7 June 2017

We were deeply saddened to hear of the death, earlier this week, of writer, poet and children's author Helen Dunmore.

Helen joined the Society in 1993. She won a McKitterick prize in 2004 for Zennor in Darkness.

Helen always showed a great interest in and support for our causes. She went on to serve on the Management Committee for three years and as Chair in 2005, and subsequently on our Council until her death.

Helen's abundantly generous, clear-sighted and practical commitment to protecting the rights of authors contributed significantly to our campaigns on festival appearances, digital rights and e-publishing rights from the invention of the Kindle onwards. We owe her a great debt, and she will be missed enormously. Her work is a fitting legacy, full of grace and quiet power.

She was an inspiration and a friend to many, and fellow members of the SoA’s Council and current Management Committee remember her with great fondness and admiration. We will feel her loss dreadfully.