Fellows are elected to the RSL.
To be nominated for Fellowship, writers must have had published or produced at least two substantial works, whether in book form, as theatre productions, works for the big or small screen, or in any other form through which great writing can be shared.
The involvement of Fellows with all the RSL does makes our engagement, events and projects possible. We believe that literature matters and is for everyone. Our Fellows’ commitment to and investment in our community and the work we do is invaluable to our mission.
The RSL’s governing document is its Constitution, comprised of its Royal Charter and bye-laws. The Constitution requires that anyone nominated for Fellowship must have published or produced at least two substantial literary works or equivalent which are of ‘outstanding literary merit’, and must be resident in or citizens of the UK. Writers need to be nominated for Fellowship by an existing Fellow or Honorary Fellow, and then seconded by another Fellow or Honorary Fellow. Nominations are taken to our Council – our governing Board of writers – and our Vice-Presidents, President and Presidents Emeriti for review. Each year, a number of new Fellows are elected. Nominated writers who aren’t elected are reconsidered every year for three years from the year they were proposed.
Newly elected Fellows are formally inducted at the RSL’s annual summer party, when their Fellowship is announced publicly. While the President introduces them, they are invited to sign their names in the Roll Book. Received in 1825 when the RSL received its Royal Charter, the Roll Book is a unique literary document, including the signatures of Fellows over two centuries. New Fellows sign the book using a famous writer’s pen. They can choose from George Eliot’s, Lord Byron’s or Jean Rhys’ pens; Andrea Levy’s, Arnold Wesker’s or T.S. Eliot’s fountain pens; or Charles Dickens’ quill.
Self-selecting groups can present a challenge to diversity. We are working to tackle historic underrepresentation in literature and at the RSL. Our 40 Under 40 initiative celebrated the talent of younger writers in the UK. We elected 40 writers Under the age of 40, working across literary forms, to the Fellowship through this programme in 2018. In 2020, RSL Open was launched to welcome 60 excellent writers from backgrounds and experiences underrepresented in literary publishing to join the Fellowship. This included writers who are working class, LGBTQI+, people of colour, and who have a disability. We continue to work to celebrate the true breadth of literary excellence through our Fellowship.
On 4 December 2024, the RSL launched its new Fellowship election process. Members of the public were invited to recommend writers for Fellowship. Public recommendations are now being considered by specially convened advisory panel of 10 Fellows, from across the great diversity of literary forms and writers within our Fellowship. They will read the proposed writers’ work, selecting those they wish to nominate (in accordance with our bye-laws, which state that only Fellows may nominate writers for Fellowship). Every Council member, the Vice-Presidents, the President and Presidents Emeriti will then be invited to vote on the nominated writers, with those receiving the most votes elected. The inaugural election panel is led by former RSL Vice-Chair Irenosen Okojie.
