrote and performed in the Monty Python series, Ripping Yarns and a series of travel documentaries spanning the world, from Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin to Michael Palin in North Korea. He
- [Thorne, Jack](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jack-thorne/) - Jack Thorne is a writer of film, television and theatre. In film, his credits include Wonder, The Aeronauts, Radioactive and The Secret Garden. His television work includes National Treasure, Kiri, Don't Take My Baby, The Virtues, His Dark Materials and The Eddy. For theatre, his plays include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, When You Cure Me, Hope, A Christmas Carol and the end of
- [Hudson, Kerry](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kerry-hudson/) - Kerry Hudson was born in Aberdeen. Her first novel, Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, was published in 2012 by Chatto & Windus and was the winner of the Scottish First Book Award while also being shortlisted for the South Bank Sky Arts Literature Award, Guardian First Book Award,
- [McMillan, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-mcmillan/) - Andrew McMillan was born in 1988; his two poetry collections are physical and playtime, published by Jonathan Cape. Physical was the only ever poetry collection to win the Guardian First Book Award; it also won a Somerset Maugham Award, an Eric Gregory Award, a Northern Writers' Award and the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize. It was
- [Draycott, Jane](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jane-draycott/) - Jane Draycott is a poet and translator. Her most recent collections from Carcanet include Over, shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize, Pearl — her award-winning translation of the medieval dream-elegy — and The Occupant, written following her time as Writer in Residence in Amsterdam. A Next Generation poet, her work has been nominated three
- [Evans, Diana](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/diana-evans/) - Diana Evans is the author of the novels Ordinary People, The Wonder and 26a, which was the inaugural winner of the Orange Award for New Writers. Ordinary People won the 2019 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Literature and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Orwell Prize
- [Frankopan, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-frankopan/) - Peter Frankopan is Professor of Global History at the University of Oxford, where he has been Senior Research Fellow of Worcester College since 2000. He works on the history of the Byzantine Empire, the Middle East, Russia, Central and South Asia and China. His books include The Silk Roads: A New History of the World,
- [Godden, Salena](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/salena-godden/) - Salena Godden is a high-profile poet based in London. She is also an activist, broadcaster, essayist, songwriter and memoirist and all her work has been widely anthologised. She has had several volumes of poetry published including Fishing in the Aftermath: Poems 1994-2014 (Burning Eye Books), Pessimism is for Lightweights (Rough Trade Books), and literary childhood
- [Grant, Colin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/colin-grant/) - Colin Grant is an author, historian, and Associate Fellow in the Centre for Caribbean Studies. His five books include the memoir, Bageye at the Wheel, which was shortlisted for the Pen/Ackerley Prize, 2013. His latest book is Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation. As a producer for the BBC, Grant directed several radio drama documentaries
- [Gunn, Kirsty](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kirsty-gunn/) - Kirsty Gunn is the author of nine works of fiction including, most recently, Caroline’s Bikini, and a forthcoming collection of short stories, Blood Knowledge. Published in the UK by Faber and Faber, her work has been translated in over twelve countries, made into films, dance and radio productions and is the recipient of a number
- [Hahn, Daniel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/daniel-hahn/) - Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor and translator with sixty-something books to his name. His work has won him the International Dublin Literary Award, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award, and been shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize, among many others. Books include The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature
- [Edwards, Yvvette](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/yvvette-edwards/) - Yvvette Edwards is a British East Londoner of Montserratian origin and author of two novels, A Cupboard Full of Coats and The Mother. Her short stories have been published in anthologies and broadcast on radio. Her work has been nominated for a number of literary awards including the Booker Prize. She is particularly interested in writing that challenges
- [Tillyard, Stella](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/stella-tillyard/) - Stella Tillyard was educated at Oxford and Harvard Universities and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is the author of 8 books, including The Impact of Modernism, Aristocrats, Citizen Lord, and, most recently, The Great Level. Her work has been translated into several languages and sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
- [Delany, Paul](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/paul-delany/) - Paul Delany is a biographer and literary critic. Born in England, he taught at Columbia University and then at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. He wrote two biographies about a central figure in the context of his friends: D. H. Lawrence’s Nightmare (about the writer during the First World War) and The Neo-Pagans (about Rupert Brooke
- [Pakenham, Thomas](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/thomas-pakenham/)
- [Antrobus, Raymond](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/raymond-antrobus/) - Raymond Antrobus was born in London, Hackney, to an English mother and Jamaican father, he is the author of To Sweeten Bitter and The Perseverance. In 2019 he became the first ever poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize for best work of literature in any genre. He is the recipient of Fellowships from
- [Aridjis, Chloe](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/chloe-aridjis/) - Chloe Aridjis is a Mexican writer based in London. She is the author of three novels, Book of Clouds, which won the Prix du Premier Roman Etranger in France, Asunder, set in London's National Gallery, and Sea Monsters, which was awarded the 2020 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Chloe has written for various art journals and was guest curator of the Leonora Carrington exhibition
- [Barr, Damian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/damian-barr/) - Damian Barr is a writer, broadcaster & salonnière. Maggie & Me, his account of coming of age and coming out in Thatcher’s Scotland, was named Sunday Times Memoir of the Year. His debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here, reveals South Africa’s hidden history ranging from the Boer War to now; a R4 Book at
- [Connolly, Cressida](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/cressida-connolly/) - Cressida Connolly has written novels, short stories, literary criticism and non-fiction. Her 2018 novel, After the Party, was a Sunday Times bestseller; while her debut collection of short stories, The Happiest Days, won the PEN/MacMillan Silver Pen Award. The daughter of the author Cyril Connolly, she lives on a confetti petal farm in Worcestershire.
- [Cooper, Susan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/susan-cooper/) - Susan Cooper wrote the five-book fantasy sequence The Dark is Rising; her other children's books include the Boggart trilogy, King of Shadows, Victory, Dawn of Fear and Ghost Hawk. She has also written adult non-fiction, a Broadway play and Emmy-nominated screenplays. Born in Buckinghamshire, she now lives in the USA. Awards include the Newbery Medal,
- [De Angelis, April](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/april-de-angelis/) - April De Angelis's plays include Jumpy (Royal Court West End, Sydney), Playhouse Creatures ( Old Vic, Chichester), The Village ( Stratford East), Flight - libretto (Glyndebourne, International), A Laughing Matter (National Theatre), and My Brilliant Friend - an adaptation of the Ferrante novels (Olivier Theatre).
- [Dawson, Jill](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jill-dawson/) - Jill Dawson is the author of ten novels including The Language of Birds — the story of the nanny murdered in the Lucan household in 1974 — The Crime Writer (winner, East Anglian Book of the Year), Fred & Edie (shortlisted for The Whitbread and Orange Prize) and Watch Me Disappear (longlisted for the Orange Prize). The Great Lover,
- [Shukla, Nikesh](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nikesh-shukla/) - Nikesh Shukla is the author of three novels. Most recently, he authored the critically acclaimed The One Who Wrote Destiny (2018). His debut novel, Coconut Unlimited, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2010. His second novel Meatspace was released to critical acclaim in 2014. Nikesh has written for The Guardian, Observer, Independent, Esquire, Buzzfeed, Vice and BBC2, LitHub, Guernica and BBC Radio 4. Nikesh is
- [Smartt, Dorothea](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dorothea-smartt/) - Dorothea Smartt, literary activist, live artist, and established poet with an international reputation. Born and raised in London she is described as a 'Brit-born Bajan international’. Her years of experience, include engagements with the British Council in Bahrain, South Africa, USA, Egypt, and Hungary. In 2013 she was keynote speaker at Barbados’ Frank Collymore Literary
- [Laing, Olivia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/olivia-laing/) - Olivia Laing is the author of To the River (2011), The Trip to Echo Spring (2013), and The Lonely City (2016), which was translated into 15 languages. In 2018 she was awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for non-fiction. Her latest book is Crudo (2018), a real-time novel about the turbulent summer of 2017. It was shortlisted
- [Meades, Jonathan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jonathan-meades/) - Jonathan Meades is a writer, journalist, essayist and film-maker. He has written and performed in many television films on predominantly architectural and topographical subjects such as plotlands, garden cities, brutalism and megastructures, the utopian avoidance of right angles, Belgium, the Baltic, French identity, and the architecture of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini. The Whitechapel Gallery and the National
- [Morrissey, Sinéad](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sinead-morrissey/) - Sinéad Morrissey was born in Northern Ireland in 1972 and grew up in Belfast. She is the author of six poetry collections: There was Fire in Vancouver (1996), Between Here and There (2002), The State of the Prisons (2005), Through the Square Window (2009), Parallax (2013) and On Balance (2017). Her awards include first prize
- [Moss, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sarah-moss/) - Sarah Moss is the author of six novels and a memoir of a year spent in Iceland, Names for the Sea. Her work is translated into many languages. Her latest book, Ghost Wall, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize. She was born in Glasgow, grew up in
- [Nicholson, Virginia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/virginia-nicholson/) - Virginia Nicholson is a social historian. She was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1955 and grew up in Leeds and Sussex. She was educated at Lewes Priory School (comprehensive) and went on to study English Literature at King’s College Cambridge. In 1978 Virginia spent a year living in Italy (Venice), where she taught English and learnt
- [Olusoga, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-olusoga/) - David Olusoga is a British-Nigerian Historian, Film-maker and Presenter. He is the author of Black & British: A Forgotten History which was awarded both the Longman-History Today Trustees Award and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize, The World’s War, which won First World War Book of the Year, Civilizations: Encounters and the Cult of Progress and The
- [Orbach, Susie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/susie-orbach/) - Susie Orbach started writing as a way of sharing what she was learning in the consulting room. A child of the political explosions of the sixties and seventies she was drawn to rethink psychoanalytic ways of understanding from a gendered and social perspective. Writing was then part of a political project to cascade those new
- [Raine, Nina](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nina-raine/) - Nina Raine is a playwright and director. Her debut play Rabbit won her the Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Most Promising Playwright. She dramaturged and directed the verbatim play Unprotected at the Liverpool Everyman, for which she won both the TMA Best Director Award and the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award. After
- [Riley, Denise](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/denise-riley/) - Denise Riley lives in London. She's written War in the Nursery: Theories of the Child and Mother (1983), ‘Am I That Name?’ Feminism and the Category of 'Women' in History (1988), The Words of Selves: Identification, Solidarity, Irony (2000), The Force of Language (with Jean-Jacques Lecercle; 2004), Impersonal Passion: Language as Affect (2005) and Time Lived, Without Its Flow (2012; revised edition 2019). Her poetry collections include Marxism
- [Scott, Lawrence](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lawrence-scott/) - Lawrence Scott is from Trinidad & Tobago. He taught English in London and Trinidad for thirty-three years. His second novel Aelred’s Sin (1998) was awarded a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Best Book in Canada and the Caribbean, (1999). His first novel Witchbroom, BBC Book At Bedtime, 1993 had its 25th anniversary of publication with a new
- [Chatterjee, Debjani](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/debjani-chatterjee/) - Debjani Chatterjee is a poet, writer, storyteller and translator. She grew up in India, Japan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Egypt, coming to England in 1972. Described as a poet ‘full of wit and charm’ (Andrew Motion), and ‘a national treasure’ (Barry Tebb), her 8 poetry collections include I Was That Woman, Namaskar: New & Selected
- [Fry, Stephen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/stephen-fry/) - Stephen Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter, film director and all-round national treasure. Fry has written and presented several documentary series, contributed columns and articles for newspapers and magazines, appears frequently on radio, reads for voice-overs and has written four novels and three volumes of autobiography, Moab Is My
- [Gill, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-gill/) - Peter Gill is one of the most important and influential writers and directors of the last thirty years. He has directed over a hundred productions in the UK, Europe and North America. He was responsible for introducing D. H. Lawrence’s plays to the Royal Court Theatre in the 1960s and was the founding director of
- [Iannucci, Armando](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/armando-iannucci/) - Armando Iannucci is a writer and broadcaster, who has written, directed and produced numerous critically acclaimed television and radio comedy shows. His screenplay for the film In The Loop was nominated for an Oscar at the Academy Awards, and his iconic series for BBC – The Thick of It – was nominated for 13 BAFTA Awards,
- [Johnson, Catherine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/catherine-johnson/) - Catherine Johnson has written twenty books for for young readers as well as included in very many anthologies for children and adults including New Daughters of Africa. Sawbones won best historical fiction for 12+ and The Curious Tale of The Lady Caraboo, was shortlisted for the YA Book Prize. Her most recent book Freedom, is
- [Jones, Cynan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/cynan-jones/) - Cynan Jones was born on the west coast of Wales in 1975. He is the author of six novels, published in over 20 countries. He has been longlisted and shortlisted for numerous prizes internationally, and won the Wales Book of the Year Fiction Prize, a Betty Trask Award, the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award, and the
- [Freud, Esther](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/esther-freud/) - Esther Freud trained as an actress before writing her first novel, Hideous Kinky, which was short listed for the John Llewellyn Rhys prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. After publishing her second novel, Peerless Flats, she was chosen as one of Granta’s Best Young British novelists. Her other books include The Sea
- [Ali, Monica](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/monica-ali/) - Monica Ali is an award-winning, bestselling writer whose work has been translated into 26 languages. She is the author of four books, Brick Lane (shortlisted for the Man Booker prize), Alentejo Blue, In the Kitchen, and Untold Story. Her subject matter has ranged widely, from an immigrant community in London to a rural village in
- [Baddiel, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-baddiel/) - David Baddiel was born in the USA in 1964 but has lived entirely in the UK. After obtaining a double first in English from Cambridge, David failed to become the literary academic his teachers and family had hoped, and became instead a comedian, on stage and TV. This took him from clubs in London through
- [Boehmer, Elleke](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/elleke-boehmer/) - Elleke Boehmer was born in Durban and lives in Oxford. She is the author of five novels, Screens against the Sky (1990), An Immaculate Figure (1993), Bloodlines (2000), Nile Baby (2008), and The Shouting in the Dark (2015). Screens against the Sky was short-listed for the David Higham Prize, and Bloodlines for the Sanlam Prize.
- [Butterworth, Jez](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jez-butterworth/) - Jez Butterworth was born in London, in 1969. His first play, Mojo (Royal Court Theatre, 1995), won seven major awards, including the Olivier for Best Comedy. Other plays for the Court include The Night Heron (2002), The Winterling, (2009), and Jerusalem (2009). Jerusalem transferred to the West End, breaking box office records for a new
- [al-Shaykh, Hanan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hanan-al-shaykh/) - Hanan al-Shaykh is one of the Arab world's most acclaimed writers. She is the author of the short story collection I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops and her novels include The Story of Zahra, Women of Sand and Myrrh, Beirut Blues, Only in London, which was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and The
- [Thirlwell, Adam](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adam-thirlwell/) - Adam Thirlwell is the author of three novels, Politics (2003), The Escape (2009) and Lurid & Cute (2015); a novella, Kapow! (2012); and a project with international novels that includes an essay book, Miss Herbert (2007), and a compendium of translations edited for McSweeney’s. His work has been translated into 30 languages. Adam has twice
- [Smith, Deborah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/deborah-smith/) - Deborah Smith is a British translator of Korean literature, mainly fiction by Bae Suah and Han Kang. In 2015 she founded Tilted Axis, a non-profit press publishing contemporary Asian writing. In 2016, her translation of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian won the Man Booker International Prize. Deborah’s work on translation includes public speaking, consultancy, reviews and
- [Williams, Eley](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/eley-williams/) - Eley Williams’s published works include a pamphlet of poetry, Frit (2017), and a collection of prose, Attrib. and other stories (2017). The latter was chosen by Ali Smith as one of 2017’s best debut collections of fiction at the Cambridge Literary Festival and went on to win the Republic of Consciousness Prize. Recent work has
- [Wyld, Evie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/evie-wyld/) - Evie Wyld is the author of two novels, All the Birds Singing (2013) and After the Fire, A Still Small Voice (2009), and one graphic memoir, Everything is Teeth (2015). The Wynches, her third novel, is due out next year. In 2014 she was the winner of the Miles Franklin Award, the European Union Prize,
- [Stenham, Polly](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/polly-stenham/) - Polly Stenham is a playwright, screenwriter and director. Her plays include That Face (Royal Court), for which she won the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright 2007, and the 2008 Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, and Tusk Tusk and No Quarter (Royal Court), both directed by Jeremy Herrin. Hotel opened at the
- [Sahota, Sunjeev](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sunjeev-sahota/) - Sunjeev Sahota was born in Derbyshire in 1981. His first novel, Ours are the Streets, was published in 2011, followed by The Year of the Runaways in 2015. He has won the Encore Award, the South Bank Sky Arts Award and the European Union Prize for Literature, and has been shortlisted for the Man Booker
- [Shire, Warsan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/warsan-shire/) - Warsan Shire’s debut pamphlet, Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth, was published in 2011. She won the inaugural Brunel International African Poetry Prize in 2013 and in 2014 was appointed the first Young People’s Laureate for London. She was also selected as Poet in Residence for Queensland, Australia, where she collaborated with the Aboriginal
- [Taylor, Sara](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sara-taylor/) - Sara Taylor was born in Virginia and home-schooled until university. She received her Masters in Prose Fiction and PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of East Anglia and now lives in Reading. Her novels, The Shore and The Lauras, explore the social construction of identity, sexuality and family; her academic work deals
- [Sackville, Amy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/amy-sackville/) - Amy Sackville is a writer of fiction and Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Kent. Her most recent novel, Painter to the King, about Diego Velázquez and the court of Philip IV of Spain, was published by Granta in the Spring. Her first novel, The Still Point, won the 2010 John Llewellyn Rhys
- [Riley, Gwendoline](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gwendoline-riley/) - Gwendoline Riley was born in London in 1979. She is the author of five novels: Cold Water (2002), Sick Notes (2004), Joshua Spassky (2007), Opposed Positions (2012), and First Love (2017). Cold Water won a Betty Trask Award; Joshua Spassky won the 2008 Somerset Maugham Award and was shortlisted for the 2007 John Llewellyn Rhys
- [Prebble, Lucy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lucy-prebble/) - Lucy Prebble is a writer for film, television, games and theatre. Her play The Effect (National Theatre), won the Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Play and has since been performed all over the world. She also wrote ENRON, a hugely successful piece about the infamous corporate fraud, which transferred to the West End and
- [Raisin, Ross](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ross-raisin/) - Ross Raisin is the author of three novels: A Natural (2017), Waterline (2011) and God’s Own Country (2008), each published to outstanding critical acclaim. In 2013 he was named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. He has been the recipient of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and a Betty
- [Norris, Barney](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/barney-norris/) - Barney Norris founded the touring theatre company Up in Arms with the director Alice Hamilton. The company makes plays around the UK about people and the places they’re from. Barney’s plays for the company include Visitors, winner of the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, Eventide and While We’re Here. For his theatre work,
- [Onuzo, Chibundu](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/chibundu-onuzo/) - Chibundu Onuzo started writing novels and short stories at the age of ten and less than a decade later became the youngest woman ever signed by Faber. Her debut novel, The Spider King’s Daughter (2012), was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Etisalat Prize, shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Commonwealth
- [Mort, Helen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/helen-mort/) - Helen Mort is a five-times winner of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors in 2007, and won the Manchester Young Poet Prize in 2008. In 2010, she became the youngest ever poet-in-residence at the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere. She was the Derbyshire Poet Laureate
- [Mohamed, Nadifa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nadifa-mohamed/) - Nadifa Mohamed was born in Hargeisa, Somaliland, in 1981. Her first novel, Black Mamba Boy, won the Betty Trask Prize; it was longlisted for the Orange Prize and shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize and the PEN Open Book Award. In 2013 she was selected
- [Patel, Vinay](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/vinay-patel/) - Vinay Patel’s debut play, True Brits, opened at the Edinburgh Fringe 2014, transferred to the Bush Theatre and went on to headline the 2015 Vault Festival. His latest play An Adventure will premiere at the Bush Theatre in September. Vinay’s television debut Murdered By My Father won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Single
- [Perry, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sarah-perry/) - Sarah Perry’s first novel, After Me Comes the Flood, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Folio Prize, and won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award in 2014. Her second, The Essex Serpent, was Waterstones Book of the Year 2016 and the British Book Awards Book of the Year 2017.
- [Gordon, Edmund](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/edmund-gordon/) - Edmund Gordon is the author of The Invention of Angela Carter (2016), which won a Somerset Maugham Award, the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize and an RSL Jerwood Award for Non-Fiction, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award. His essays and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of publications,
- [Graham, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-graham/) - James Graham’s theatre work includes Labour of Love which was chosen as Best New Comedy at the Olivier Awards 2018, Ink which was nominated for Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards and The Culture – A Farce in Two Acts performed as part of Hull UK City of Culture 2017. Previous plays include
- [Hickson, Ella](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ella-hickson/) - Ella Hickson is an award-winning writer whose work has been performed throughout the UK and abroad. Her play Oil opened at the Almeida Theatre in October 2017 and her most recent show, The Writer, opened there in Spring 2018. In 2011 she was the Pearson Writer in Residence at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith. She is
- [Miller, Kei](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kei-miller/) - Kei Miller, born in Jamaica, writes across a range of genres: novels, short stories, essays and poetry. His collection The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion won the 2014 Forward Prize for Best Poetry Collection. His third novel, Augustown, won the 2017 Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and was shortlisted for the RSL
- [Feigel, Lara](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lara-feigel/) - Lara Feigel is a Reader in Modern Literature and Culture at King’s College London, where she directs the Centre for Modern Literature and Culture, runs (and founded) the Ivan Juritz Prize for Creative Experiment, and is the recipient of a European Research Council grant and a Philip Leverhulme Prize. She is the author of four
- [Harvey, Rosalind](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rosalind-harvey/) - Rosalind Harvey’s translation of Juan Pablo Villalobos’ debut novel, Down the Rabbit Hole, was shortlisted for the 2011 Guardian First Book Award and the 2012 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Her latest translation of his work, I’ll Sell You A Dog, was longlisted for the International DUBLIN Literary Award. She has worked on books by Guadalupe Nettel,
- [Hewitt, Rachel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rachel-hewitt/) - Rachel Hewitt is the author of Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey (2010) and A Revolution of Feeling: The Decade that Forged the Modern Mind (2017). Her writing, so far, has charted the subjective effects of periods of turbulence and transition in history; particularly the effects of late-eighteenth-century geopolitical change on
- [Icke, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-icke/) - Robert Icke is a writer and theatre director. He is currently Associate Director at the Almeida, where his work has included new adaptations of Mary Stuart, Oresteia and 1984 (co-created with Duncan Macmillan), all of which transferred to the West End. His other recent work includes a new adaptation of Oedipus (Toneelgroep Amsterdam) and Hamlet
- [Kirkwood, Lucy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lucy-kirkwood/) - Lucy Kirkwood is a playwright and screenwriter. Her plays include It Felt Empty When the Heart Went At First But It Is Alright Now (nominated for an Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, winner of the John Whiting Award 2010), NSFW, Chimerica (Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics’ Circle and Susan Smith Blackburn awards), The Children
- [Howe, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sarah-howe/) - Sarah Howe is a British poet, academic and editor. Her first book, Loop of Jade (2015), won the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Sunday Times/ PFD Young Writer of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. Born in Hong Kong to an English father and Chinese mother,
- [Mahfouz, Sabrina](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sabrina-mahfouz/) - Sabrina Mahfouz’s theatre work includes Chef, an Edinburgh Fringe First Award winner; Dry Ice, for which she was nominated in The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence; and With a Little Bit of Luck, which was the first radio drama for BBC Radio 1Xtra. She also writes for children, and her play Zeraffa Giraffa won a
- [Ellams, Inua](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/inua-ellams/) - Inua Ellams, born in Nigeria, is a poet, playwright and performer, graphic artist and designer. He is a Complete Works poet alumnus and facilitates workshops in creative writing where he explores recurring themes in his work – identity, displacement and destiny – in accessible ways for participants of all ages and backgrounds. Inua has written
- [Collins, Sophie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sophie-collins/) - Sophie Collins grew up in Bergen, North Holland, and lives in Edinburgh. She received an Eric Gregory Award for her poetry in 2014. She is co-editor of tender, an online arts quarterly, and editor of Currently & Emotion (2016), an anthology of contemporary poetry translations. small white monkeys, a text on self-expression, self-help and shame,
- [Winterhart, Joff](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/joff-winterhart/) - Joff Winterhart is an illustrator, writer, occasional film-maker/ animator, drummer, songwriter, T-shirt maker, rock ’n’ roll fan and dog enthusiast. He has written and drawn two graphic novels, Days of the Bagnold Summer, which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award in 2012, and Driving Short Distances (2017). He also made the animated film Violet
- [Wulf, Andrea](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrea-wulf/) - Andrea Wulf was born in India, brought up in Germany and lives in the UK. She is an award-winning author of five books. Her latest, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World, won twelve awards, including the Costa Biography Award and the Royal Society Science Book Prize. She is an International Fellow of
- [Welsh, Louise](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/louise-welsh/) - Louise Welsh is a fiction writer and librettist. She has written nine novels, most recently Plague Times Trilogy, a series of books exploring a contemporary pandemic. She has written many short stories and is editor of Ghost: One Hundred Stories to Read with the Lights On. Louise has collaborated on four operas with the composer
- [Williams, Roy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/roy-williams/) - Roy Williams began writing plays in 1990. His plays include Advice for the Young at Heart; an adaptation of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner; Days of Significance; Sucker Punch; Category B; Baby Girl; Absolute Beginners; Little Sweet Thing; Fallout; Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads; Clubland; The Gift; Local Boy; Souls; Lift
- [Agbaje, Bola](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bola-agbaje/) - Bola Agbaje graduated from the Young Writers Programme at the Royal Court Theatre in 2007. Her first play, Gone Too Far!, won the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliated Theatre. It was revived in 2008 and had a run in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court, as well as at
- [Ashworth, Jenn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jenn-ashworth/) - Jenn Ashworth’s first novel, A Kind of Intimacy (2000), won a Betty Trask Award. On the publication of her second, Cold Light (2011), she was featured on the BBC’s The Culture Show as one of the UK’s twelve best new writers. Her third novel, The Friday Gospels, was published in 2013 and her fourth, Fell,
- [Bernard, Jay](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jay-bernard/) - Jay Bernard is a writer from London. Their work is multi-disciplinary, critical, queer and rooted in the archives. Works include Surge: Side A, a multi-media piece (forthcoming as a collection in 2019), which won the Ted Hughes Award 2018, and short film Something Said, a queer response to the historical legacy of the New Cross
- [Berry, Emily](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/emily-berry/) - Emily Berry is a poet, writer and editor living in London. She won an Eric Gregory Award in 2008 and is the author of two books of poetry. Her first collection was Dear Boy, published in 2013, which won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and the Hawthornden Prize. Her second collection is Stranger,
- [Berry, Hannah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hannah-berry/) - Hannah Berry is an award-winning graphic novelist and comics creator whose work has been published around the world. She is the author of three solo graphic novels – political satire Livestock (2017), unconventional horror Adamtine (2012) and offbeat noir Britten & Brülightly (2008), which was an official selection of the 2010 Angoulême International Comics Festival.
- [Bates, Laura](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/laura-bates/) - Laura Bates is the founder of the award-winning Everyday Sexism Project, an ever-increasing collection of hundreds of thousands of testimonies of gender inequality, which has expanded to branches in over twenty countries. Laura’s first book, Everyday Sexism, was published in 2014 and was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year and named one of The
- [Caldwell, Lucy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lucy-caldwell/) - Lucy Caldwell is a writer of novels, plays, radio dramas and short stories. Of her three novels, All the Beggars Riding (2013) was chosen for Belfast’s One City One Book campaign. Her published plays include Leaves (2007), Notes to Future Self (2011) and a version of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters (2016). Lucy’s debut collection of
- [Mendelson, Charlotte](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/charlotte-mendelson/) - Charlotte Mendelson’s most recent novel, Almost English, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her second, Daughters of Jerusalem, won both the Somerset Maugham Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and she was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award. When We Were
- [Stonor Saunders, Frances](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/frances-stonor-saunders/) - Frances Stonor Saunders is a journalist and historian. Her first book, Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War won the Royal Historical Society’s William Gladstone Memorial Prize, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, and is now published in fifteen languages. Her second, Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman, recounts the life of
- [Talbot, Bryan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bryan-talbot/) - Bryan Talbot has been a master of the comic art form for 40 years. He has produced underground and alternative comics, notably Brainstorm!, and science fiction and superhero stories such as Judge Dredd. He has worked on DC Vertigo titles, including Hellblazer, Sandman (with Neil Gaiman), The Dreaming and Fables, and has written and drawn
- [Melville, Pauline](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/pauline-melville/) - Pauline Melville is a British Guyanese writer who has worked at the Royal Court Theatre, the National Theatre and in television, film and cabaret. Her first novel, The Ventriloquist’s Tale, won the Whitbread First Novel Award. Other literary awards include the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Macmillan Silver Pen Award, a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the
- [Morley, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-morley/) - David Morley, an ecologist and naturalist by background, is Professor of Writing at Warwick University. His poetry collections include The Magic of What’s There, The Invisible Gift, The Gypsy and the Poet, Scientific Papers, A Belfast Kiss and Releasing Stone. He is known, too, for his poetry installations within natural landscapes. David has also written
- [Mukherjee, Neel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/neel-mukherjee/) - Neel Mukherjee was born in India and now lives between London and the US, where he teaches at Harvard. He is the author of several critically acclaimed novels. His first, A Life Apart, won the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Fiction. The Lives of Others, an epic saga telling the story of
- [Roberts, Adam](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adam-roberts/) - Adam Roberts is Professor of Nineteenth Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he teaches both Literature and Creative Writing. As an academic, his most recent publications are the monograph Landor’s Cleanness (2014) and a scholarly edition of Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria (2014). He has published eighteen novels, three collections of short stories and
- [Samson, Polly](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/polly-samson/) - Polly Samson, novelist, lyricist and journalist, is the author of two short story collections, Lying in Bed and Perfect Lives – a Sunday Times Fiction Choice of the Year – and novels Out of the Picture, The Kindness and A Theatre for Dreamers (to be published by Bloomsbury in 2019). She is the primary lyricist
- [Petit, Pascale](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/pascale-petit/) - Pascale Petit is a poet of French-Welsh-Indian heritage. Her seventh collection, Mama Amazonica (2017), won the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2018. Her sixth collection, Fauverie, was her fourth to be shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, and five poems from it won the Manchester Poetry Prize. She has had three collections selected as Books of the
- [Donaldson, Julia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/julia-donaldson/) - Julia Donaldson is a children’s writer, poet, playwright and songwriter. She has written over 200 books for children and was the 2011-13 Children’s Laureate. She has collaborated with the illustrator Axel Scheffler on over twenty titles, including The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom. Julia has worked with many other illustrators, among them Rebecca Cobb
- [Craig, Amanda](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/amanda-craig/) - Amanda Craig is the author of seven novels, including A Vicious Circle, Hearts and Minds and The Lie of the Land, as well as short stories and essays. Her novels, always set in the contemporary era, feature recurring characters and inter-connected plots which have been compared to those of Dickens, Trollope and Balzac. She has
- [Hardinge, Frances](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/frances-hardinge/) - Frances Hardinge has written eight novels for children and young adults. Her first two, Fly by Night and Twilight Robbery, were shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Her seventh book, The Lie Tree, won the Costa Book of the Year 2015 award, and several other awards. Her latest book is A Skinful of Shadows,
- [Horowitz, Anthony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anthony-horowitz/) - Anthony Horowitz OBE is the author of the number one bestselling Alex Rider books and the Power of Five series. He has enjoyed huge success as a writer for both children and adults. After the success of his first James Bond novel, Trigger Mortis, he was invited back by the Ian Fleming Estate to write
- [Markovits, Ben](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ben-markovits/) - Ben Markovits left an unpromising career as a professional basketball player to study the Romantics – an experience he wrote about in Playing Days. Since then he has published eight novels, including Either Side of Winter, about a New York private school, and a trilogy on the life of Lord Byron. You Don’t Have To
- [McAfee, Annalena](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/annalena-mcafee/) - Annalena McAfee is the author of eight books for children, including The Visitors who Came to Stay, with illustrations by Anthony Browne, which won the German Jugendliteratur Preis. In 2011 she published her first novel for adults, The Spoiler, set in the newspaper industry. Her second, Hame, explored Scottish history, language and cultural identity against
- [McBride, Eimear](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/eimear-mcbride/) - Eimear McBride’s first novel, A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, was written when she was 27 and took nine years to find a publisher. It was finally picked up by Galley Beggar Press and received the inaugural Goldsmiths Prize, the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, the Desmond Elliott
- [Hamid, Mohsin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mohsin-hamid/) - Mohsin Hamid grew up in Pakistan, and has written four novels. His second, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), recounted a Pakistani man’s abandonment of his high-flying life in New York. Published in over 30 languages, it became a million-copy international bestseller, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His fourth, Exit West (2017), told the story of
- [Leyshon, Nell](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nell-leyshon/) - Nell Leyshon is a novelist and playwright. Her third novel, The Colour of Milk (2012), has been translated into many languages. In France it won the Prix de l’Union Interalliée and was nominated for the Prix Femina. In Spain it was the Libro del Ano. Nell’s second play, Comfort Me with Apples, won the Evening
- [Lalwani, Nikita](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nikita-lalwani/) - Nikita Lalwani‘s work has been translated into sixteen languages. Her first novel, Gifted – the story of a child prodigy of Indian origin growing up in Wales – was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and won the inaugural Desmond Elliott Prize for Fiction. Her second, The Village,
- [Brenton, Howard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/howard-brenton/) - Howard Brenton was born in 1942. He has written over 50 plays including The Romans In Britain (1980), Bloody Poetry (1983) and Pravda (1985, written with David Hare). The most recent are PAUL (2005), Never So Good (2008) and a version of Buchner’s Danton's Death (2010) at the National Theatre; The Ragged Trousered Philiospophers (2010, after Robert Tressell) at the Everyman
- [Dee, Tim](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tim-dee/) - Tim Dee is a writer and radio producer. His first book, The Running Sky, was a memoir of his bird-watching life. Four Fields (2013) explored the commonest scratching at the Earth’s surface that our species has made: one field in the Cambridgeshire fens, the others on an old tobacco farm in Zambia, at the Custer
- [Blacker, Terence](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/terence-blacker/)
- [Lenkiewicz, Rebecca](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rebecca-lenkiewicz/) - Rebecca studied Film and English at The University of Kent. She also studied acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Rebecca co-wrote Ida with the film’s director Pawel Pawlikowski. Ida won the BAFTA for Best Film in 2015 and the Oscar for Best Foreign Film 2015. She has co-written Disobedience, a film
- [Hill, Susan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/susan-hill/)
- [Miller, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-miller/)
- [Copus, Julia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/julia-copus/) - Julia Copus is a poet and children’s writer. Her third collection of poetry, The World’s Two Smallest Humans, was shortlisted for both the Costa Poetry Award and the T.S. Eliot Prize. In 2010 she won the Forward Prize for best single poem. Her debut for children, Hog in the Fog, published in 2014, was praised
- [Adebayo, Mojisola](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mojisola-adebayo/) - Mojisola Adebayo has been creating theatre for 25 years, working internationally from Antarctica to Zimbabwe. Her plays include Moj of the Antarctic: An African Odyssey, Muhammad Ali and Me, 48 Minutes for Palestine, Desert Boy, The Listeners, I Stand Corrected and The Interrogation of Sandra Bland. Publications include Mojisola Adebayo: Plays One, 48 Minutes for
- [Alderman, Naomi](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/naomi-alderman/) - Naomi Alderman is a novelist, broadcaster and video-game designer. Her novels include Disobedience, The Liars’ Gospel and the bestselling The Power (2016), which won the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and was named by Barack Obama as one of his ten books of the year. Her work has been published in 23 languages. She was
- [Anthony Appiah, Kwame](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kwame-anthony-appiah/) - Kwame Anthony Appiah was born in London and grew up in Ghana. Since finishing his philosophy doctorate at Cambridge, he has mostly lived and worked in America, in a peripatetic career that began at Yale and took him by way of long stints at Harvard and Princeton to New York University. En route, he has
- [Agbabi, Patience](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patience-agbabi/) - Patience Agbabi is a celebrated poet and performer. She has spent 30 years celebrating the written and spoken word in the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, Asia and the USA. Her work often gives voice to the voiceless, bridging the gap between page and stage, high art and popular culture, poetry and prose; paying equal attention
- [Cohen, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-cohen/) - Richard Cohen is the author of By The Sword (a history of swordplay), Chasing the Sun (a history of our star), and How to Write Like Tolstoy: A Journey into the Minds of Our Greatest Writers. From 2015 to 2017, he has been the tour expert for the New York Times tour of the World War
- [Cooper, Artemis](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/artemis-cooper/) - Artemis Cooper studied English at Oxford, and worked in Egypt and New Mexico before beginning her career as a writer. Her first book, A Durable Fire (1983) was an edition of the correspondence between her grandparents, Duff and Diana Cooper. This was followed by Cairo in the War: 1939-1945 (1989), and Mr Wu and Mrs Stitch,
- [Runcie, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-runcie/)
- [Winterson, Jeanette](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jeanette-winterson/) - Jeanette Winterson was born in Manchester, England in 1959. She was adopted and brought up in Accrington, Lancashire, in the north of England. Her strict Pentecostal Evangelist upbringing provides the background to her acclaimed first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, published in 1985. She graduated from St Catherine's College, Oxford, and moved to London
- [McDermid, Val](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/val-mcdermid/) - Val McDermid is a writer and broadcaster, best known for her crime fiction. She was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in 1955. She read English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford and subsequently became a journalist. She spent 14 years on national newspapers, culminating as Northern Bureau Chief of a Sunday tabloid. Her first play, Like A
- [Castor, Helen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/helen-castor/) - Helen Castor is a historian of the later middle ages and sixteenth century. She studied for her BA and PhD at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and was elected to a Research Fellowship at Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1993. In the following year she was appointed Fellow and Director of Studies in History at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Her monograph The King, the
- [Anam, Tahmima](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tahmima-anam/) - Tahmima Anam is an anthropologist and a novelist. Her debut novel, A Golden Age, was winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book. In 2013, she was named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. She is a Contributing Opinion Writer for The New York Times and was a judge for the
- [Rankin, Ian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ian-rankin/)
- [Schama, Simon](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/simon-schama/) - Simon Schama, CBE is University Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University and a Contributing Editor of the Financial Times. He is the author of seventeen books and the writer-presenter of fifty documentaries on art, history and literature for BBC2. His art criticism for The New Yorker won the National Magazine Award for criticism
- [Syal, Meera](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/meera-syal/) - Meera Syal CBE, graduated from Manchester University with a double first in English and Drama. Her many acting credits include Beatrice in the RSC’s Much Ado About Nothing, Zehrunissa in David Hares Behind The Beautiful Forevers (National Theatre), and The Nurse in Kenneth Branagh’s production of Romeo and Juliet. She was also writer/performer in the
- [Levy, Deborah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/deborah-levy/) - Deborah Levy trained at Dartington College of Arts leaving in 1981 to write a number of plays, highly acclaimed for their “intellectual rigour, poetic fantasy and visual imagination” (Marina Warner), including Pax, Clam and Heresies for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Macbeth-False Memories for The Actors Touring Company, all published in Levy: Plays 1. (Methuen). Deborah has written six novels: Hot Milk (Hamish Hamilton) shortlisted for the
- [Sanghera, Sathnam](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sathnam-sanghera/) - Sathnam Sanghera was born to Punjabi parents in the West Midlands in 1976, attended Wolverhampton Grammar School and graduated from Christ’s College, Cambridge with a first class degree in English Language and Literature in 1998. Before becoming a writer he (among other things) worked at a burger chain, a hospital laundry, a market research firm, a
- [Gupta, Tanika](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tanika-gupta/)
- [Gilroy, Paul](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/paul-gilroy/)
- [Greer, Germaine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/germaine-greer/)
- [Hall, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sarah-hall/)
- [Holland, Tom](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tom-holland/)
- [Warner, Alan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alan-warner/) - Alan Warner is a Scottish writer and novelist who has published the following novels: Morvern Callar, (1995) which won the Somerset Maugham Prize and was adapted for the cinema by director Lynne Ramsay in 2002. These Demented Lands (1997) which won the Encore Award. The Sopranos/Our Ladies (1998) which won the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award. The novel
- [Edmundson, Helen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/helen-edmundson/)
- [Hitchings, Henry](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/henry-hitchings/)
- [Tempest, Kae](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kae-tempest/)
- [Brett, Simon](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/simon-brett/)
- [N. Herbert, W.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/w-n-herbert/)
- [Kemp, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-kemp/)
- [Clark, Brian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/brian-clark/)
- [Coetzee, J.M](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/j-m-coetzee/)
- [Macintyre, Ben](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ben-macintyre/)
- [Manea, Norman](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/norman-manea/)
- [Rosen, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-rosen/) - Michael Rosen, MA, Ph.D., was born in 1946 in north London, educated in state schools and Oxford University. He has been a freelance writer, performer, broadcaster and academic since 1973 publishing over 200 titles for children and adults including We're Going on a Bear Hunt (illustrated Helen Oxenbury) (Walker Books) and Sad Book (with Quentin Blake)
- [Matar, Hisham](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hisham-matar/)
- [Sisman, Adam](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adam-sisman/)
- [Lawson, Mark](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mark-lawson/)
- [Miéville, China](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/china-mieville/)
- [Thomson, Rupert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rupert-thomson/)
- [Monk, Ray](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ray-monk/)
- [Douglas-Fairhurst, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-douglas-fairhurst/)
- [Stuart, Andrea](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrea-stuart/)
- [Appignanesi, Lisa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lisa-appignanesi/) - Lisa Appignanesi OBE is a prize-winning writer, novelist and cultural commentator. She is the Chair of the Man Booker International Prize 2018. She was for many years Chair of the Freud Museum London and President of English PEN. A former Deputy Director of London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, she has judged many literary prizes. She
- [McKendrick, Jamie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jamie-mckendrick/)
- [Gavin, Jamila](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jamila-gavin/)
- [Symmons Roberts, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-symmons-roberts/) - My latest book of poems - Drysalter, published in 2013 - consists of 150 poems of 15 lines each. It took some of its thematic and formal bearings from the psalter, but I wanted it to feel full and various like the old drysalters’ shops. For five years, there was one question I never had to
- [Elfyn, Menna](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/menna-elfyn/) - Menna Elfyn is an award winning poet, playwright. She has published fourteen collections of poetry, children’s novels, libretti for UK and US composers, plays for radio and television. Merch Perygl ( Danger’s Daughter),was published by Gomer Press in 2011, and her bilingual volume Murmur, Bloodaxe Books, in autumn 2012 was selected as Poetry Book Society
- [Fallowell, Duncan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/duncan-fallowell/)
- [Martel, Yann](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/yann-martel/)
- [Davies, Norman](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/norman-davies/)
- [Zeldin, Theodore](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/theodore-zeldin/)
- [Rosoff, Meg](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/meg-rosoff/)
- [Buffini, Moira](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/moira-buffini/)
- [Grant, Linda](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/linda-grant/)
- [McCall Smith, Alexander](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alexander-mccall-smith/)
- [Kunzru, Hari](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hari-kunzru/)
- [Kwei-Armah, Kwame](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kwame-kwei-armah/)
- [Hobbs, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-hobbs/)
- [Wright, Kit](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kit-wright/) - Poet and children's author Kit Wright was born in 1944 and educated at Oxford University. He lectured in Canada, before working as Education Officer at the Poetry Society in London (1970-75) and was Fellow Commoner in Creative Art at Cambridge University (1977-9). He was awarded an Arts Council Writers' Award in 1985. His books of poetry include
- [Wroe, Ann](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ann-wroe/)
- [Wilson, A.N.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/a-n-wilson/) - Andrew Norman Wilson was born in Staffordshire in 1950 and is best known as a biographer, novelist, journalist and essayist. Wilson was educated at Rugby School and later attended New College, Oxford (B.A., 1972; M.A., 1976). Initially drawn to the teaching profession and priesthood, Wilson settled upon a life of writing, and published his first
- [Williams, Hugo](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hugo-williams/) - Poet, journalist and travel writer Hugo Williams was born in 1942 in Windsor and grew up in Sussex. He was educated at Eton College and worked on the London Magazine from 1961 to 1970. He writes a column in the Times Literary Supplement, has been poetry editor and TV critc on the New Statesman, theatre critic on the Sunday Corrrespondent,
- [Wood, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-wood/)
- [Wilson, Frances](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/frances-wilson/)
- [Woodward, Gerard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gerard-woodward/)
- [Wood, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-wood/)
- [Williams (The Right Rev Lord Williams, Rowan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rowan-williams/)
- [Wilcox, Helen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/helen-wilcox/) - Helen Wilcox is Professor of English Literature at Bangor University. She is the editor of the critically acclaimed edition of The English Poems of George Herbert, published by Cambridge University Press in 2007.
- [Walvin, Jim](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jim-walvin/)
- [Warner, Marina](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/marina-warner/) - Marina Warner is a novelist, short-story writer, historian and mythographer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism, myth and fairy tales. Her award-winning books include Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary (1976), Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism (1982), From the
- [Williams, Nigel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nigel-williams/) - Nigel Williams was born in 1948. His first novel, My Life Closed Twice, was published in 1977 and won the Somerset Maugham Award. Since then his fiction includes the bestselling “Wimbledon Trilogy” - The Wimbledon Poisoner, They Came from SW19 and East of Wimbledon, and a volume of short stories, Scenes from a Poisoner’s Life. He adapted The Wimbledon Poisoner into a successful
- [Wells, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-wells/)
- [Wells, Stanley](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/stanley-wells/)
- [Wertenbaker, Timberlake](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/timberlake-wertenbaker/) - Timberlake Wertenbaker is a British playwright also known for her translations and adaptations of Sophocles, Marivaux, Racine and Tolstoy. She has received many awards for her plays, including the Laurence Olivier, Writers’ Guild, Evening Standard, Critics’ Circle, New York Drama Critics and the Susan Smith Blackburn prize. She is the Chair in playwriting at the
- [Waters, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sarah-waters/)
- [Wheeler, Sara](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sara-wheeler/)
- [Truss, Lynne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lynne-truss/) - Lynne Truss began work as a literary journalist, editing the Books section of The Listener, and as critic, columnist and sportswriter for The Times. She also wrote for Woman's Journal, and for the Daily Mail and the Sunday Times, for which she regularly reviews books. In 1996 she was named Columnist of the Year for her work on Woman's Journal, and the following
- [Tremain, Rose](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rose-tremain/)
- [Treglown, Jeremy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jeremy-treglown/)
- [Thwaite, Ann](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ann-thwaite/)
- [Thubron, Colin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/colin-thubron/) - Award-winning travel writer and novelist Colin Thubron was born in London on 14 June 1939. Educated at Eton College, he worked briefly for the publishers Hutchinson and as a freelance television film-maker in Turkey, Japan and Morocco. His first book, Mirror to Damascus, was published in 1967. He continued to write about the Middle East in The
- [Tóibín, Colm](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/colm-toibin/) - Colm Toibin was born in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford in 1955. He studied at University College Dublin and lived in Barcelona between 1975 and 1978. Out of his experience in Barcelona be produced two books, the novel ‘The South’ (shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and winner of the Irish Times/ Aer Lingus First Fiction
- [Tolstoy, Nikolai](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nikolai-tolstoy/)
- [Trapido, Barbara](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/barbara-trapido/)
- [Tomalin, Claire](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/claire-tomalin/)
- [Taylor, D.J.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/d-j-taylor/)
- [Thomson, Ian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ian-thomson/)
- [Strong, Sir Roy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-roy-strong/)
- [Stewart, Stanley](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/stanley-stewart/)
- [Sutherland, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-sutherland/) - John Sutherland is Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College, London. He has taught in universities world-wide and is also Visiting Professor of California Institute of Technology. Author of many books and articles, his interest lies in the areas of Victorian fiction, the history of publishing and 20th-century fiction. He writes
- [Szirtes, George](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/george-szirtes/)
- [Swift, Graham](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/graham-swift/)
- [Summerscale, Kate](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kate-summerscale/)
- [St Aubyn, Edward](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/edward-st-aubyn/)
- [Stannard, Martin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/martin-stannard/)
- [Stewart, Rory](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rory-stewart/)
- [Stead, C.K.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/c-k-stead/)
- [Soueif, Ahdaf](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ahdaf-soueif/)
- [Smith, Ali](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ali-smith/) - Here's a photo of me with Dylan the cat. I've been a Fellow of the RSL since 2007, when I managed to sign the register with both Dickens's and Byron's pens, the Ali was Dickens's and the Smith was Byron's. I think I was lucky to get away with that – and glad to, because I
- [Spufford, Francis](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/francis-spufford/)
- [Spurling, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-spurling/) - I seldom join clubs or societies. I disliked my schools because they constantly threatened my individuality. To set oneself up as a writer is in itself a claim to individuality. But all the living writers I admire are individualists as well as Fellows of the RSL, so I gladly accepted the invitation to join them.
- [Spalding, Frances](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/frances-spalding/) - Frances Spalding is an art historian, critic and biographer. She read art history at the University of Nottingham and began writing pieces for the TLS, The Burlington Magazine and art journals while still a post-graduate. She has a specialist interest in twentieth-century British art and first established her reputation with Roger Fry: Art and Life. She went on to
- [Spurling, Hilary](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hilary-spurling/)
- [Smith, Zadie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/zadie-smith/)
- [Showalter, Elaine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/elaine-showalter/)
- [Slovo, Gillian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gillian-slovo/) - Gillian Slovo has published thirteen novels, a family memoir and has also written three verbatim plays. She started in crime, writing five novels featuring her detective Kate Baeier, before branching out into narrative driven literary fiction. Ice Road, set in Leningrad in the 1930s, was shortlisted for the 2006 Orange Prize. Red Dust, her novel
- [Shamsie, Kamila](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kamila-shamsie/) - Kamila Shamsie is the author of six novels: In the City by the Sea (shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize); Salt and Saffron; Kartography (also shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize); Broken Verses; Burnt Shadows (shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction) and A God in Every Stone, which was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize, the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
- [Sinclair, Iain](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/iain-sinclair/)
- [Shakespeare, Nicholas](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nicholas-shakespeare/)
- [Simmonds, Posy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/posy-simmonds/)
- [Skidelsky (Lord Skidelsky), Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-skidelsky-lord-skidelsky/)
- [Shapcott, Jo](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jo-shapcott/)
- [Simpson, Helen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/helen-simpson/)
- [Sebag-Montefiore, Simon](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/simon-sebag-montefiore/)
- [Seth, Vikram](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/vikram-seth/)
- [Segrave, Elisa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/elisa-segrave/)
- [Sennett, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-sennett/)
- [Rudolf, Anthony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anthony-rudolf/)
- [Rumens, Carol](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/carol-rumens/)
- [Sampson, Fiona](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/fiona-sampson/)
- [Sail, Lawrence](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lawrence-sail/)
- [Rushdie, Sir Salman](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-salman-rushdie/)
- [Ross, Jacob](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jacob-ross/)
- [Schmidt, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-schmidt/)
- [Robertson, Robin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robin-robertson/) - Robin Robertson was brought up on the north-east coast of Scotland. After taking degrees in Scotland and Canada he moved to London to begin a career in publishing, working at Penguin, Secker & Warburg and Jonathan Cape, where he is Associate Publisher. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Robertson’s books of poetry
- [Romer, Stephen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/stephen-romer/)
- [Rogers, Jane](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jane-rogers/)
- [Scarisbrick, J.J.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/j-j-scarisbrick/)
- [Ridley (Viscount Ridley), Matt](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/matt-ridley/)
- [Roberts, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-roberts/)
- [Ridley, Jane](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jane-ridley/)
- [Robb, Graham](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/graham-robb/)
- [Rivière, William](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/william-riviere/)
- [Reid, Christopher](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/christopher-reid/)
- [Profumo, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-profumo/)
- [Raphael, Frederic](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/frederic-raphael/)
- [Redmon, Anne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anne-redmon/)
- [Raine, Craig](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/craig-raine/)
- [Rankin, Nicholas](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nicholas-rankin/)
- [Pullman, Sir Philip](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-philip-pullman/) - Philip Pullman is one of the most highly respected children's authors writing today. He is the author of several best-selling books, including the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and the fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. In 2008, The Times named Pullman one of the '50 greatest British writers since 1945'. In a 2004 poll
- [Pears, Tim](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tim-pears/)
- [Parker, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-parker/)
- [Phillips, Adam](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adam-phillips/)
- [Phillips, Caryl](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/caryl-phillips/) - I've been a Fellow of the RSL since 2000, and have closely followed the admirable range of events that the RSL sponsors each year, particularly the Schools Outreach programme. I was thrilled to be asked to take part in the Angela Carter evening in 2012, not only because Angela was a good friend, but I was
- [Paterson, Don](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/don-paterson/)
- [Oyeyemi, Helen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/helen-oyeyemi/)
- [Phillips, Mike](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mike-phillips/)
- [Padel, Ruth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ruth-padel/)
- [Poliakoff, Stephen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/stephen-poliakoff/)
- [Plante, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-plante/)
- [Ondaatje, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-ondaatje/)
- [O'Hanlon, Redmond](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/redmond-ohanlon/)
- [O'Hagan, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-ohagan/)
- [Okri, Ben](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ben-okri/)
- [Nicolson (Lord Carnock), Adam](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adam-nicolson/)
- [Morrison, Blake](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/blake-morrison/) - Born in Yorkshire, Blake Morrison is a poet, novelist and librettist, as well as the author of two bestselling memoirs, And When Did You Last See Your Father and Things My Mother Never Told Me. After working for the Times Literary Supplement, he went on to become literary editor of both The Observer and the
- [Nicholl, Charles](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/charles-nicholl/)
- [O'Donoghue, Bernard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bernard-odonoghue/)
- [Mount, Sir Ferdinand](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-ferdinand-mount/)
- [Motion, Sir Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-andrew-motion/)
- [Muldoon, Paul](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/paul-muldoon/)
- [Munro, Alice](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alice-munro/)
- [Nicholson, William](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/william-nicholson/)
- [Nichols, Grace](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/grace-nichols/) - Grace Nichols was born in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1950 and grew up in a small country village on the Guyanese coast. She moved to the city with her family when she was eight, an experience central to her first novel, Whole of a Morning Sky (1986), set in 1960s Guyana in the middle of the country's struggle
- [O'Brien, Sean](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sean-obrien/)
- [Moggach, Deborah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/deborah-moggach/) - Deborah Moggach has written 18 novels, including the bestselling Tulip Fever and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, both of which have been made into movies. She's adapted many of her other books for TV and films. Her other adaptations include the BAFTA-nominated Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley, and "Goggle-Eyes", which won the Writers Guild
- [Mitchell, Julian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/julian-mitchell/)
- [Morpurgo, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-morpurgo/)
- [Moorehead, Caroline](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/caroline-moorehead/)
- [Mitchell, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-mitchell/) - Along with many novelists, I’m not a natural joiner-upper or a belonger, but when one of my favourite writers Colin Thubron kindly asked if I’d like to join the Royal Society of Literature at an event in London three years ago, I was too flattered to hum and mumble my usual excuse that I haven’t
- [McGough, Roger](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/roger-mcgough/)
- [Mistry, Rohinton](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rohinton-mistry/)
- [McWilliam, Candia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/candia-mcwilliam/)
- [Mendelson, Edward](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/edward-mendelson/)
- [McDonald, Ian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ian-mcdonald/)
- [McEwan, Ian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ian-mcewan/)
- [Meyers, Jeffrey](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jeffrey-meyers/)
- [Millgate, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-millgate/)
- [Mishra, Pankaj](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/pankaj-mishra/)
- [Mars-Jones, Adam](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adam-mars-jones/)
- [Manguel, Alberto](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alberto-manguel/)
- [McCaughrean, Geraldine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/geraldine-mccaughrean/)
- [Marber, Patrick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patrick-marber/)
- [Mansel, Philip](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/philip-mansel/)
- [Marsden, Philip](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/philip-marsden/)
- [Massie, Allan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/allan-massie/)
- [Maxwell, Glyn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/glyn-maxwell/)
- [Marnham, Patrick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patrick-marnham/)
- [K. Marshall, Rosalind](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rosalind-k-marshall/) - Rosalind K. Marshall became a Fellow following the publication in 1973 of her first best-selling book, The Days of Duchess Anne, based on her Edinburgh University Ph.D. thesis. Her continuing publications, which include a well-received biography of John Knox, discuss the place of women in Scottish society.
- [Malouf, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-malouf/)
- [MacMillan, Margaret](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/margaret-macmillan/)
- [Malcolm, Sir Noel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-noel-malcolm/)
- [MacLean, Rory](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rory-maclean/)
- [Mackay, Shena](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/shena-mackay/)
- [Lucie-Smith, Edward](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/edward-lucie-smith/)
- [Mabey, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-mabey/)
- [Macfarlane, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-macfarlane/) - The news that I ‘d been elected a Fellow of the RSL came out of a clear blue sky one day in 2012. No rumours, no murmurs, no knowledge I was even being considered. Just – wham! – the thrill of the fact of it, and not long afterwards I signed myself in with TS
- [Lycett, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-lycett/)
- [Longley, Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/michael-longley/)
- [McGrath, Patrick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/patrick-mcgrath/)
- [Lee, Dame Hermione](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dame-hermione-lee/) - Hermione Lee is a biographer and critic and former President of Wolfson College Oxford. Her books include biographies of Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, Penelope Fitzgerald (winner of the James Tait Black Prize) and Tom Stoppard. She has also written books on Willa Cather, Elizabeth Bowen and Philip Roth, and books on life-writing – Biography: A
- [Lewis, Gwyneth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gwyneth-lewis/)
- [Leader, Zachary](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/zachary-leader/)
- [Lodge, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-lodge/)
- [Leigh, Mike](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mike-leigh/)
- [Levy, Paul](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/paul-levy/)
- [Lively, Dame Penelope](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dame-penelope-lively/)
- [Lock, Samuel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/samuel-lock/)
- [Lavery, Bryony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bryony-lavery/)
- [Lasdun, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-lasdun/)
- [Langley, Lee](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lee-langley/)
- [Laird, Nick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nick-laird/)
- [Lane Fox, Robin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robin-lane-fox/)
- [Kynaston, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-kynaston/)
- [Kureishi, Hanif](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hanif-kureishi/)
- [Khalvati, Mimi](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mimi-khalvati/)
- [Keates, Jonathan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jonathan-keates/)
- [Kilroy, Thomas](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/thomas-kilroy/)
- [Kay, Jackie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jackie-kay/) - Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1961 to a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father. She was adopted by a white couple at birth and was brought up in Glasgow, studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and Stirling University where she read English. The experience of being adopted by and
- [Kennedy, A.L.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/a-l-kennedy/)
- [Jull Costa, Margaret](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/margaret-jull-costa/)
- [Kneale, Matthew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/matthew-kneale/)
- [Keneally, Thomas](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/thomas-keneally/)
- [Judd, Alan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alan-judd/)
- [Jones, Steve](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/steve-jones/)
- [Josipovici, Gabriel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gabriel-josipovici/)
- [Johnston, Jennifer](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jennifer-johnston/)
- [Jenkins, Alan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alan-jenkins/)
- [Jamie, Kathleen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kathleen-jamie/) - As I write this (in July 2015) I've just signed off the page proofs for a new book of poems, The Bonniest Companie, but had to call them back after a well-wisher pointed out an absolute howler of a typo. So much for my attentive reading! The book consists in 45 or so loose-limbed pieces, written
- [Irwin, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-irwin/)
- [Jenkins, Sir Simon](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-simon-jenkins/)
- [Jacobson, Howard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/howard-jacobson/)
- [Ishiguro, Kazuo](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kazuo-ishiguro/) - Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, on 8 November 1954. He came to Britain in 1960 when his father began research at the National Institute of Oceanography, and was educated at a grammar school for boys in Surrey. Afterwards he worked as a grouse-beater for the Queen Mother at Balmoral before enrolling at the
- [Jensen, Liz](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/liz-jensen/)
- [Huth, Angela](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/angela-huth/)
- [Jay, Deborah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/deborah-jay/)
- [Hope, Christopher](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/christopher-hope/) - Christopher Hope’s novels include Kruger’s Alp, winner of the Whitbread Prize for Fiction; Serenity House, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, My Mothers Lovers and, most recently, Jimfish. He has published several collections of stories and poems and is a frequent contributor to the BBC. A graduate of the universities of Natal and the Witwatersrand, South Africa,
- [Holmes, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-holmes/)
- [Huntford, Roland](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/roland-huntford/)
- [Hussein, Aamer](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/aamer-hussein/)
- [Hollinghurst, Alan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alan-hollinghurst/)
- [Hoffman, Eva](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/eva-hoffman/)
- [Hughes-Hallett, Lucy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lucy-hughes-hallett/)
- [Holroyd, Sir Michael](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-michael-holroyd/)
- [Hornby, Nick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nick-hornby/)
- [Hughes, Kathryn](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kathryn-hughes/)
- [Hazlehurst, Cameron](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/cameron-hazlehurst/)
- [Hill, Rosemary](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rosemary-hill/)
- [Hill, Tobias](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tobias-hill/)
- [Hemming, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-hemming/)
- [Hensher, Philip](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/philip-hensher/)
- [Hillier, Bevis](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bevis-hillier/)
- [Hampton, Christopher](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/christopher-hampton/)
- [Hare, Sir David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-david-hare/) - When I wrote a short play about my schooldays, South Downs, which was at Chichester, then in the West End a couple of years ago, I found myself trying to explain the 1950s and the 1960s to a disbelieving young cast. I realised how distant those decades now seemed. There are very few works of
- [Hattersley (Lord Hattersley), Roy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/roy-hattersley/)
- [Harrison, Tony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tony-harrison/)
- [Hastings, Sir Max](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-max-hastings/) - Sir Max Hastings is an author, journalist and broadcaster whose work has appeared in every British national newspaper. He now writes regularly for the Daily Mail and reviews for the Sunday Times and New York Review of Books. He has published twenty-six books and his latest is The Secret War: Spies, Codes and Guerrillas 1939-1945
- [Harris, Alexandra](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alexandra-harris/)
- [Harman, Claire](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/claire-harman/)
- [Harsent, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-harsent/)
- [Harries (The Right Rev Lord Harries), Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-harries/)
- [Harris, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-harris/)
- [Selina Hastings, Lady](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lady-selina-hastings/)
- [Hague (Lord Hague of Richmond), William](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/william-hague/)
- [Haffenden, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-haffenden/)
- [Halperin, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-halperin/)
- [Gloag, Julian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/julian-gloag/)
- [Greenlaw, Lavinia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lavinia-greenlaw/)
- [Gordon, Lyndall](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lyndall-gordon/)
- [Green, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-green/)
- [Gurnah, Abdulrazak](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/abdulrazak-gurnah/)
- [Grayling, A.C.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/a-c-grayling/)
- [Gilmour, Sir David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-david-gilmour/)
- [Glaister, Lesley](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lesley-glaister/)
- [Gribbin, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-gribbin/)
- [Gunesekera, Romesh](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/romesh-gunesekera/)
- [Glendinning, Victoria](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/victoria-glendinning/)
- [Gould, Warwick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/warwick-gould/)
- [Geras, Adèle](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adele-geras/)
- [Ghosh, Amitav](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/amitav-ghosh/)
- [Garton Ash, Timothy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/timothy-garton-ash/)
- [Gee, Maggie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/maggie-gee/)
- [Garner, Alan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alan-garner/)
- [Foulds, Adam](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adam-foulds/)
- [Antonia Fraser, Lady](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lady-antonia-fraser/)
- [Fugard, Athol](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/athol-fugard/)
- [Fuller, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-fuller/)
- [Foster, Roy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/roy-foster/)
- [Fraser, Robert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robert-fraser/)
- [Fergusson, Adam](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adam-fergusson/)
- [Fine, Anne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anne-fine/)
- [Forna, Aminatta](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/aminatta-forna/)
- [Fenton, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-fenton/)
- [Ford, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-ford/) - I’ve been a Fellow of the RSL for nearly two years, but so far there hasn’t been one meeting or event anywhere near my home in Maine. I’m much too impressed with being a Fellow and need to tone down my sense of self-importance – this, to be able to fit in better. I know that revealed
- [Fainlight, Ruth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ruth-fainlight/)
- [Fiennes, William](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/william-fiennes/)
- [Fergusson, Maggie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/maggie-fergusson/)
- [Farley, Paul](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/paul-farley/)
- [Faulks, Sebastian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sebastian-faulks/)
- [Fischer, Tibor](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tibor-fischer/)
- [Edgar, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-edgar/)
- [Enright, Anne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anne-enright/)
- [Dyer, Geoff](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/geoff-dyer/)
- [Eyre, Sir Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-richard-eyre/)
- [Evans, Sir Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-richard-evans/)
- [Desai, Anita](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anita-desai/) - Novelist, short-story writer and children's author Anita Desai was born in 1937 in Mussoorie, India. She was educated at Delhi University. Her novels include Fire on the Mountain (1977), which won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, and Clear Light of Day (1980), In Custody (1984) and Fasting, Feasting (1999), each of which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In Custody was made into a film
- [Doyle, Roddy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/roddy-doyle/)
- [Dunn, Douglas](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/douglas-dunn/)
- [Duhig, Ian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ian-duhig/)
- [Dooley, Maura](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/maura-dooley/)
- [Duffy, Maureen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/maureen-duffy/)
- [Duffy, Dame Carol Ann](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dame-carol-ann-duffy/)
- [Dilks, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-dilks/)
- [Dunn, Jane](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jane-dunn/)
- [Drabble, Dame Margaret](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dame-margaret-drabble/)
- [Dunn, Nell](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nell-dunn/)
- [de Botton, Alain](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alain-de-botton/)
- [de Bernières, Louis](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/louis-de-bernieres/)
- [Dawkins, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-dawkins/)
- [Davies, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-davies/)
- [Crossley-Holland, Kevin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kevin-crossley-holland/)
- [Davies, Paul](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/paul-davies/)
- [Cusk, Rachel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rachel-cusk/)
- [Davis, Dick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dick-davis/)
- [Dalrymple, William](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/william-dalrymple/)
- [Crace, Jim](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jim-crace/)
- [Dabydeen, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-dabydeen/)
- [Davenport-Hines, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-davenport-hines/)
- [Curtis, Tony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tony-curtis/)
- [Davies, Stevie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/stevie-davies/)
- [Cornwell, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-cornwell/)
- [Connor, Tony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tony-connor/)
- [Constantine, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-constantine/)
- [Cottrell Boyce, Frank](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/frank-cottrell-boyce/)
- [Colley, Linda](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/linda-colley/)
- [Cope, Wendy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/wendy-cope/)
- [Chambers, Aidan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/aidan-chambers/)
- [Chaudhuri, Amit](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/amit-chaudhuri/)
- [Chisholm, Anne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anne-chisholm/)
- [Clarke, Gillian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gillian-clarke/)
- [Coe, Jonathan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jonathan-coe/)
- [Christiansen, Rupert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rupert-christiansen/)
- [Chevalier, Tracy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/tracy-chevalier/) - When I was invited to become an RSL Fellow and told I would sign the register with either Byron’s or Dickens’ pen, I’m afraid there was no choice there: it had to be Dickens. I am a coward, but Byron is too scary. Recently I’ve been working with the Bronte Parsonage on Charlotte Bronte’s bicentenary
- [Clapp, Susannah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/susannah-clapp/)
- [Cairns, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-cairns/)
- [Caute, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-caute/)
- [Carter, Miranda](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/miranda-carter/)
- [Brendon, Piers](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/piers-brendon/)
- [Briggs, Robin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/robin-briggs/)
- [Cannadine, Sir David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-david-cannadine/)
- [Buchan, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-buchan/)
- [Carey, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-carey/)
- [Carey, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-carey/)
- [Blackburn, Julia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/julia-blackburn/)
- [Blake, Sir Quentin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-quentin-blake/)
- [Boyd, William](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/william-boyd/)
- [Blackman, Malorie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/malorie-blackman/)
- [Bax, Martin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/martin-bax/)
- [Bigsby, Christopher](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/christopher-bigsby/)
- [Beer, Dame Gillian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dame-gillian-beer/)
- [Barker, Pat](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/pat-barker/)
- [Barry, Sebastian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sebastian-barry/)
- [Birkett, Dea](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dea-birkett/)
- [Barker, Juliet](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/juliet-barker/)
- [Bate, Jonathan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jonathan-bate/)
- [Belben, Rosalind](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rosalind-belben/)
- [Bassnett, Susan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/susan-bassnett/)
- [Banville, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-banville/)
- [Bailey, Paul](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/paul-bailey/)
- [Barber, Richard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/richard-barber/)
- [Bakewell, Sarah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sarah-bakewell/)
- [Atkinson, Kate](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kate-atkinson/)
- [Atwood, Margaret](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/margaret-atwood/)
- [Aslam, Nadeem](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/nadeem-aslam/)
- [Ashton, Rosemary](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/rosemary-ashton/)
- [Angier, Carole](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/carole-angier/)
- [Alldritt, Keith](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/keith-alldritt/)
- [Armitage, Simon](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/simon-armitage/) - Simon Armitage was born in 1963 in the village of Marsden and lives in West Yorkshire. He is a graduate of Portsmouth University, where he studied Geography. As a post-graduate student at Manchester University, his MA thesis concerned the effects of television violence on young offenders. Until 1994 he worked as a Probation Officer in
- [Agard, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-agard/)
- [Almond, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-almond/)
- [Armstrong, Karen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/karen-armstrong/)
- [Amory, Mark](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mark-amory/)
- [Adebayo, Diran](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/diran-adebayo/)
- [Uglow, Jenny](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jenny-uglow/) - I've been a Fellow of the RSL for several years, a Member of the Council for three, enjoying lively discussions of prizes and grants, education ventures and talks programmes. In January 2015 I will taking over as Chair of the Council from Anne Chisholm – a hard act to follow. Before that, in November, my
- [Lanchester, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-lanchester/) - John Henry Lanchester is a British journalist and novelist. He was born in Hamburg, brought up in Hong Kong and educated in England, at Gresham's School, Holt between 1972 and 1980 and St John's College, Oxford.
- [Ackroyd, Peter](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/peter-ackroyd/)
- [Wood, Charles](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/charles-wood/) - Charles Wood was a playwright and scriptwriter for radio, television, and film. He lived in England. His work has been staged at the National Theatre, the Royal Court and in the theatres of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Wood served in the 17th/21st Lancers and military themes are found in many of his works.
- [Wood, Gaby](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gaby-wood/) - Gaby Wood is the Director of the Booker Prize Foundation, where she oversees matters ranging from the selection of prize judges to reading groups in prisons to an annual creative writing scholarship at the University of East Anglia. Prior to that she was Head of Books at the Telegraph, and for 15 years she was a staff writer
- [May, Derwent](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/derwent-may/)
- [Francis, Joy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/joy-francis/) - Joy is co-founder and executive director of Words of Colour, which has developed, facilitated, produced and promoted writers of colour since 2006. A creative entrepreneur and writer, Joy is a longstanding activist for racial equality and cultural inclusion in literature, publishing and the media, collaborating with universities, theatres, publishers, booksellers, writers and artists of all genres, here and
- [Young, Lola (Baroness of Hornsey)](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lola-young/) - Former actor, professor of Cultural Studies, and Head of Culture at the Greater London Authority, Baroness Lola Young has written and broadcast extensively on a wide range of cultural issues. She has served on the boards of several national cultural organisations including the National Theatre and the Southbank Centre, as well serving as a Commissioner
- [Jenkins, Elizabeth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/elizabeth-jenkins/)
- [James, (Baroness James of Holland Park, P.D.)](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/p-d-james-baroness-james-of-holland-park-obe-jp/) - Phyllis Dorothy James, born August 3 1920, was one of England's most prolific and accomplished crime writers. Her first novel, published in 1962, was called Cover Her Face and featured the poet and detective Adam Dalgleish, who was to become her best known hero. Her books sold millions of copies and several were adapted for television and film.
- [Gowrie (The Earl of Gowrie), Grey](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/grey-gowrie/)
- [Humphreys, Emyr](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/emyr-humphreys/)
- [Rowling, J.K.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/j-k-rowling/)
- [Follett, Ken](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ken-follett/) - Ken Follett has written 31 books. Over 160 million copies have sold in more than 80 countries and 33 languages. His first major success came with Eye of the Needle (1978), a World War II thriller. In 1989, his novel about the building of a medieval cathedral, The Pillars of the Earth, was published. It
- [Adair, Gilbert](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gilbert-adair/)
- [Unsworth, Barry](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/barry-unsworth/)
- [St John-Stevas, Norman](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/norman-st-john-stevas/)
- [Sonnenberg, Ben](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ben-sonnenberg/)
- [Rose, Kenneth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kenneth-rose/)
- [Peters, Catherine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/catherine-peters/)
- [Osers, Ewald](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ewald-osers/)
- [Morgan, Elaine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/elaine-morgan/)
- [Morgan, Edwin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/edwin-morgan/)
- [Mehew, Ernest](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ernest-mehew/)
- [May, Julian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/julian-may/) - For 35 years Julian May has been making literary programmes for BBC Radio, bringing writers to public attention in Kaleidoscope, The Verb, Night Waves and Front Row. He also makes features, commissioning writers to create work specifically for radio. He has won the Premios Ondas Documentary and Sony Gold Feature awards. Julian grew up in
- [Kermode, Frank](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/frank-kermode/)
- [Keegan, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-keegan/)
- [Hobsbawm, Eric](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/eric-hobsbawm/)
- [Gross, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-gross/)
- [Davidson, Lionel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lionel-davidson/)
- [Curtis, Anthony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anthony-curtis/)
- [Cook, Steve](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/steve-cook/) - After reading French and German literature at Oxford, Steve Cook joined Cassell as Reference Publisher. In the early 1990s, he persuaded the company to launch the UK’s first trade list of lesbian & gay studies titles. In 1998, he joined Lord Michael Young’s School for Social Entrepreneurs and shortly after was recruited by the Royal
- [Cook, Jon](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jon-cook/) - Jon Cook is a critic and academic. An Emeritus Professor of Literature at the University of East Anglia, his publications include Hazlitt in Love and Poetry in Theory. He is a member of the Folio Academy and, for a number of years, chaired the international Writing Worlds seminar at the National Centre for Writing in Norwich.
- [Callil, Carmen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/carmen-callil/)
- [Brogan, Hugh](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hugh-brogan/)
- [Bayley, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-bayley/)
- [Bakaya, Mohit](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/mohit-bakaya/) - Mohit Bakaya was appointed Controller of BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra in July 2019. Alongside that role, he became Director, Speech Audio in 2022. He was previously the editor of Night Waves, Radio 3’s live, daily, arts and ideas programme and launched Undercurrents, a weekly topical ideas programme. He went onto to help
- [Amis, Martin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/martin-amis/)
- [Blake, Julie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/julie-blake/) - Julie Blake directs Poetry By Heart, the schools poetry recitation competition she founded with Sir Andrew Motion in 2012. Young people choose poems, learn them by heart and perform them in school; after several rounds of judging, finalists are selected to compete to become national champions. Julie is also chief editor of www.poetrybyheart.org.uk, the digital
- [Harris, Sir Wilson](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/sir-wilson-harris/)
- [Tolley, A.T.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/a-t-tolley/) - Professor Arnold Trevor Tolley was born in Birmingham and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Queen's College Oxford. He taught at a number of universities including as professor of Comparative Literature at Carleton University in Canada (1967-1996). He has published a number of books on Larkin including Larkin at Work (1997) a detailed study
- [Andoh, Adjoa](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/adjoa-andoh/) - Adjoa Andoh is one of Britain’s leading actors, and won global acclaim as Lady Danbury in the Netflix smash Bridgerton - a role that saw her nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress at the 2021 NAACP Image Awards. She has been celebrated for roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, including Condoleezza Rice
- [Raitt, Alan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alan-raitt/) - Alan Raitt was one of the most distinguished post-war British scholars of 19th-century French literature, particularly noted for his work on Flaubert and on Villiers de l'Isle-Adam. A Special Lecturer in French Literature at Oxford University from 1976, and then from 1979 Reader, he was appointed to a personal chair in 1992. The novel with
- [Niven, Alastair](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alastair-niven/) - Alastair Niven was born in Edinburgh. He has held academic positions at the Universities of Ghana, Leeds, Stirling, Aarhus, London and Oxford. He was Director General of the Africa Centre for six years. Uniquely he was Director of Literature at the Arts Council of Great Britain, Arts Council England and the British Council. For twelve years he was
- [Hayter, Alethea](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alethea-hayter/) - Alethea Hayter wrote books of immaculate scholarship and intense readability. For a quarter of a century, she was also an excellent cultural ambassador with the British Council. Her first book, on the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, appeared in 1962, and the following decade saw the publication of her most important works: A Sultry Month
- [Pringle, Alexandra](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/alexandra-pringle/)
- [Levy, Andrea](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrea-levy/) - Andrea Levy FRSL was an author best known for the novels Small Island and The Long Song. She was born in London to Jamaican parents, and her work explores topics related to British Jamaicans and how they negotiate racial, cultural and national identities.
- [Holgate, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-holgate/) - Andrew Holgate has been literary editor of The Sunday Times since 2008, and was the newspaper's deputy literary editor for nine years before that. He has spent his whole working life in books, as a bookseller, publisher and literary journalist. He runs two prizes for The Sunday Times - their Young Writer Award, and The
- [Franklin, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-franklin/) - Andrew Franklin is the founder and publisher of Profile Books which he launched on April Fool’s Day, 1996. The house’s list of bestsellers includes Alan Bennett, Mary Beard, Simon Garfield’s Just My Type and Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots and Leaves, which sold more than three million copies worldwide. In 2007 Profile Books acquired Serpent’s Tail,
- [Sinclair, Andrew](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/andrew-sinclair/)
- [Brookner, Anita](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anita-brookner/)
- [Olivier Bell, Anne](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anne-olivier-bell/)
- [Bell, Anthea](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anthea-bell/)
- [Thwaite, Anthony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anthony-thwaite/)
- [Gardner, Anthony](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/anthony-gardner/)
- [Gascoigne, Bamber](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bamber-gascoigne/)
- [Hardy, Barbara](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/barbara-hardy/) - Barbara Hardy, FRSL, FBA was a British literary scholar, author, and poet. As an academic, she specialised in the literature of the 19th Century. From 1965 to 1970, she was Professor of English at Royal Holloway College, University of London. Then, from 1970 to 1989, she was Professor of English Literature at Birkbeck College, University
- [Kennedy QC, Baroness Helena](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/baroness-helena-kennedy-qc/) - Baroness Helena Kennedy QC has long been one of our great barristers, creating new law for women in the process. During her tenure as Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, she raised money for a new Human Rights Centre as well as hosting a regular stream of writers and human rights champions for public talks. She
- [Hines, Barry](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/barry-hines/)
- [Bergonzi, Bernard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bernard-bergonzi/)
- [Bakare-Yusuf, Bibi](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/bibi-bakare-yusuf/) - Bibi is co-founder and publishing director of one of Africa’s leading publishing houses, Cassava Republic Press. She has worked as a gender and research consultant in the public, private and development sectors for the BBC, UniFem, ActionAid, eShekels, Central Bank of Nigeria, the European Union and others. She co-founded Tapestry Consulting, a boutique research and
- [Maddox, Brenda](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/brenda-maddox/)
- [Lehane, Brendan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/brendan-lehane/)
- [Friel, Brian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/brian-friel/)
- [Aldiss, Brian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/brian-aldiss/)
- [Bayly, C.A.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/c-a-bayly-sir-christopher-bayly/)
- [Causley, Charles](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/charles-causley/) - Charles Causley was a Cornish poet, schoolmaster and writer. His work is noted for its simplicity and directness and for its associations with folklore, especially when linked to his native Cornwall. In 1958, Causley was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded a CBE in 1986. When he was 83
- [Osborne, Charles](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/charles-osborne/)
- [Achebe, Chinua](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/chinua-achebe/)
- [Hickman, Christie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/christie-hickman/) - Christie Hickman is an editor, journalist and critic. As a Literary Editor in the ‘80s, she was in the vanguard of a short story renaissance, publishing and interviewing the cream of British, Irish and American fiction and nurturing new talent. In the ‘90s, as a reader and editor for some of the top publishing houses,
- [Fry, Christopher](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/christopher-fry/) - Christopher Fry was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning. He was, with T.S. Eliot, the leading figure in the revival of poetic drama that took place in Britain in the late 1940s.
- [MacLehose, Christopher](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/christopher-maclehose/) - Christopher MacLehose was for 20 years the publisher of Harvill Press and then established MacLehose Press with Quercus and later with Hachette, and in 2021 founded Mountain Leopard Press, an imprint of Welbeck. He has spent his life in publishing bringing literature in translation of the highest standard to Anglo-Saxon readers. He has published literature and crime fiction in translation from more
- [Carson, Ciaran](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ciaran-carson/)
- [James, Clive](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/clive-james/)
- [Sinclair, Clive](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/clive-sinclair/) - He is remembered as an award-winning novelist and short story writer.
- [Alexander, Clare](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/clare-alexander/) - Clare Alexander became a literary agent in 1998 after more than 20 years as a publisher, latterly as Publisher of Viking and Hamish Hamilton and Editor-in-chief of Macmillan. While at Viking she was the editor of the winners of the Booker Prize, the Orange Prize and the Whitbread prize, the first editor ever to achieve
- [Barnett, Correlli](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/correlli-barnett/)
- [Enright, D.J.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/d-j-enright/) - Dennis Joseph 'D.J.' Enright was a British academic, poet, novelist and critic. He spent the best part of twenty five years lecturing abroad in Japan, Thailand and Singapore to name but a few of the Far East countries he explored. By 1974 he was director of publishing house Chatto and Windus. In 1981 Enright was awarded
- [Wilson, Dame Jacqueline](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dame-jacqueline-wilson/) - I was delighted to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. I was particularly excited when I signed the register with Dickens’ pen. I hoped a tiny drop of his talent might leak into my hand as I held his pen – plus a spark of his amazing energy. Imagine being able
- [Mantel, Dame Hilary](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dame-hilary-mantel/) - Hilary Mantel was born in Glossop, Derbyshire, England on 6 July 1952. She studied Law at the London School of Economics and Sheffield University. She was employed as a social worker, and lived in Botswana for five years, followed by four years in Saudi Arabia, before returning to Britain in the mid-1980s. In 1987 she
- [Spark, Dame Muriel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dame-muriel-spark/) - Dame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945", at No. 8.
- [Franklin, Dan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dan-franklin/) - Dan Franklin was born in 1949. He read English and American Literature and History at UEA, graduating in 1970. His publishing career began at Peter Owen Ltd. From there he moved to the Harvill Press, then Collins, then Heinemann, where he was Editorial Director for non-fiction. He then became Publishing Director of Secker & Warburg,
- [Jacobson, Dan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dan-jacobson/)
- [Weissbort, Daniel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/daniel-weissbort/)
- [Abse, Dannie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dannie-abse/) - Dannie Abse was a Welsh poet, author, doctor and playwright. His career as a poet spanned the years 1948-2014 and earned him much acclaim. Abse drew on his identity as a Welshman, his career as a doctor, as well as his Jewish heritage, to inform his writing. He was appointed CBE in 2012 for his
- [Godwin, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-godwin/) - David Godwin is a literary agent. He established DGA with Heather his wife in 1996. They represent a wide range of writers including Simon Armitage, Aminatta Forna, William Dalrymple, Arundhati Roy, and Vikram Seth. Previously he was a publisher initially with Routledge, then Heinemann, Secker and Warburg and finally Cape. He has published one book
- [Sutton, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-sutton/)
- [Campbell, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-campbell/) - David Campbell worked for much of his publishing career in Paris, first at Gallimard, then as International Publishing Director at Hachette, later as Publisher and Managing Director of Editions du Chêne. In 1991 he revived Everyman’s Library as a small independent house and has been its Publisher since. In 1999 he created the Millennium Library Trust
- [Pownall, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-pownall/)
- [Altaras, David](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/david-altaras/)
- [Osborne, Deirdre](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/deirdre-osborne/) - Australian-born Deirdre Osborne is Reader in English Literature and Drama at Goldsmiths and co-founder of the MA Black British Literature. Her career has focused upon challenging conventional narratives in research spanning late-Victorian literature to contemporary culture in Britain and Australia through examining the unequal after-effects of the British Empire and its contemporary legacies. Her non-fiction includes
- [Healey (Lord Healey), Denis](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/denis-healey-lord-healey/)
- [Mack Smith, Denis](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/denis-mack-smith/)
- [Murphy, Dervla](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dervla-murphy/)
- [Johns, Derek](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/derek-johns/) - Derek Johns began his career in the world of books in the High Hill Bookshop in Hampstead. He then moved to New York, where he became an editor at Random House. On his return to London he was Managing Director of the Bodley Head and later Managing Director of Granta. In 1992 he became a
- [Speirs, Di](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/di-speirs/) - Di Speirs is the Books Editor, BBC Audio and has spent the past three decades on a mission to discover and champion new authors and celebrate great books on radio. She produced the first ever Book of the Week and has directed scores of Book at Bedtimes, dramatisations and short stories. She now leads the
- [Athill, Diana](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/diana-athill/)
- [Russell, Dick](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dick-russell/) - Dick Russell, after graduating from Oxford, became articled to a firm of solicitors in the City, Titmuss Sainer & Webb, where he stayed for the next 35 years, practising company and commercial law and eventually becoming department head and managing partner. Since 2000 he has worked independently from his home in Berkshire as a legal
- [Hibberd, Dominic](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/dominic-hibberd/)
- [Lessing, Doris](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/doris-lessing/)
- [Matthews, Douglas](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/douglas-matthews/)
- [Heinz, Drue](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/drue-heinz/) - Drue Heinz (born Doreen Mary English) was an American patron of the literary arts, actress, philanthropist and socialite. She was the publisher of the literary magazine The Paris Review (1993 to 2007), co-founded Ecco Press, founded literary retreats and endowed the Drue Heinz Literature Prize among others. She was married to H. J. Heinz II, president of Heinz.
- [Feinstein, Elaine](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/elaine-feinstein/) - Elaine Feinstein was a poet, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, biographer and translator.
- [Jane Howard, Elizabeth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/elizabeth-jane-howard/)
- [Longford (Elizabeth, Countess of Longford), Elizabeth](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/elizabeth-longford-elizabeth-countess-of-longford/) - Elizabeth, Countess of Longford, was a British historian. She was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was on the board of trustees of the National Portrait Gallery in London. Her biographies include those of 19th century luminaries such as Queen Victoria (1964), Lord Byron (1976) and the Duke of Wellington (2 volumes
- [Wakatama Allfrey, Ellah](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ellah-wakatama-allfrey/) - Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, OBE was born in Zimbabwe and raised there and in the United States. She is the founding Publishing Director of The Indigo Press, Senior Research Fellow at Manchester University (Centre for New Writing) and Chair of the Caine Prize for African Writing. She is a judge for the 2019 Northern Writers’ Awards Fiction
- [Tennant, Emma](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/emma-tennant/)
- [Newby, Eric](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/eric-newby/) - Eric Newby was a prolific writer of travel books, totaling twenty five. The most famous of these was A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush and Love and War in the Appenines detailed his ordeal as an escaped Prisoner of War, sheltered by a Slovenian woman called Wanda whom he later married. During his time
- [Tucker, Eva](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/eva-tucker/)
- [Weldon, Fay](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/fay-weldon/)
- [Allen, Fergus](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/fergus-allen/)
- [Rocco, Fiammetta](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/fiammetta-rocco/) - Fiammetta Rocco is the chief culture writer at The Economist. For more than 20 years she was The Economist's literary editor and since 2005 has been the administrator of the International Booker Prize.
- [MacCarthy, Fiona](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/fiona-maccarthy/) - Fiona MacCarthy was a design historian, biographer and cultural critic.
- [Wyndham, Francis](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/francis-wyndham/) - Francis Wyndham was an author, literary editor and journalist. He became an editor at Queen magazine and in 1964 moved to The Sunday Times, where he stayed until 1980. He became Jean Rhys' literary executor after her death in 1979.
- [Ashe, Geoffrey](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/geoffrey-ashe/)
- [Steiner, George](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/george-steiner/)
- [Painter, George](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/george-painter/) - George Painter, known as George D. Painter, was an English author most famous as a biographer of Marcel Proust. His two-volume biography of Proust was published in 1959 and 1965. According to Miron Grindea, this was, 'rightly greeted as one of the great achievements in literary history', and it is still widely considered to be one
- [Hammick, Georgina](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/georgina-hammick/)
- [Noel, Gerard](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gerard-noel/)
- [Gordon, Giles](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/giles-gordon/) - Giles Gordon was a Scottish literary agent and writer, based for most of his career in London. Among the writers he represented at the literary agent Sheil Land Associates were Peter Ackroyd, Penelope Mortimer, Vikram Seth, Sue Townsend and Fay Weldon. In 1966, he became editor of plays at Penguin, starting the Penguin Modern Playwrights volumes.
- [St Aubyn LVO, Giles](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/giles-st-aubyn-lvo/) - Giles St Aubyn was born in 1925, and was educated at Wellington College and Trinity College, Oxford. He was for a short time in the Navy during the Second World War. He subsequently taught at Eton, becoming head of the History Department in 1961. His books include Lord Macaulay, The Art of Argument, A Victorian
- [Coleridge, Gill](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gill-coleridge/) - Gill Coleridge co-founded Rogers Coleridge & White, literary agency, in 1988 where she represented many famous and prize-winning authors. She was Chair from 2014-2019 and continues as a part-time consultant. Prior to RCW she was a director of Anthony Sheil Associates for fifteen years. She began her publishing career at Purnell Partworks, followed by Sidgwick & Jackson, the Bedford Square Bookbang, and Chatto & Windus. She has been President of the
- [Cavaliero, Glen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/glen-cavaliero/)
- [Smith, Godfrey](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/godfrey-smith/)
- [Grass, Günther](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gunther-grass/)
- [Keating, H.R.F.](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/h-r-f-keating/) - H.R.F Keating Henry Reymond Fitzwalter 'Harry' Keating was an English crime fiction writer most notable for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID. He also wrote many non-Ghote crime stories, several general novels — including two with Victorian backgrounds (The Strong Man and The Underside) — and other works under the
- [Garnons-Williams, Helen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/helen-garnons-williams/) - Helen Garnons-Williams is Publishing Director of the Fig Tree imprint at Penguin. Over the course of her 20-year publishing career, Helen has discovered and edited a range of acclaimed, prize-winning and bestselling writers across fiction and non-fiction. Her authors include Jon McGregor, Sarah Winman, Elizabeth Day, Inua Ellams, Michael Donkor, Claire Fuller, Stephen Kelman, Gabriel
- [Dunmore, Helen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/helen-dunmore/) - I was delighted to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, because it's an honour given by writers to writers. We may be solitary creatures in our work but we need to band together too. I like the idea of fellowship very much. The photograph here is taken in Cornwall, on the softer
- [Paget (The Marquess of Anglesey), Henry](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/henry-paget-the-marquess-of-anglesey/)
- [HM The King](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hm-the-king/)
- [The Duke of Kent, HRH](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hrh-the-duke-of-kent/)
- [Honour, Hugh](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hugh-honour/)
- [Thomas (Lord Thomas of Swynnerton), Hugh](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hugh-thomas-lord-thomas-of-swynnerton/)
- [Whitemore, Hugh](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hugh-whitemore/)
- [Cecil, Hugh](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/hugh-cecil/)
- [Phelps, Humphrey](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/humphrey-phelps/)
- [Banks, Iain](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/iain-banks/)
- [Jack, Ian](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ian-jack/)
- [Quigly, Isabel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/isabel-quigly/)
- [Colegate, Isabel](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/isabel-colegate/)
- [Barzun, Jacques](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jacques-barzun/)
- [Daunt, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-daunt/) - James Daunt is the founder of Daunt Books – now a chain of six bookshops across London which manage to combine an independent ethos with commercial success. They are renowned for their good-quality stock, knowledgeable staff and literary events, and for welcoming customers to browse and read in comfortable chairs. In 2011, Daunt became Managing
- [Harding, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-harding/) - James Harding was an expert on French music and a lover of bizarre facts. He shared his interest in French musical and theatrical culture through the 20 or so books he wrote, their subjects ranging from Saint-Saëns, Rossini and Gounod through French operetta to Maurice Chevalier and Jacques Tati. A French teacher in later life,
- [T. Boulton, James](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/james-t-boulton/)
- [Morris, Jan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jan-morris/)
- [Gregory, Jane](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jane-gregory/) - Jane Gregory started her career in publishing working for publishers in contracts and rights. She set up as an agent in 1987 and with her then business partner Lisanne Radice quickly became well known for handling authors of crime, thrillers, psychological suspense, historical and literary fiction. Among her achievements she was on the Virago advisory
- [Ridley, Jasper](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jasper-ridley/) - Jasper Godwin Ridley (25 May 1920 – 1 July 2004) was a British writer, known for historical biographies. He received the 1970 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his biography Lord Palmerston. Born in West Hoathly, Sussex, he was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and the Sorbonne. He trained and practiced as a barrister, before
- [Joseph, Jenny](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jenny-joseph/) - Jenny Joseph's best known poem, 'Warning', was written in 1961, first published in The Listener that year, and later included in her 1974 collection Rose In the Afternoon. 'Warning' was identified as the UK's 'most popular post-war poem' in a 1996 poll by the BBC. Her first book of poems, The Unlooked-for Season won a Gregory Award in 1960 and she won a Cholmondeley Award for her second
- [Brown, Jenny](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jenny-brown/) - Jenny Brown is a literary agent. In previous roles she has been the first Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival (1983-1991), presenter of book programmes for Scottish Television, Coordinator of Readiscovery, Scotland’s Year of Reading, Literature Director of the Scottish Arts Council and one of the four founders of Edinburgh as first UNESCO City of
- [Diski, Jenny](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jenny-diski/)
- [Poynting, Jeremy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jeremy-poynting/) - Jeremy Poynting founded Peepal Tree Press in 1985. Since then, thanks to Arts Council England support, it has grown into the largest, worldwide publisher of Caribbean and Black British writing, with a backlist of around 380 titles. In 2015, Jeremy was awarded an honorary D. Litt. by the University of the West Indies (Mona) for
- [Lewis, Jeremy](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jeremy-lewis/)
- [Paton Walsh, Jill](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jill-paton-walsh/)
- [Rees, Joan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/joan-rees/)
- [Heath-Stubbs, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-heath-stubbs/) - John Heath-Stubbs OBE was an English poet and translator, known for his verse influenced by classical myths, and the long Arthurian poem, Artorius. He was a representative figure of British poetry in the early 1950s, editing the poetry anthology Images of Tomorrow (1953) and, with David Wright, The Faber Book of Twentieth Century Verse, among others. He
- [Press, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-press/) - John Press was not only a great poet but an advocate for the arts, campaigning tirelessly for the creation of a Department of Literature within the British Council to celebrate the long history of British proficiency in writing. He was also an editor for a number of anthologies, striving to do justice to the English
- [Julius Norwich (Viscount Norwich), John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-julius-norwich-viscount-norwich/) - John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich, CVO, was an English popular historian and travel writer.
- [Saumarez Smith, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-saumarez-smith/)
- [Clay, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-clay/) - John Clay's first biography was of Culbertson, The Man who Made Contract Bridge (Weidenfeld, 1985). This was followed by the life of the novelist John Masters, A Regimented Life (Hodder and Stoughton, 1987). After training as a Jungian Psychotherapist, he wrote Men at Midlife (Sedgwick and Jackson, 1989) and then a biography of R D
- [Arden, John](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/john-arden/)
- [Douglas, Jonathan](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jonathan-douglas/) - Jonathan Douglas CBE is CEO of the National Literacy Trust. He is a Trustee of the Philosophy Foundation and of World Book Day. He is passionate about promoting access to literature and addressing inequality through literacy, leading in depth work in the country’s14 most disadvantaged cities and national programmes. He has lobbied and campaigned extensively
- [Stallworthy, Jon](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/jon-stallworthy/)
- [O'Faolain, Julia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/julia-ofaolain/)
- [Abel Smith, Julia](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/julia-abel-smith/)
- [Cartwright, Justin](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/justin-cartwright/)
- [Sesay, Kadija](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kadija-sesay/) - Kadija Sesay has worked in book and periodical publishing for several years. She published SABLE Lit Mag for 15 years until 2015; is currently the Publications Manager for Inscribe Writers Development Programme, at Peepal Tree Press. She has edited and co-edited several anthologies. She is the co-founder of Mboka Festival of Arts Culture and Sport
- [Miller, Karl](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/karl-miller/)
- [Gavron, Kate](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kate-gavron/) - Kate Gavron began her publishing career in production/design, culminating in director roles at Heinemann and Secker & Warburg. Presently, she chairs Carcanet Press (since 1988) and The Folio Society (since 2015). After a BSc in Social Anthropology (LSE), Gavron earned a PhD for a study of the British Bangladeshi community of Tower Hamlets. She also
- [Odell, Kathleen](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kathleen-odell/)
- [Dawes, Kwame](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/kwame-dawes/) - Kwame Dawes spent most of his childhood and early adult life in Jamaica. He is the Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner and Chancellor’s Professor of English at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. He has written 21 books of poetry and numerous books of fiction, criticism and essays. He is director of the African Poetry
- [Smith, Lacey](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lacey-smith/)
- [Lerner, Laurence](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/laurence-lerner/) - Laurence Lerner, often called Larry, was a South African-born British literary critic and poet and novelist. Also a lecturer, he taught in many universities around the world.
- [Goodings, Lennie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lennie-goodings/) - Lennie Goodings is Chair of Virago Press. She has edited and published writers including Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Sarah Dunant, Natasha Walter, Marilynne Robinson, Sandi Toksvig and Sarah Waters. Born in Canada, she moved to London in her early twenties and was Virago Publisher for twenty-five years; she continues to work with her authors as
- [Norris, Leslie](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/leslie-norris/) - Leslie Norris was a prize-winning Welsh poet and short story writer writer. Until 1974 he earned his living as a college lecturer, teacher and headmaster. From 1974 he combined full-time writing with residencies at academic institutions in Britain and the United States. Today he is considered one of the most important Welsh writers of the
- [Wolpert, Lewis](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/lewis-wolpert/)
- [Anderson, Linda](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/linda-anderson/) - Linda Anderson is Professor of English and American Literature at Newcastle University where she founded both the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (2009) the annual Newcastle Poetry Festival and has worked to establish innovative poetry archives, including The Bloodaxe Archive (www.bloodaxe.ncl.ac.uk). She has written extensively both on autobiography and the poet Elizabeth Bishop, and
- [Kelly, Linda](https://rsliterature.org/fellows/linda-kelly/)

## Categories

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## Form

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## Influencer

- [Yes](https://rsliterature.org/influencer/yes/)
- [No](https://rsliterature.org/influencer/no/)

## Interested in

- [Judging award](https://rsliterature.org/interested-in/judging-award/)

## Type of event

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## Type of content

- [Article](https://rsliterature.org/type-of-content/article/)
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## Alphabet

- [S](https://rsliterature.org/alphabet/s/)
- [U](https://rsliterature.org/alphabet/u/)
- [A](https://rsliterature.org/alphabet/a/)
- [L](https://rsliterature.org/alphabet/l/)
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- [N](https://rsliterature.org/alphabet/n/)
- [E](https://rsliterature.org/alphabet/e/)
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- [Y](https://rsliterature.org/alphabet/y/)
- [Q](https://rsliterature.org/alphabet/q/)
- [test](https://rsliterature.org/alphabet/test/)

## Type of Fellow

- [Patron](https://rsliterature.org/type-of-fellow/patron/)
- [Honorary](https://rsliterature.org/type-of-fellow/honorary/)
- [Remembered](https://rsliterature.org/type-of-fellow/historical/)
- [Fellow](https://rsliterature.org/type-of-fellow/fellow/)
- [Non Fellow](https://rsliterature.org/type-of-fellow/non-fellow/)

## Curated Fellows

- [yes](https://rsliterature.org/homepage-fellows/yes/)

## Curated-Content

- [Yes](https://rsliterature.org/curated-content/yes/)

## Council categories

- [Council](https://rsliterature.org/fellow-categories/council/)
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- [President](https://rsliterature.org/fellow-categories/president/)