The Royal Society of Literature greatly values its collaborations with sister organisations. While the majority are devoted to writers and writing, we are always keen to explore literature’s relationship with other disciplines. In doing so we hope to shed new light on areas of mutual interest and to reach a broader audience.
In autumn 2009, the RSL in collaboration with the Arvon Foundation inaugurated a series of masterclasses, all taught by a Fellow of the RSL.
Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society
The Royal Society of Literature would like to thanks the ALCS for their very generous support for the V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize.
www.alcs.co.uk
The Bloomsbury Hotel
The Bloomsbury Hotel, a member of The Doyle Collection is a proud supporter of the Royal Society of Literature. The Bloomsbury Hotel, located in the heart of London, marries high-end contemporary design with traditional elegance. Designed by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, The Bloomsbury Hotel is a listed neo-Georgian building with an imposing entrance, excellent contemporary dining, beautifully designed bedrooms and suites and magnificent meetings and events facilities. www.doylecollection.com/bloomsbury
European Cultural Commission
The European Commission has offices, called Representations, in all the member states of the European Union. The UK Representation is in London; there are also smaller offices in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh. Their chief duties are: speaking for the Commission as its voice in the UK (this includes providing background briefings for the media as well as on-the-record comment on issues relevant to the Commission); reporting back to the Commission in Brussels on political, economic and social developments in the UK; and providing information about the European Union across the UK through recognised outlets such as public libraries, business advice centres and education services. The London office of the EC is increasingly active in the cultural sphere working with the European Union National Institutes of Culture (EUNIC) London in developing joint cultural projects. Also, it has its own exhibition space (the 12 Star Gallery) and arts e-newsletter.
www.europe.org.uk/culture
First Story
First Story is a charity that aims to foster creativity, literacy and talent in young people across the country. It arranges and pays for acclaimed writers to lead weekly writing workshops in "challenging" secondary schools. With the support and mentorship of these writers-in-residence, children get to explore their creativity and find their voices. We've seen how creative writing can build students' self-esteem and self-confidence, raising aspirations and boosting achievement.
The RSL hosts a panel with First Story students, teachers and writers at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival. In addition, this year the RSL's writer-in-residence at Somerset House, Romesh Gunesekera, organised a special day of workshops for First Story students. Events like these, which bring the work of young people to a wider audience, make a critical difference in our students' lives. First Story is deeply grateful for the support and endorsement of the Society.
www.firststory.co.uk
Foyles
Founded by two brothers in 1903, Foyles quickly established itself as the world's most famous bookshop. Today with 5 floors, 36 departments and over 220,000 different books at our flagship store on London's literary mecca of Charing Cross Road, plus three branches across Central London and a fast & efficient website, whatever you want you'll find it at Foyles.
www.foyles.co.uk
London Review Bookshop
As of 2009 RSL Members are entitled to a 10% discount on all books and DVDs from the London Review Bookshop in Bloomsbury, and to one-third off tickets to all talks at the shop, on production of their RSL membership cards.
www.lrbshop.co.uk
London School of Economics and Political Science
The Royal Society of Literature worked with LSE on a number of events for its first literary festival, the LSE Space for Thought Literary Weekend, which took place in February 2009. The programme explored the links between the arts and social sciences, with Michael Holroyd, Victoria Glendinning, Caroline Moorehead, D.J. Taylor and Patrick French among the speakers.
www.lse.ac.uk
Poet in the City
Poet in the City is a poetry charity committed to attracting new audiences to poetry, making new connections for poetry, and raising money to support poetry education, in particular the placing of poets in schools. The charity is delighted to be working in partnership with the Royal Society of Literature on an event with the Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney, due to take place at Kings Place in February 2010.
www.poetinthecity.co.uk
Prospect
Prospect magazine was launched in October 1995 by its present editor David Goodhart, a senior correspondent for the Financial Times, and was subsequently described by sir Jeremy Isaacs as “more readable than the Economist, more relevant than the Spectator, more romantic than the New Statesman.” The monthly title has since acquired a reputation as the most intelligent current affairs and cultural debate magazine in Britain.
Both challenging and entertaining, Prospect seeks to make complex ideas accessible and enjoyable by commissioning the best writers, editing them vigorously and packaging their work with strong design and illustration.
Prospect has long been a supporter of the short story, publishing a piece of short fiction is published each month in additional to in- depth cultural reportage, review and comment, and boasts contributions from many of the finest authors writing in English today. Recent contributors include Louis de Bernieres, Helen Simpson, Alaa al Aswany, Wells Tower, Toby Litt, Ali Smith, Tessa Hadley, James Meek, Rose Tremain, Damon Galgut and many others.
2009, the 10th anniversary of the VS Pritchett prize, marked the first year of an ongoing collaboration between the Royal Society of Literature and Prospect, which will be proudly publishing the winning story from the competition each year from December 2009.
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/
Royal Society
The Royal Society is the independent scientific academy of the UK and the Commonwealth, dedicated to promoting excellence in science. The RSL holds regular joint debates with the Royal Society, which invariably attract a large audience. Recent events have included discussions on literature and mathematics by Mark Haddon and Marcus du Sautoy, and on fossils by Tracy Chevalier and Richard Fortey.
royalsociety.org
Somerset House
One of London's most spectacular neo-classical buildings, Somerset House is home to a variety of arts organisations, including the Royal Society of Literature. In 2008 the RSL helped to set up its first writer-in-residence programme, with Ruth Padel as the incumbent. This included poetry workshops for children from state primary schools, who used the extraordinary variety of resources at Somerset House - from pictures in the Courtauld Gallery to skating on the ice rink - to inspire their work.
www.somersethouse.org.uk
Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival
The RSL held two events at the 2009 Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival. Ronald Harwood talked to Maggie Fergusson about his work as a playwright and screenwriter, and Philip Pullman introduced the work of First Story, a new initiative to teach creative writing in state secondary schools. Bookings for the 2010 festival events can be made through the box office (0870 343 1001) or the website.
www.sundaytimes-oxfordliteraryfestival.co.uk
Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is the only weekly literary paper in the world - embracing not only literature and poetry but also history, biography, science, philosophy, bibliophily and all the arts. For more than a hundred years, the TLS’s mix of fine writing, new discoveries and incisive debate has made it mandatory reading.
www.the-tls.co.uk
From only £23 a quarter, have the TLS delivered to your door every week. Call 01858 438781 quoting code W026 or visit www.subscription.co.uk/tls/w026