The Royal Society of Literature: 40 Under 40

In 2018, a group of 40 authors aged under 40 will be made Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature. Unprecedented in the RSL’s 197-year-history, the initiative will honour the achievements of Britain’s younger writers, and bring different perspectives into the Society’s existing Fellowship of over 500.

Recommendation of new Fellows

To recommend a writer for Fellowship as part of the 40 Under 40 project, please complete the recommendation form attached here.

Your recommendation will be assessed by a panel of RSL Fellows, chaired by Kamila Shamsie, and the selected 40 writers will be elected by the RSL Council.

The 40 Under 40 Fellows will be announced at a special event in Spring 2018, where they will sign the Society’s historic Roll Book with T S Eliot’s or Byron’s pen.

Eligible writers

To be eligible, the recommended writer must: 

•          Have had published in the United Kingdom at least two substantial works (or a sufficient body of other work) in the English language considered by the nominating panel and Council to be of outstanding literary merit

•          Be under the age of 40 at 30 June 2018

•          Be a citizen of or resident in the United Kingdom at the time of recommendation

The recommendation form is available on the RSL website. Completed recommendations should be submitted to me – Molly Rosenberg, Business Director –  by 30 September 2017 via email (molly@rsliterature.org) or by post to 40 Under 40, Royal Society of Literature, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA