Elected: 2022
Julie Blake directs Poetry By Heart, the schools poetry recitation competition she founded with Sir Andrew Motion in 2012. Young people choose poems, learn them by heart and perform them in school; after several rounds of judging, finalists are selected to compete to become national champions. Julie is also chief editor of www.poetrybyheart.org.uk, the digital anthology of poems that supports the competition and a wider range of poetry in schools. Her research in poetry education documents why this greater width is necessary.
Fellows are nominated by peers and elected by our Council of writers – our governing Board. Being elected a Fellow of the RSL is a lifetime honour. This role gives them the opportunity to support other writers, readers and the future of literature. The RSL connects writers in the Fellowship to one another, and to a wider readership.
