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Society of Authors

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The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884^[3] to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. In 2020 membership stood at over 12,000.^[4] The SoA is a member of the European Writers' Council.^[5]

History[edit]

The SoA has counted among its members and presidents numerous notable writers and poets, including Tennyson (first president), George Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy, Alasdair Gray,^[6] John Edward Masefield, Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells, J. M. Barrie and E. M. Forster.^[7]

In 1958 the Translators Association (TA) was established as a specialist group within the Society of Authors.^[8]

Contemporary members include Philip Pullman (SoA president from 2013 to March 2022^[9]), Malorie Blackman, Neil Gaiman, Philip Gross, Judith Kerr, J. K. Rowling and Lemn Sissay.^[10]

Structure[edit]

Membership of the society is open to authors, defined as "anyone who creates work for publication, broadcast or performance". For full membership an author must have published a work with a publisher, or sold a specified number of print copies or ebooks if self-published, or met other criteria. Associate membership is offered to students and to "emerging authors" and students.^[11] As of January 2024^[update] there over 11,800 voting members. The society's fellows are a group of "members of high standing and who have been exceptional in their support of the Society of Authors", whose role is to elect the president and to handle the society's assets should it cease to exist. A management committee of 12 members is elected to serve for three-year terms, and they elect their chair for two-year terms. The president "is an ambassador for the Society of Authors and comments on broad policy issues, but has no decision-making role in our direction or governance"; as of January 2024^[update] the post is vacant, and a process to elect a new president will begin in 2024. Following decisions at the 2023 AGM after a review of the role of president, the position will in future be named "honorary president" and the holder will be elected for a three-year term, with a maximum extension of a further two years.^[12]

Literary estates[edit]

The society administers the literary estates of 58 authors (as of 2024^[update]), and the income from this supports its work. These authors include George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf, Philip Larkin and Rosamond Lehmann.^[13]

Legacy[edit]

In 1969 the British Library acquired the archive of the Society of Authors from 1879 to 1968 consisting of six hundred and ninety volumes.^[14] The British Library acquired a further two hundred and fifty-eight volumes in 1982 and 1984.^[15]

Awards and prizes[edit]

Prizes for fiction, poetry, and non-fiction administered by the SoA include:^[16]

• The ADCI (Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses) Literary Prize, from 2022^[17]
• The ALCS Educational Writers' Award
• The Betty Trask Prize and Awards
• The Cholmondeley Award
• The Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography
• The Eric Gregory Award
• The Imison Award
• The Tinniswood Award
• The McKitterick Prize
• The Paul Torday Memorial Prize, for debut novelists over 60
• The Somerset Maugham Award
• The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award
• The ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award
• The Travelling Scholarships
• The Queen's Knickers Award
• The Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize for a novel focusing on travel

The organisation also administers a number of literary translation prizes,^[18][19] including:

• The TA First Translation Prize, for translation from any language (annual)
• The Goethe-Institut Award, for German Translation (biennial)
• The John Florio Prize, for Italian Translation (biennial)
• The Banipal Prize, or The Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Translation (annual)
• The Scott Moncrieff Prize, for French Translation (annual)
• The Schlegel-Tieck Prize, for German Translation (annual)
• The Bernard Shaw Prize, for Swedish Translation (triennial)^[20][21]
• The Vondel Prize, for Dutch Translation (biennial)
• The Premio Valle Inclan, for Spanish Translation (annual)
• The TLS-Risa Domb/Porjes Prize, for Hebrew translation (triennial)^[22]

It has previously administered the following prizes:

• The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award
• Calouste Gulbenkian Prize, for Portuguese Translation (triennial) Awarded for the last time in 2012^[18]
• Hellenic Foundation for Culture Award, for Greek Translation (triennial)^{[citation needed]}
• The Women's Prize for Fiction

See also[edit]

• Writers' Guild of Great Britain
• Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• "The History of the Society of Authors, 1884–1914". historysoa.com. Project funded by Leverhulme Trust; database contains "digitised archival and published documents relating to the history of the Society, as well as social network visualisations of its committee members"