The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is one of the oldest learned societies in the UK, and Britain’s charity for the advancement of literature. Founded in 1820 ‘to excite literary talent and reward literary merit’, it continues to meet these ideals, most recently with the launch of the RSL 200 five-year festival celebrating the best writing - past, present and future - across the UK. The RSL is a registered charity governed by the Charity Commission and its Royal Charter.
With its Fellowship of around 700 distinguished writers at our core, the RSL acts as a voice for the value of literature, engages the public in literature, and honours and encourages great writers at all stages of their careers. It believes that Literature Matters, and across our public events, publications, awards and prizes and outreach programmes, it celebrates the transformative power of literature to shape society and to change an individual life.
In November 2020, the RSL launched its five-year 200th birthday festival, RSL 200. Over the coming years, the RSL 200 will explore, interrogate and reimagine the UK’s literary landscape as it celebrates the best in British writing, past, present, and future. Through the festival, the RSL will continue to share literature with the greatest number of people possible across the UK and beyond, showing the power of literature to shape society and to change an individual life through new and continuing programmes.