Elected: 2023
Image credit: Judy Laing
Leila Aboulela is the first-ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. She is the author of six novels, River Spirit, Bird Summons, The Kindness of Enemies, Minaret, The Translator, and Lyrics Alley — Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards. Her short story collection Elsewhere, Home, won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Leila’s work has been translated into 15 languages and she was longlisted three times for the Orange Prize. She grew up in Sudan and now lives in Scotland.
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.
