Unions demand commitment and action from Government to support creative industries and its workers
The SoA joins call to the Chancellor to fix ‘flawed programme of support’ for self employed workers
How would you improve copyright and piracy claims?
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) wants to hear from you to try to improve its systems – and your responses will help us in lobbying for change.
£600k Hardship Fund for authors in Scotland
SoA partners with Creative Scotland to distribute £600k in hardship grants to authors in Scotland.
Two-thirds of authors reporting loss of income during Covid-19, according to new SoA survey
15 October 2020 Our third real-time survey Authors in the Health Crisis confirms extent of Covid-19 impact on the earnings of writers, illustrators and literary translators – and highlights lack of Government support. Two-thirds (65%) of writers, illustrators and literary translators have suffered a loss of income Almost half (49%) say the loss is more…
Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020 for SoA members
Congratulations to the SoA members who were recently recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020 list: Past SoA Chair Daniel Hahn for receiving an OBE for services to literature Cressida Cowell for receiving an MBE for services to children’s literature Martin Bailey, who also received an MBE for services for art history and journalism. Cressida…
Society of Authors 2020 AGM to run online
7 October 2020 For the safety of members and staff this year’s Annual General Meeting will be hosted on Zoom only. With your Autumn edition of The Author we shared an invitation to our ‘hybrid’ AGM, available online via Zoom, and with a strictly limited number of seats available to join us in person at…
SoA tables Six-Point Plan for Authors to HM Treasury
24 September 2020 The Society of Authors has submitted a package of measures to Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak MP, ahead of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) consultation deadline today (24 September 2020). The four-year CSR, which was due to accompany the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, was widely expected to set Government budgets for the years 2021/22 to 2023/24. However, following the Chancellor’s cancellation of his Autumn…
From Gaiman to Atwood: announcing the new line-up for the SoA @ Home Festival
24 September 2020 Autumn / Winter programme of online events kicks off on 1 October with an in-conversation session with Neil Gaiman to raise cash for the Authors’ Contingency Fund. In May, at the height of lockdown, the Society of Authors launched an ambitious programme of free online events to help guide, inspire and entertain…
SoA condemns the arrests of three translators in Belarus
18 September 2020 The Society of Authors has condemned the arrests of Belarusian authors in the wake of peaceful protests in Minsk earlier this month. According to reports by English PEN and CEATL, three prominent members of Belarus PEN were detained during protests on 8 September 2020, which follow highly contested elections in the country…
Translators Association launches #CelebrateYourTranslator campaign
16 September 2020 Our Translators Association (TA) will be highlighting authors and their translators in the run-up to International Translation Day on 30 September across social media – culminating in the opening of our 2020 Translation Prizes. The campaign – #CelebrateYourTranslator – aims to highlight the important relationship between author and translator and the vital…
Management Committee 2020 elections open
The 2020 Management Committee elections are underway, with a record 15 candidates standing for four seats on the SoA Board. Full members* will find candidate statements, ballot papers, and a reply-paid envelope bundled with the Autumn 2020 edition of The Author (or mailed to you separately if you live outside the UK). If you have…
SoA condemns violence and repression in Belarus
1 September 2020 The Society of Authors joins calls alongside writer unions across Europe to denounce the ongoing violence and repression in Belarus. SoA Chief Executive, Nicola Solomon, who visited the country as part of a European Writers’ Council (EWC) delegation to Minsk in 2018, last week wrote to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab MP raising…