Royal Society of Literature names 29 new fellows, including Day, Hirsch, Herron

Elizabeth Day, Afua Hirsch, and Mick Herron are among the celebrated authors named as Royal Society of Literature (RSL) fellows for 2024.

The new group of 29 authors was revealed during a ceremony at the Garden Museum in London. This distinguished cohort also boasts Jacqueline Crooks, Guy Gunaratne, and Victoria Hislop.

Each new fellow had the honor of signing their name in the RSL roll book using pens once owned by literary icons such as Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Andrea Levy, and Jean Rhys.

Bernardine Evaristo, the society’s president, highlighted the critical role of readers in her address. “This year I’m inspired to talk about readers for whom most authors, one assumes, are writing – and the importance of nurturing and engaging with them in the literature ecosystem,” she noted. “Without readers, writing would be an unpaid hobby. They are our supporters, interpreters, the customers without whom there would, in fact, be no publishing industry.”

Without readers, writing would be an unpaid hobby. They are our supporters

Bernardine Evaristo, RSL president

In addition to the new fellows, thirteen new honorary fellows were named for their significant contributions to UK literature or special services to the RSL. This group includes Sarah Ardizzone, a translator; Sanchita Basu De Sarkar, owner of the Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill; and SuAndi, a writer, poet, and cultural director of the National Black Arts Alliance. SuAndi was also awarded the Benson medal for her lifelong services to literature.

The announcement comes amid a period of controversy for the RSL. Earlier this year, the society referred itself to the Charity Commission following accusations of censorship and disputes over changes in the election of fellows and the society’s response to the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie. The Times reported that over 20 fellows intended to boycott this year’s ceremony.

In February, Maggie Fergusson, former editor of the RSL’s annual magazine Review, said the magazine’s publication was postponed due to an article critical of Israel. The RSL later stated that it published the Review “in full” in late March.

The RSL also faced criticism for its response to the attack on Salman Rushdie. Novelist Ian McEwan condemned the society’s initial reaction, saying, “The failure of the RSL leadership to give unequivocal support to Salman Rushdie following the brutal attempt on his life was to inhabit a remote moral universe that most of us do not share.” He later tweeted support for Rushdie: “The RSL supports you @SalmanRushdie following the horrific attack on your life in 2022 – you had our support then as you do now.”

Furthermore, the RSL drew scrutiny for rapidly expanding its fellowship. In 2018, it appointed 40 new fellows under the age of 40, and in 2022 and 2023, it elected 60 fellows through RSL Open, an initiative designed to recognize writers from underrepresented backgrounds in UK literary culture. This year, the society plans to introduce a new election process that allows public recommendations for fellowship. These recommendations will be evaluated by election panels and voted on by the panel, the council, the vice-presidents, the president, and the presidents emeriti.

Source: The Guardian, The Times