Celebrating the power of literature to transcend borders and bring people together
To mark its 200th birthday, the Royal Society of Literature is launching RSL International Writers. The programme – a new lifetime literary honour – will recognise the contribution of writers from across the globe to literature in English, and the power of literature to transcend borders. At a time of rising nationalism, RSL International Writers celebrates the many ways in which literature can shape a future world.
While the RSL is the UK’s charity for the advancement of literature, they recognise and seek to celebrate the power of literature to bring us together, beyond borders and across cultures.
They are inviting public recommendations of writers from you, their writer peers and readers. These will be writers not resident in, or citizens of, the UK, who have published two works of outstanding literary merit (where works are translated into English, or originally written in English). Your recommendations will be reviewed by a panel of RSL Fellows: Lisa Appignanesi, Syima Aslam, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Sophie Collins, Max Porter, Philippe Sands, Elif Shafak and Boyd Tonkin, led by panel Chair, Daniel Hahn, who will make a recommendation of writers to be appointed RSL International Writers.
They are seeking recommendations of writers of diverse literary forms, including writers of drama, fiction, graphic fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and screenplays.
This programme is supported by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and the International Authors Forum (IAF). IAF represents authors from the text, screenwriting and visual arts sectors and their interests in copyright. Its members are over 70 organisations representing well over 700,000 authors worldwide. IAF campaigns for authors in a variety of areas including fair contracts, remuneration rights and copyright issues.
To recommend a writer, please read the full guidelines and complete the recommendation form here, no later than 12 April 2021.