The Conservative Party Conference has raised to the fore the issue of tax credits. Working Tax Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support are all currently being phased out, to be replaced by Universal Credit. The removal of Working Tax Credit in particular raises some worrying issues…
SoA members, in addition to holding panels, performances and workshops, pledged over £3,000 to Save the Children in aid of the refugee crisis in Syria. This was inspired by a fundraiser started by author and SoA member Patrick Ness, and the SoA efforts were led by John Dougherty, Chair of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group…
7 September 2015 Over the weekend John Dougherty, Chair of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group, led SoA members in a drive to raise money for the Syrian refugee crisis. The New Visions Conference for children’s writers and illustrators took place this weekend from 5-6 September and was attended by authors from all over the…
Council member Anne Sebba reflects on reading for pleasure. I fell asleep last night with a book in my hands. There were just 40 pages to go until the end but, after a long and tiring day, much as I was desperate to know who lived and who died, I just failed to make it…
31 July 2015 Four new members have been elected to serve on the Management Committee. The following have been elected by a ballot of all Members: Daniel Hahn (974 votes), Eric Clark (899 votes), Alex Klaushofer (724 votes) and Janet Laurence (665 votes). 1,607 Members voted (of 8,861). To view the Independent Scrutineer’s Report, please…
17 July 2015 The Earl of Clancarty has asked the Government ‘what steps they plan to take to improve the rights and income of professional authors and writers.’ The SoA welcomes the interest of the Peer who raised the issue of the rights and income of professional authors in the House of Lords this week. Baroness…
Nicola Solomon, Chief Executive of the Society of Authors, made a call for immediate action to protect creators from onerous contracts when she spoke last night to the All Party Writers Group Summer Reception. Following addresses from Pete Wishart MP, Chair of the All Party Writers Group, and John Whittingdale, Secretary of State for Culture,…
On 25 June £85,500 was distributed to writers at the Society of Authors’ annual Authors’ Awards. Novelist Sarah Waters (a previous recipient of a Betty Trask Prize and a Somerset Maugham Award) presented prizes to writers of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and English Language Teaching writing, at a ceremony held at the Army & Navy Club….
The High Court has today granted The Publishers Association’s application (under Section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988) for a blocking order against several UK Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The blocking order applies to seven websites which have been found to contain substantial amounts of infringing content. AvaxHome, Ebookee, Freebookspot, Freshwap, Libgen,…
22 May 2015 The Society of Authors is delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2015 Betty Trask Prize. This year’s shortlist offers a diverse range of first novels, transporting us from the heated environment of a professional kitchen to the desolation of post-war Berlin and exploring the opposing conditions of old age and youth. …
21 May 2015 On 20 May the Supreme Court overturned an injunction preventing the publication of a memoir by classical pianist James Rhodes. The SoA welcomes this as a victory for freedom of expression and a very clear statement by the courts that people have the right to tell their own story in their own…
We are delighted to announce that the 2015 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography will be awarded to Ben Macintyre for A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal (Bloomsbury). The £5,000 Prize will be introduced by Roy Foster and presented by Flora Fraser on Thursday 25 June at the Society of Authors’…
