Four eminent authors have become the latest to join the Society of Authors’ (SoA) honorary body of Fellows. 

We are delighted to welcome bestselling novelist Kit de Waal, literary translator Vineet Lal, pioneering writer Maggie Gee and literary biographer and head of Persephone Books Nicola Beauman, to the SoA’s honorary body of 56 existing Fellows.   

The honour is conferred by the SoA’s Management Committee on members who are of high standing and have been exceptional in their support of the Society.  

Kit de Waal said:

What an absolute honour to be invited to be a Fellow of The Society of Authors. Especially at this time, when our work and our very creativity are facing new and complex challenges, standing together has never been more vital. I’m thrilled to be a part of the brilliant work the SoA does to protect and champion the human heart at the centre of every story.

Vineet Lal said:

I am delighted, and deeply honoured, to have been invited to become a Fellow of the Society of Authors. I have been closely involved with the Society, and the Translators Association, ever since I began my journey as a literary translator. The support and professional expertise offered to authors and translators by everyone at the SoA is hugely valued by our diverse literary community, and I am thrilled at the opportunity to make my own contribution to our collective efforts. As the world shifts around us, in so many challenging and unforeseen ways, the need to defend the rights of the creative industries has never felt more important, or more timely. I look forward to playing my part.

Maggie Gee said:

I’m on my eighteenth book and have served writers on the boards of many of our organisations, but it’s still a thrill to be elected a Fellow of the SoA at a good time in its long history. Important to show we love books by human authors, full of real human stories, real lived emotions and real craft.

Nicola Beauman said:

Many of the one hundred or so authors reprinted by Persephone were once members of the Society of Authors (indeed, it looks after a few of their Estates) which is why it is particularly pleasing to have been asked to be a Fellow.

As well as welcoming four new Fellows at this year’s AGM, we said goodbye and gave our heartfelt thanks to board directors Harriet Evans and Abie Longstaff who complete their three-year terms, and to Nicholas Rankin, who retired from the board over the summer. 

We officially appointed four new board directors: Polly Atkin, poet, non-fiction writer, editor and bookseller; Ian Giles, literary translator from the Scandinavian languages into English; Lucinda Hawksley, writer of fiction and non-fiction on social history and art literature; and AJ West, novelist, media trainer and presenter. Read more about their appointment here.  

We also announced a new UK Human Authored mark, due to launch in the first quarter of 2026.  

This project aims to mirror the Guild of Authors scheme in the US and empower members with additional labelling to help human authored work stand out as being created uniquely with human skill and originality.

The scheme will consist of a logo, supported by a database that confirms human authorship of a piece of work. The UK Human Authored mark will be available free of charge to SoA members with the aim of making it available to non-member authors in due course.

Find out more at www.humanauthored.co.uk and sign up to receive an alert when the scheme goes live. 

Finally, watch our short film which we showed during the AGM and which gives a flavour and reflection on some of our activities over the last 12 months.