We are delighted to welcome Cambridge classics professor and non-fiction writer Mary Beard; award-winning crime writer Vaseem Khan; author, illustrator, newspaper cartoonist and graphic novelist Posy Simmonds; and critically acclaimed young adult author and non-fiction writer Philip Womack to the Society of Authors (SoA) Fellows.

They join 56 existing Fellows.

Membership of the Fellows, an honorary body of up to 60 eminent authors, is an accolade conferred by the SoA’s Management Committee, and ratified by the membership, on members of high standing who have been exceptional in their support of the SoA. The Fellows were formerly known as the Council prior to a vote to change the name at the 2022 AGM.

Mary Beard said:

I feel truly honoured and excited to be invited to become a fellow of the Society of Authors. The world of books has always been very good to me, but authors do need a ‘union’ to speak up for them and to celebrate what they do. That is exactly the role of the SoA, and I am looking forward to playing my part.  Now more than ever, the world needs its writers, and their careful, subtle, challenging and inspiring writing.

Vaseem Khan said:

I wrote my first novel aged 17. It was awful. More than 30 years later, I am delighted to be invited to become a Fellow of the SoA. A writer’s career can often feel like a boxing match. Bashed about for 15 rounds, while occasionally landing a punch of our own. The SoA is in the corner for many of us navigating that ring. At the same time, membership of the SoA community reminds us – in big and small ways – of the joy of fulfilling our childhood dreams. How many of us get to do that?

Posy Simmonds said:

Besides being a great champion of authors’ rights, the Society of Authors is an incomparable source of advice on everything, from blog posts to taxation. Faced with the new and slippery world of AI, authors and creators need the vigilance and protection of the SoA more than ever. I am very proud and delighted to become a Fellow of the Society.

Philip Womack said:

The challenges facing authors are growing day by day. It’s so vital to have a powerful, fast-moving organisation that can help shape policy in the way that the Society of Authors does. I’m immensely proud, and deeply honoured, to have been elected a Fellow.  The Society’s support for writers and illustrators is paramount in the fast-changing publishing landscape. It performs a huge amount of work at all levels, from the struggling individual writer, all the way to the top, and I’m thrilled to be able to continue to work with them.