World Book Day meets National Year of Reading 📚
Some stories stay with us forever, shaping how we see the world, sparking imaginations, and inspiring the way we create. Here, some of our RLF writers reflect on the books that they will never forget.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4bePb74
📚 My Writing Life with Penny Pepper✍️
Award-winning author and poet Penny Pepper explores the disability narrative in fiction through her memoir, poetry, and short stories. She shares the books, mentors, and moments that shaped her writing life.
Read more via the link: https://bit.ly/4qMYmBb
📚 My Writing Life with Mark Haddon✍️
Writer and illustrator Mark Haddon has written many books for children, including the 2003 bestseller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. His latest book – Leaving Home: A Memoir in Full Colour – is out now.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4tt1On8
🎧 Collected Podcasts:
🎙 Ep 500: Abigail Mann - comedy author on writing rituals, process, and producing her best work.
🎙 Ep 501: John Lewis-Stempel - bestselling nature writer and RLF Fellow on writing struggles and finding ideas while farming.
Listen to both here: https://bit.ly/4rWrWGb
Next week, WritersMosaic presents Poets on Film live at the Conduit Club, London. Anthony Anaxagorou and Marjorie Lotfi perform and talk with filmmakers Rob Akin and Savannah Acquah, chaired by Colin Grant, plus poetry film screenings. You can register through the link here: https://bit.ly/4j9QDuX
RLF Fellows’ News – Feb 2026 ✍️
📖 New: Ian Seed’s Forgetfulness & Jim Beckett’s children’s book
📜 Sanjida O’Connell’s ‘Meat’ in The Monster, Capital
📕 Wren James sells The Victors
🏆 Penny Boxall longlisted
✨ Maisie Chan named Storyteller in Residence
📍 Read the full roundup: https://bit.ly/4agPrlp
The second instalment of our webinar series, Making Writing Work – Plot Twist: What to do when a writers financial model breaks - will be on Tuesday 21 April at 6pm GMT. In our second free webinar, we explore the support available when a change in circumstances impacts income. https://bit.ly/4at4KbO
📚 My Writing Life with Katie Hickman ✍️
Katie Hickman is an English novelist, historian and travel writer. She is best known for her best-selling novel, 'The Aviary Gate'.
Read more: https://bit.ly/49FyZvV
We have six days to go until our first webinar!
Join us on January 27 at 6pm, when we will be looking at the practical and financial considerations of balancing your creative identity with the need to earn a living, and the mindset needed to be a professional writer today. https://bit.ly/4ohNPgd
In this article, Roland Chambers – children’s author and former biographer – reflects on the legacy of RLF Estates writer Arthur Ransome, who is best-known for his 'Swallows and Amazons' children's books but was a journalist during the Russian Revolution.
Full article here: https://bit.ly/49rjp72
Today we mark AA Milne’s birthday and a century of Winnie-the-Pooh which was released 100 years ago this October. As benefactors of Milne’s estate, the RLF is proud that his legacy continues to support future writers through hardship grants, education and outreach programmes.
Applications are being accepted for the RLF Fellowship scheme in Autumn 2027.
If you have already requested an application pack, don't forget to submit your application before the deadline of 20th March 2026.
🎧 December's Podcasts:
🎙 Episode 498: International bestselling novelist, Paula Hawkins, reflects on her journey to success.
🎙 Episode 499: Broadcaster and non-fiction writer Vanessa Collingridge discusses writing about neurodiversity.
Listen to both podcasts here: https://podcast.rlf.org.uk/
RLF Fellows’ News | January 2025
✨ Publishing wins for Neil Rollinson, Tony White & Abigail Mann
🎤 Collected: Live panels + TS Eliot Prize Shortlist Readings this month
🏆 Roy Williams & Ed Harris nominated for the 2026 BBC Audio Awards
📍 Read the full January roundup: https://bit.ly/3Yvy9vh
📚 My Writing Life with Ian Seed ✍️
Award-winning poet, translator and prose writer Ian Seed reflects on the key moments, influences and advice that have shaped his writing career.
Read more: royalliteraryfund.substack.com/p/my-writing...
Would you be able to spot these common punctuation mistakes? The RLF has been supporting students at universities across the UK since 1999 through our Fellowship Scheme.
Find out if there’s a Fellow at your university via the link: https://www.rlf.org.uk/our-partners/
Congratulations to Ishy Din (MBE) and Ekow Eshun (OBE) on their New Year Honours! 🎉
Ishy Din, RLF Fellow, playwright and screenwriter, recieved an MBE for services to the arts and young people.
Ekow Eshun, WritersMosaic contributor, writer, curator, received an OBE for services to the Arts.
📚 My Writing Life with Craig Brown ✍️
Craig reflects on the key moments that have helped to elevate his career as well as his biggest influences, from his English teacher, to the editors who gave him a chance.
Read more: https://royalliteraryfund.substack.com/p/my-writing-life-craig-brown
Please note, the RLF will be offline from 24th December until 5th January inclusive. If you have made an enquiry about a hardship grant, our grants team will get back to you as soon as possible when they are back in the office in the New Year.
The RLF's grants programme supports professional writers facing financial hardship, but what is it like to apply for a grant? Four writers share their experience. Visit our website today to find out more about the programme.
https://www.rlf.org.uk/apply-for-a-grant/
🎧 November Podcasts
🎙 Ep 495: Paul Dodgson talks with Matt Carr about his wide-ranging books on terrorism.
🎙 Ep 497: Juliet Gilkes Romero chats with Satinder Chohan on being a “dramastorian,” exploring empire’s darker histories.
Listen to both podcasts here: https://bit.ly/4rWrWGb
The third edition of the Writers Mosaic Quarterly – Frantz Fanon: Revolutionary Psychiatrist – is out now, available as a print insert in The Bookseller and online.
Read it here: https://bit.ly/3YldNEW
📚 RLF Fellows’ News – December 2025 ✍️
• Books from Felicity McCall, Katie Grant, and Nicholas Murray.
• Multiple broadcasts from RLF writers on BBC Radio & BBC Sounds.
• We Live Here Now wins the Goldsmiths Prize; Gatsby in Harlem wins big at the Speakies.
📍 Full roundup: https://bit.ly/3LoP2Vc
University students vs. slang: Would you know the origins and meanings behind some of these recent slang words? Some of the answers might surprise you!
RLF Fellows across the UK support students with their writing. Find out if there’s one at your university via the link: https://bit.ly/4iNNEbo
“I became an expert at weaving my lived experience of disability into my work.”
For UK Disability History Month, award-winning author, poet and activist Penny Pepper reflects on how her activism shapes her writing.
Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/4pVddcO
Here’s your reminder to sign up for our first RLF webinar!
Our host Nick Ahad will be joined by writers Emily Itami, Derek Keilty, Karen McCarthy Woolf, and Federica Fiorillo, International Rights and Policy Manager at the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society.
https://bit.ly/4ohNPgd
Novelist Joseph Conrad wrote to the RLF to request assistance in 1902 & 1908 and was backed by authors including Henry James, JM Barrie and Ford Madox Ford. Professor Robert Hampson takes a look through his RLF file.
Illustration Credit: Ricardo Tomás
Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4asDqLg
Did you see The RLF in The Guardian? Journalist Ella Creamer explored our archives, uncovering stories of Dylan Thomas, Sylvia Plath, Doris Lessing, and more - all supported by the Royal Literary Fund.
Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/48KaQ6L
We’re excited to launch Making Writing Work, a free four-part webinar series for writers.
Join host Nick Ahad with speakers Emily Itami, Derek Keilty, and Karen McCarthy Woolf, plus Federica Fiorillo from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society on 27 January 2026.
https://bit.ly/4ohNPgd
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