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Royal Society of Literature

Abbreviation	RSL
Formation	1820
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	Somerset House, London, England, United Kingdom
President	Dame Marina Warner DBE
Patron	Queen Elizabeth II
Website	rsliterature.org

The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to 'reward literary merit and excite literary talent'. The society is a cultural tenant at London's Somerset House.

History

The society's first president was Thomas Burgess, Bishop of St David's (who was later translated as Bishop of Salisbury). The society maintains its current level of about 500 Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature: generally 14 new fellows are elected annually, who are accorded the privilege of using the post-nominal letters FRSL.

Past fellows include Samuel Taylor Coleridge, J. R. R. Tolkien, W. B. Yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Koestler, Chinua Achebe, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Robert Ardrey, Sybille Bedford, Muriel Spark, and P. J. Kavanagh. Present Fellows include Margaret Atwood, David Hare, Kazuo Ishiguro, Hilary Mantel, Paul Muldoon, Zadie Smith, Nadeem Aslam, Sarah Waters, Geoffrey Ashe and J. K. Rowling. A newly created fellow inscribes his or her name on the society's official roll using either Byron's pen, T. S. Eliot's fountain pen, which replaced Dickens's quill in 2013,^[1] or (as of 2018) George Eliot's pen.^[2]

The society publishes an annual magazine, The Royal Society of Literature Review,^[3] and administers a number of literary prizes and awards, including the RSL Ondaatje Prize, the RSL Jerwood Awards for Non-Fiction, the RSL Encore Award for best second novel of the year and the V. S. Pritchett Memorial Prize for short stories. From time to time it confers the honour and title of Companion of Literature to writers of particular note. Additionally the RSL can bestow its award of the Benson Medal for lifetime service in the field of literature.

Membership

The RSL runs a membership scheme^[4] and offers a varied programme of events to members and the general public. Membership of the RSL is open to all.

The RSL also runs a schools outreach programme in collaboration with the literacy charity First Story.

Awards and prizes

The RSL administers two annual prizes, two awards, and two honours. Through its prize programmes, the RSL supports new and established contemporary writers.

• The RSL Christopher Bland Prize — £10,000 for debut prose writers over the age of 50.


• The Encore Awards — £10,000 for best second novel of the year. The RSL took over the administration of this award in 2016.


• The RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction – annual awards, one of £10,000 and two of £5,000, to authors engaged on their first commissioned works of non-fiction.


• The RSL Ondaatje Prize – an annual award of £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place.


• The V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize – an annual prize of £1,000 for the best unpublished short story of the year.


• The Benson Medal – awarded to those who have done sustained and outstanding service to literature.


• Companion of Literature – the highest honour that the Society can bestow upon a writer.

Council and presidents

The Council of the Royal Society of Literature is central to the election of new fellows, and directs the RSL's activities through its monthly meetings.

Patron

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

President

Dame Marina Warner DBE

Presidents Emeritus

Sir Michael Holroyd CBE FRHistS C Lit

Colin Thubron CBE

Chair of Council

Lisa Appignanesi OBE

Vice-Presidents

• 
  Anne Chisholm OBE


• Maureen Duffy


• 
  Maggie Gee OBE


• The Hon. Victoria Glendinning CBE


• Sir Ronald Harwood CBE


• Dame Hilary Mantel DBE


• 
  Philip Pullman CBE


• Claire Tomalin


• 
  Jenny Uglow OBE, Benson Medallist

Council

• 
  Bernardine Evaristo MBE, Vice Chair


• 
  Blake Morrison, Vice Chair


• 
  Simon Armitage CBE


• 
  Colin Chisholm, Hon Treasurer


• Jonathan Coe


• Imtiaz Dharker


• Sir Richard Eyre CH CBE


• Abdulrazak Gurnah


• Tessa Hadley


• Derek Johns


• 
  Jonathan Keates FSA


• Dame Hermione Lee FBA


• Daljit Nagra


• Michèle Roberts

List of Presidents

• 1820–1832 Bishop Thomas Burgess
  


• 1832–1833 The Lord Dover
  


• 1834–1845 The Earl of Ripon
  


• 1845–1849 Henry Hallam
  


• 1849–1851 The Marquess of Northampton
  


• 1851–1856 The Earl of Carlisle
  


• 1856–1876 The Rt Rev. Connop Thirlwall (Bishop of St David's until 1874)


• 1876–1884 The Prince Leopold (Duke of Albany from 1881)


• 1885–1893 Sir Patrick Colquhoun
  


• 1893–1920 The Earl of Halsbury
  


• 1921–1945 The Marquess of Crewe
  


• 1946–1947 The Earl of Lytton
  


• 1947–1982 The Lord Butler of Saffron Walden
  


• 1982–1988 Sir Angus Wilson
  


• 1988–2003 The Lord Jenkins of Hillhead
  


• 2003–2008 Sir Michael Holroyd
  


• 2008–2017 Colin Thubron
  


• 2017–present Marina Warner
  

Fellows

The Royal Society of Literature comprises up to 500 fellows who are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRSL.

New fellows of the Royal Society of Literature are elected by its current fellows. To be nominated for fellowship, a writer must have published two works of literary merit, and nominations must be seconded by an RSL fellow. All nominations are presented to members of the Council of the Royal Society of Literature, who vote biannually to elect new fellows. Nominated candidates who have not been successful are reconsidered at every election for three years from the year in which they were proposed. Newly elected fellows are introduced at the Society's AGM and summer party. While the President reads a citation for each, they are invited to sign their names in the roll book which dates back to 1820, using either T. S. Eliot's fountain pen or Byron's pen. In 2013, Charles Dickens's quill was retired and replaced with Eliot's fountain pen,^[1] and in 2018 George Eliot's pen was offered as a choice, the first time in the RSL's history that a pen that belonged to a woman writer was an option.^[2] In 2018 the RSL honoured the achievements of Britain's younger writers through the initiative "40 Under 40", which saw the election of 40 new fellows aged under 40.^[5]

Current fellows

The * before the name denotes an Honorary Fellow. The list is online at the RSL website.^[8]

References

External links

• The Royal Society of Literature website


• RSL biannual magazine


• RSL literary prizes and awards


• Current RSL Fellows