Sunday 30 November, 14:30-16:00, Pigott Theatre, British Library and online. Free for everyone.
Join us for the launch of the RSL Pioneer Prize, a new initiative which will spotlight and celebrate writers who have been trailblazers in their field.
Acknowledging the challenges faced by earlier generations of women writers, each year a woman writer over 60 who has shaped our literary landscape will be honoured. For its inaugural year the prize will honour Maureen Duffy, born in 1933 – poet, playwright, novelist, non-fiction writer and activist.
Throughout her career, Duffy has been consistently groundbreaking. She has brought to light previously unspoken stories; articulated the unheard voices of women and working class protagonists; created a Humanist Mass; and reaffirmed the legacy of Aphra Behn among countless other achievements. She has been a phenomenal advocate for author rights and LGBTQ+ rights, and at the forefront of making changes which are still felt today.
RSL President Bernardine Evaristo will be joined by writers, Val McDermid, So Mayer and lecturers Elaine Hobby and Lawrence Warner. Together with chair, Bee Rowlatt they discuss Duffy’s impact and legacy, and the power of amplifying older women writers’ voices.
This will be interspersed with readings from actor, Rebecca Scroggs.
The RSL Pioneer Prize has been established thanks to the generosity of Evaristo, who has donated the cash prize of £100k from her Women’s Prize Outstanding Contribution Award to fund it. The Prize, which will run for ten years from 2025, will spotlight ten living women writers over the age of 60, with each receiving £10,000.
Speakers
Bernardine Evaristo is the author of ten books. Her prizes include the Booker Prize 2019 and the one-off Women’s Prize Outstanding Contribution Award 2025.
Elaine Hobby is Professor Emirita of Seventeenth-Century Studies at Loughborough University and a scholar of early modern women’s writing. She has worked with Maureen Duffy on shining a light on the work of Aphra Behn, the first professional woman writer in English.
So Mayer is a writer, bookseller, editor and organiser. Their most recent book is Bad Language, a memoir and manifesto on language, gender and power, and their most recent collaborative projects are The Word for World: The Maps of Ursula K Le Guin (with Sarah Shin, Silver Press, 2025) and Catflap #5 for Outburst Queer Arts Festival.
Val McDermid is a writer and broadcaster, best known for her crime fiction. She has sold more than 19 million books to date across the globe and has been translated into more than 40 languages. Her multi-award-winning series and standalone novels have been adapted for television and radio. She co-founded the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. Her new Karen Pirie novel, Silent Bones, publishes in October 2025.
Rebecca Scroggs trained at RADA. Her theatre work includes: Danton’s Death, directed by Michael Grandage and The Suicide, directed by Nadia Fall both for the National Theatre. A Midsummer Nights’ Dream, directed by Sean Holmes for Lyric Hammersmith and Manchester Royal Exchange. Steel, directed by Rebecca Frecknall for the Crucible Theatre. In 2022 she appeared in Doubt at the Chichester Festival Theatre. In 2024 she appeared as Lady Macduff in Macbeth, directed by Simon Godwin and starring Ralph Fiennes. Television work: Rebecca has appeared in six series of ITV drama Grace, playing Ari Branson. In 2023 she was a series regular in Constellation for Apple TV. In 2019 she appeared in Alex Rider for Amazon and Flack for Sky. In 2014 she appeared in over 80 episodes of Eastenders playing Fiona ‘Tosh’ Mackintosh. Rebecca is the co-chair of Unfinished Histories, an archive which records and preserves the history of alternative theatre from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Lawrence Warner is Professor of Medieval English at Kings College, London where Maureen Duffy’s archive is held. In 2023 he worked with Maureen Duffy to stage Missa Humana, a Humanist Mass, written by Duffy and set to music by Dolly Collins.
Key Information
In person
This event takes place in the British Library Knowledge Centre. The doors will open at 13.30. Please arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start time of this event. If you have specific access requirements please email [email protected]
Online
If you book an online ticket, you will receive the viewing link on the morning of the event. You can either watch the event live or during the next 7 days on catch up.
Presented in partnership with the British Library.
