Royal Society of Literature

The Royal Society of Literature is a British literary society with headquarters at Somerset House in London. Your goal is to promote the British literature.

Tasks

The company was founded in 1820 by King George IV to the " recognition of literary merit and exciting literary talent ". To this end, it organizes public readings, lectures and debates, campaigns for the support and recognition of authors, for the maintenance of public libraries and awards prizes to young and established authors. In addition, creative-writing workshops are offered occasionally. Once a year, the recognized RSL - The Royal Society of Literature Review published.

The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize awards the annual for a work of poetry, fiction or non-fiction, the particularly outstanding evokes the spirit of a place. Three Jerwood Award for debut works in the field of non-fiction are awarded annually together with the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. With the VS Pritchett Memorial Prize is awarded each year an unpublished short story. The Benson Medal is awarded to authors for their life's work. By 2003, the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize was awarded for the best regional novel of a year.

In addition, the company appoints to Companions of Literature since 1961 authors; up to ten authors consider this item at the same time. Currently (2013 ) these are: Margaret Atwood, Michael Frayn, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney, Michael Holroyd, Doris Lessing, Alice Munro, VS Naipaul, Tom Stoppard and William Trevor.

Fellows

While membership in the Royal Society for Literature is open to any Fellow may only be who has published at least two books, proposed by two or more current Fellows and from all nominees by the President, the Vice President and is elected to the Council of the Society. About 15 persons are elected to the circular or rarely also received honorary annually. The company has about 500 Fellows; next literary historians, biographers, literary critics and writers, all writing in English, but are not necessarily British. Under the current Fellows can be found, inter alia, Amitav Ghosh, Tom Stoppard, Seamus Heaney, Philip Pullman, Margaret Drabble, Ben Okri, Carol Ann Duffy, Vikram Seth, Hilary Spurling, Donald Adamson and Zadie Smith.

Patron of the Society is Queen Elizabeth II, President of the writer Colin Thubron.