Royal Society of Literature

Royal Society of Literature

Abbreviation	RSL
Formation	1820
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	Somerset House, London
President	Colin Thubron CBE
Website	www.rslit.org

The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society and the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent".^[1]

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 450 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 and P.J. Kavanagh. Present Fellows include Antonia Fraser, Athol Fugard, V. S. Naipaul, Peter Dickinson, Tom Stoppard, Helen Dunmore and J. K. Rowling. A newly created fellow inscribes their name on the society's official roll using either Byron's pen or T.S. Eliot's fountain pen, which replaced Dickens's quill in 2013.^[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 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.

The RSL also runs a membership scheme (RSLM)^[4] and offers a varied programme of monthly lectures to members and their guests.

The society is a cultural tenant at London's palatial Somerset House.

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 Brookleaze Grants - a total of £5,000 is awarded annually to novelists, playwrights, poets or short story writers who need time away from their normal lives to write.
• The RSL Jerwood Award's for Non-Fiction (1902) – three 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 (1882) – 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 Queen Elizabeth II

President Colin Thubron CBE

President Emeritus Sir Michael Holroyd CBE FRHistS C Lit

Chair of Council Jenny Uglow CBE

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

Council
Kamila Shamsie, Vice Chair
Colin Chisholm, Hon Treasurer
Imtiaz Dharker
Lavinia Greenlaw
Jonathan Keates
Peter Kemp
Dame Hermione Lee DBE
Deborah Moggach
Blake Morrison
Andrew O'Hagan
Fiona Sampson
Ali Smith CBE
Timberlake Wertenbaker
Frances Wilson

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 Revd Connop Thirlwall (Bishop of St David's until 1874)
• 1876–1885 The Prince Leopold (Duke of Albany from 1881)
• 1885–1893 Sir Patrick Colquhoun
• 1893–1920 The Earl of Halsbury
• 1921–1946 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–present Colin Thubron

Fellows

The Royal Society of Literature comprises up to 500 fellows. They include most of the best novelists, short-story writers, poets, playwrights, biographers, historians, travel writers, literary critics and scriptwriters at work today. 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.^[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