Royal Literary Fund
@royalliteraryfund.bsky.social
Supporting Writers Since 1790. The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) helps writers in financial need and annually delivers over £5 million in grants, education, community, and workplace programmes.
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.
December 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM
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/
https://www.rlf.org.uk/apply-for-a-grant/
December 16, 2025 at 6:13 PM
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/
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
🎙 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
December 15, 2025 at 11:37 AM
🎧 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
🎙 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
Read it here: https://bit.ly/3YldNEW
December 12, 2025 at 3:58 PM
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
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
• 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
December 11, 2025 at 5:49 PM
📚 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
• 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
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
December 9, 2025 at 5:58 PM
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
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
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
December 8, 2025 at 2:41 PM
“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
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
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
December 5, 2025 at 6:04 PM
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
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
Illustration Credit: Ricardo Tomás
Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4asDqLg
December 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
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
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
Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/48KaQ6L
December 1, 2025 at 3:19 PM
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
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
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
November 24, 2025 at 3:00 PM
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
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
Adam Weymouth’s Kings of the Yukon won The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. His new book, Lone Wolf (Baillie Gifford–shortlisted), follows a wolf across Europe while exploring travel, storytelling, and the ethics of honouring people and place.
Read here: https://bit.ly/4r6tOff
Read here: https://bit.ly/4r6tOff
November 20, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Adam Weymouth’s Kings of the Yukon won The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. His new book, Lone Wolf (Baillie Gifford–shortlisted), follows a wolf across Europe while exploring travel, storytelling, and the ethics of honouring people and place.
Read here: https://bit.ly/4r6tOff
Read here: https://bit.ly/4r6tOff
Five RLF poets - Anna Woodford, Jo Clement, Christy Ducker, Harry Man & Degna Stone have created poems now on display at Longbenton Metro station.
Poems on the Metro is a collaboration between the RLF and Tyne and Wear Metro and this work will be on view to enjoy until the end of the year.
Poems on the Metro is a collaboration between the RLF and Tyne and Wear Metro and this work will be on view to enjoy until the end of the year.
November 19, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Five RLF poets - Anna Woodford, Jo Clement, Christy Ducker, Harry Man & Degna Stone have created poems now on display at Longbenton Metro station.
Poems on the Metro is a collaboration between the RLF and Tyne and Wear Metro and this work will be on view to enjoy until the end of the year.
Poems on the Metro is a collaboration between the RLF and Tyne and Wear Metro and this work will be on view to enjoy until the end of the year.
Today is International Students Day! 🧑🎓 Did you know the RLF has been supporting students at universities across the UK since 1999? If you need support with your writing, find out if there’s a Fellow at your university via the link: https://www.rlf.org.uk/our-partners/
November 17, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Today is International Students Day! 🧑🎓 Did you know the RLF has been supporting students at universities across the UK since 1999? If you need support with your writing, find out if there’s a Fellow at your university via the link: https://www.rlf.org.uk/our-partners/
📚 My Writing Life – Deborah Frances-White ✍️
Screenwriter, playwright, podcaster, and author of The Guilty Feminist shares her writing habits, career insights, and proudest achievements from Writers’ Guild awards to Sunday Times bestseller success.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4nROHrH
Screenwriter, playwright, podcaster, and author of The Guilty Feminist shares her writing habits, career insights, and proudest achievements from Writers’ Guild awards to Sunday Times bestseller success.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4nROHrH
My Writing Life: Deborah Frances-White
"I am all or nothing. The trick is to be 'all' often enough that the 'nothing' days don’t count." – Deborah Frances-White
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November 11, 2025 at 1:12 PM
📚 My Writing Life – Deborah Frances-White ✍️
Screenwriter, playwright, podcaster, and author of The Guilty Feminist shares her writing habits, career insights, and proudest achievements from Writers’ Guild awards to Sunday Times bestseller success.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4nROHrH
Screenwriter, playwright, podcaster, and author of The Guilty Feminist shares her writing habits, career insights, and proudest achievements from Writers’ Guild awards to Sunday Times bestseller success.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4nROHrH
Award-winning novelist Elif Shafak (@shafakelif) joins Doug Johnstone (@writerdougj) on the latest Collected Podcast to talk creativity, activism, and her love of heavy metal. Plus, archive highlights from Bethan Roberts, David Lloyd, and Mirza Waheed.
🎧 Listen: https://youtu.be/Mp6pkAQqUNE
🎧 Listen: https://youtu.be/Mp6pkAQqUNE
November 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Award-winning novelist Elif Shafak (@shafakelif) joins Doug Johnstone (@writerdougj) on the latest Collected Podcast to talk creativity, activism, and her love of heavy metal. Plus, archive highlights from Bethan Roberts, David Lloyd, and Mirza Waheed.
🎧 Listen: https://youtu.be/Mp6pkAQqUNE
🎧 Listen: https://youtu.be/Mp6pkAQqUNE
📚 RLF Fellows’ News – November 2025 ✍️
New books, theatre premieres & award nods, plus Collected Live in Liverpool & Birmingham, and Mosaic Monologues from Writers Mosaic.
Award nods for C.D. Rose, Gillian Allnutt, Nick Makoha, Salena Godden & Trish Cooke.
Read more: https://bit.ly/3LoP2Vc
New books, theatre premieres & award nods, plus Collected Live in Liverpool & Birmingham, and Mosaic Monologues from Writers Mosaic.
Award nods for C.D. Rose, Gillian Allnutt, Nick Makoha, Salena Godden & Trish Cooke.
Read more: https://bit.ly/3LoP2Vc
November 6, 2025 at 12:07 PM
📚 RLF Fellows’ News – November 2025 ✍️
New books, theatre premieres & award nods, plus Collected Live in Liverpool & Birmingham, and Mosaic Monologues from Writers Mosaic.
Award nods for C.D. Rose, Gillian Allnutt, Nick Makoha, Salena Godden & Trish Cooke.
Read more: https://bit.ly/3LoP2Vc
New books, theatre premieres & award nods, plus Collected Live in Liverpool & Birmingham, and Mosaic Monologues from Writers Mosaic.
Award nods for C.D. Rose, Gillian Allnutt, Nick Makoha, Salena Godden & Trish Cooke.
Read more: https://bit.ly/3LoP2Vc
🎙️ Six writers. Six voices. Endless stories.
Listen to Mosaic Monologues 👉 https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/mosaic-monologues/
Listen to Mosaic Monologues 👉 https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/mosaic-monologues/
October 29, 2025 at 12:27 PM
🎙️ Six writers. Six voices. Endless stories.
Listen to Mosaic Monologues 👉 https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/mosaic-monologues/
Listen to Mosaic Monologues 👉 https://writersmosaic.org.uk/category/limited-series/mosaic-monologues/
Tomorrow, @writersmosaic joins @OffTheShelfFest for 'Diverse Islands' - a vital conversation on race, identity & multiculturalism across the UK & Ireland. 🌍📚
With Kieran Connell, Emer O’Neill, Charlotte Rea-Patel & host John Siddique. In partnership with @SpeakVolumes.
With Kieran Connell, Emer O’Neill, Charlotte Rea-Patel & host John Siddique. In partnership with @SpeakVolumes.
October 24, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Tomorrow, @writersmosaic joins @OffTheShelfFest for 'Diverse Islands' - a vital conversation on race, identity & multiculturalism across the UK & Ireland. 🌍📚
With Kieran Connell, Emer O’Neill, Charlotte Rea-Patel & host John Siddique. In partnership with @SpeakVolumes.
With Kieran Connell, Emer O’Neill, Charlotte Rea-Patel & host John Siddique. In partnership with @SpeakVolumes.
Tomorrow @writersmosaic.bsky.social join @mcrlitfest.bsky.social for a powerful event exploring nature, spirit & the human experience 🌿📚
October 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Tomorrow @writersmosaic.bsky.social join @mcrlitfest.bsky.social for a powerful event exploring nature, spirit & the human experience 🌿📚
Playwright Neil Bartlett examines Bosie’s letters from the 1940s, including RLF grant application:
https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/rarely-pure-and-never-simple-examining-the-case-file-of-lord-alfred-douglas/
📸 Oscar Wilde with Lord Alfred Douglas. ©️ Pictorial Press Ltd, Alamy
https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/rarely-pure-and-never-simple-examining-the-case-file-of-lord-alfred-douglas/
📸 Oscar Wilde with Lord Alfred Douglas. ©️ Pictorial Press Ltd, Alamy
October 22, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Playwright Neil Bartlett examines Bosie’s letters from the 1940s, including RLF grant application:
https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/rarely-pure-and-never-simple-examining-the-case-file-of-lord-alfred-douglas/
📸 Oscar Wilde with Lord Alfred Douglas. ©️ Pictorial Press Ltd, Alamy
https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/rarely-pure-and-never-simple-examining-the-case-file-of-lord-alfred-douglas/
📸 Oscar Wilde with Lord Alfred Douglas. ©️ Pictorial Press Ltd, Alamy
October is #FreeWillsMonth. If you're 55+, you can write your Will for free via the National Free Wills Network. 🖊️
RLF is proud to take part, there is no obligation to leave a gift, but if you do, you’ll support future generations of writers. 📚✍️
👉 https://bit.ly/499qYzn
RLF is proud to take part, there is no obligation to leave a gift, but if you do, you’ll support future generations of writers. 📚✍️
👉 https://bit.ly/499qYzn
October 17, 2025 at 4:02 PM
October is #FreeWillsMonth. If you're 55+, you can write your Will for free via the National Free Wills Network. 🖊️
RLF is proud to take part, there is no obligation to leave a gift, but if you do, you’ll support future generations of writers. 📚✍️
👉 https://bit.ly/499qYzn
RLF is proud to take part, there is no obligation to leave a gift, but if you do, you’ll support future generations of writers. 📚✍️
👉 https://bit.ly/499qYzn
🎧 September Pods from the RLF:
📘 Ep 493: Ian Seed on prose poems, translation, and redrafting with Jonathan Tulloch
🌍 Ep 494: Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse on survival, storytelling & community after trauma
🎙️ Listen: https://podcast.rlf.org.uk/
📘 Ep 493: Ian Seed on prose poems, translation, and redrafting with Jonathan Tulloch
🌍 Ep 494: Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse on survival, storytelling & community after trauma
🎙️ Listen: https://podcast.rlf.org.uk/
October 15, 2025 at 5:37 PM
🎧 September Pods from the RLF:
📘 Ep 493: Ian Seed on prose poems, translation, and redrafting with Jonathan Tulloch
🌍 Ep 494: Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse on survival, storytelling & community after trauma
🎙️ Listen: https://podcast.rlf.org.uk/
📘 Ep 493: Ian Seed on prose poems, translation, and redrafting with Jonathan Tulloch
🌍 Ep 494: Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse on survival, storytelling & community after trauma
🎙️ Listen: https://podcast.rlf.org.uk/
🎙️ The latest What We Leave We Carry episodes are now live on the WritersMosaic website, proudly supported by the Royal Literary Fund.
🎧 Tune in to these moving stories of migration, identity, and belonging: https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/what-we-leave-we-carry-september-2025/
🎧 Tune in to these moving stories of migration, identity, and belonging: https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/what-we-leave-we-carry-september-2025/
October 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
🎙️ The latest What We Leave We Carry episodes are now live on the WritersMosaic website, proudly supported by the Royal Literary Fund.
🎧 Tune in to these moving stories of migration, identity, and belonging: https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/what-we-leave-we-carry-september-2025/
🎧 Tune in to these moving stories of migration, identity, and belonging: https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/what-we-leave-we-carry-september-2025/
📚 My Writing Life with Mike Gayle ✍️
Bestselling novelist and former journalist Mike Gayle shares his best writing advice and journey—from studying sociology and writing for teen mags to penning heartfelt rom-coms like My Legendary Girlfriend: https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/my-writing-life-mike-gayle/
Bestselling novelist and former journalist Mike Gayle shares his best writing advice and journey—from studying sociology and writing for teen mags to penning heartfelt rom-coms like My Legendary Girlfriend: https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/my-writing-life-mike-gayle/
October 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
📚 My Writing Life with Mike Gayle ✍️
Bestselling novelist and former journalist Mike Gayle shares his best writing advice and journey—from studying sociology and writing for teen mags to penning heartfelt rom-coms like My Legendary Girlfriend: https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/my-writing-life-mike-gayle/
Bestselling novelist and former journalist Mike Gayle shares his best writing advice and journey—from studying sociology and writing for teen mags to penning heartfelt rom-coms like My Legendary Girlfriend: https://www.rlf.org.uk/posts/my-writing-life-mike-gayle/