Royal Society of Literature

The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by King George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury. There are 450 Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature (generally 14 new Fellows are named annually), who earn the privilege of using the post-nominal letters FRSL.

The Society has a membership scheme which amongst other benefits allows members to attend monthly events for free.

Past Fellows include Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Butler Yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Koestler etc. Present fellows include Chinua Achebe, Antonia Fraser, Athol Fugard, Doris Lessing, V. S. Naipaul, Peter Dickinson and Tom Stoppard. A newly created Fellow inscribes his or her name on the official roll using either Byron's pen or Dickens' quill.

The Society has an annual magazine, RSL, and administers a number of literary prizes and awards, including the Ondaatje Prize, the Jerwood Awards and the V. S. Pritchett Memorial Prize. It can confer the honour of Companion of the Royal Society of Literature for writers of particular note. It also awards the Benson Medal for lifetime service in the field of literature.

The Society is based at Somerset House in London.

Presidents

 * 1820–1832 Bishop Thomas Burgess
 * 1832–1833 The Lord Dover
 * 1834–1845 The Earl of Ripon
 * 1845–1849 Henry Hallam
 * 1849–1851 The Marquess of Northampton
 * 1851–1856 The Earl of Carlisle
 * 1856–1874 The Lord Bishop of St David's
 * 1874–1876 The Lord Bishop of Thirlwall
 * 1876–1885 His Royal Highness The Prince Leopold
 * 1885–1893 Sir Patrick Colquhoun
 * 1893–1920 The Earl of Halsbury
 * 1921–1946 The Marquess of Crewe
 * 1946–1947 The Earl of Lytton
 * 1947–1982 The Lord Butler of Saffron Walden
 * 1983–1988 Sir Angus Wilson
 * 1988–2003 The Lord Jenkins of Hillhead
 * 2003–2008 Sir Michael Holroyd
 * 2008–present Colin Thubron

Current Fellows
''NB. Fellows elected in 2008 missing from list''

The * before the name denotes an honorary Fellow.