2020 – the year we did not ask for

Picture of Martin Reed

Martin Reed

Martin was the SoA's Head of Communications from 2016 to 2024.
A bitter-sweet short walk through 2020 - with Philip Pullman, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Inua Ellams, Daljit Nagra, Tracy Chevalier, Dapo Adeola, Hannah Berry and more.

Thank you…

To all the individuals and organisations who have helped us make a difference in 2020

  • Members of the SoA Management Committee, Council and charity trustees
  • Committee members and local group organisers
  • Founding members of the Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses Network and the Comics Creators Network
  • Our many contributors, presenters, prize judges and grant assessors
  • Our partner organisations – ALCS, RLF, RSL, English PEN, the Booksellers Association, the Publishers Association, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, and many others
  • The journalists and media outlets who have helped us tell our story
  • All the individuals and organisations who have donated so generously to the Authors’ Contingency Fund
  • Our 11,455 members for continuing to support us and challenge us to be better
  • And to the SoA staff team who have transformed what we do and how we do it this year.

Music by
Christian Raab

Written & directed by
Martin Reed

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24 February 2026

Author and CWIG committee member Anna Wilson on her ‘writing adjacent’ day job.