Writers Recognised in New Year’s Honours

Picture of Martin Reed

Martin Reed

Martin was the SoA's Head of Communications from 2016 to 2024.

4 January 2016

We are delighted that authors Simon Brett and Vivian French and screenwriter Peter Morgan have been recognised in the 2016 New Year’s Honours List.

Brett, who receives an OBE for services to Literature, sits on the SoA’s Council and is a trustee of the Authors’ Foundation.

Children’s author French receives an MBE for services to Literature, Literacy, Illustration and the Arts.

The wider publishing industry was also celebrated, with literary agent Ed Victor made a CBE.

Read the full New Year’s Honours List

18 March 2026

The Society of Authors welcomes a “hard-won moment for authors and creators”, as the government confirmed it is moving away from a proposed copyright exception for AI training.  

13 March 2026

The Society of Authors in Scotland has joined the campaign for a Culture Act ahead of the May Holyrood elections.  

11 March 2026

The Society of Authors (SoA) has launched a Human Authored scheme to help identify works written by humans in a market increasingly flooded by AI-generated books.