17 February 2016 Love for Libraries On 6 February, people across the UK expressed their love for libraries. The 2016 National Libraries Day was the biggest celebration yet, with over 850 events taking place and massive...
16 February 2016 Lit Fest shout out Authors on Twitter have been using the hashtag #litfestshoutout to highlight those festivals who treat their speakers well. We too would like to thank the festivals who have taken the time to...
01 February 2016 Pullman urges Scottish politicians to save school libraries Our president Philip Pullman has spoken out in support of our campaign to make school libraries mandatory by urging Scottish politicians to save closure-threatened school libraries.
31 January 2016 Simpson and O’Connor win Audio Drama Writing Awards Julian Simpson received the 2016 Tinniswood Award for best audio drama script of the year for his play Fugue State. Newcomer Eoin O’Connor took home the Imison Award for the best debut...
27 January 2016 Tax Returns Debate: Further Consultation Needed On 25 January, following a huge response to a petition, the House of Commons debated plans to introduce quarterly tax ‘updates’ for the self-employed and small businesses.
25 January 2016 SoA President, Chief Executive and Other Authors in Debrett’s 500 Our President Philip Pullman tops the Books section of the Debrett’s 500, ‘a positive endorsement and recognition of Britain’s 500 most influential people.’
22 January 2016 Festivals Campaign: Update Literary festivals’ payment of authors has been prominent in the news this month, prompted by Philip Pullman’s resignation as Patron of Oxford Literary Festival. The SoA President...
22 January 2016 C.R.E.A.T.O.R. Campaign: Contract Terms Open Letter Earlier this month we wrote to publishers as part of an international movement calling for action on contract terms. In an open letter we asked publishers to take responsibility for...
21 January 2016 Victory for Welsh Writers We’re delighted that the plans to make cuts of more than 10% to the Welsh Books Council have been scrapped after protests from Welsh- and English-language writers.
20 January 2016 Fight For Your Right: Back the Libraries Campaign The SoA supports the My Library By Right campaign.
18 January 2016 Huge cuts threaten future of Welsh literature More than 400 writers have written to protest against proposed cuts which threaten the future of the Welsh publishing industry.
14 January 2016 Philip Pullman Resigns as Patron of Oxford Literary Festival Over Refusal to Pay Authors Our President, Philip Pullman, has resigned as a Patron of Oxford Literary Festival because they do not pay authors.
05 January 2016 International Calls for Action on Contracts The SoA has today written to publishers to ask them to help improve authors’ earnings by addressing contractual terms.The letter is part of an international collective call to...
05 January 2016 Inner Worlds and Outer Space - Audio Drama Writing Awards Shortlists Sean Grundy, Joseph O’Connor and Julian Simpson have been shortlisted for the Tinniswood Award for the best original audio drama script – the UK’s premier prize for...
04 January 2016 Writers Recognised in New Year's Honours 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.