30 March 2016 We are sorry to announce that the Chair, William Horwood, has stepped down from his position on the Management Committee for personal reasons. The Committee has elected David Donachie to replace him as Chair with immediate effect. David Donachie is the author of over 40 novels and has been a Management Committee…
24 March 2016 We welcome the publication of the Government’s White Paper on Culture, the first in over 50 years. The SoA was one of the bodies which contributed to the consultation. We are pleased to see that the white paper recognises that culture has a huge intrinsic value as well as an economic worth….
16 March 2016 It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of author and historian Lord Asa Briggs. Asa died peacefully yesterday (15 March) at his home in Lewes, aged 94. Asa’s history specialised in the Victorian era, and he was the author of a five-volume text on the history of broadcasting…
We warmly invite you to stand for election for the Management Committee, or to nominate a fellow Member to stand. Former Committee member, Sarah Waters, said of her MC experience: Membership of the Management Committee is serious, but it is not solemn or daunting. Everyone is there for the same reason: because they care about…
Our campaign to improve contract terms is gathering pace as we meet with individual publishers and continue to push for legislation. Particular concerns are to futureproof contracts so that authors can benefit by negotiating terms when new modes of exploitation arise, rather than in advance and reversion clauses so that unexploited rights can be returned…
9 March 2016 We have updated our Minimum Practice Guidelines for literary festivals. Since publishing our survey and guidelines last year, we’ve received more feedback and information from authors and festivals and we have responded by revising our Minimum Practice Guidelines. One particular issue of concern that was raised repeatedly was ‘exclusion’ or ‘exclusivity’ clauses…
8 March 2016 The way that class 2 National Insurance is paid has changed with an important impact for the self-employed on low incomes. Class 2 National Insurance payments qualify you for contributions-based benefits such as the State Pension. Previously contributions were paid by Direct Debit either monthly or six monthly, now they are collected…
7 March 2016 Imogen Taylor has won the 2016 Goethe-Institut Award for New Translation. The biennial prize, generously sponsored by the Goethe-Institut, was awarded this year by judges Anthea Bell, Jens Boyer and Paula Johnson for the translation into English of an extract from Momente der Klarheit by Jackie Thomae. The winning translation can be downloaded here. Imogen Taylor…
18 February 2016 We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2015 Translation Prizes. This year’s prizes honour the most accomplished works of translation into the English language from the Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Spanish and Swedish. The awards were presented by the judges at a ceremony held at Europe House on 17 February….
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 online interaction. A few days later the Speak Up for Libraries coalition took the fight to Parliament. On 9 February, authors, readers, librarians and library…
16 February 2016 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 contact us to discuss the terms they offer authors. Following our survey and the debate fuelled by Philip Pullman’s resignation as…
As a teacher, I witnessed the decline of the immensely valuable schools library service in England. It was never made statutory, so there was no law to stand between it and the inevitable decay resulting from the devolution of school budgets (and the pressures on head teachers to mend the science lab roof, employ an…
