By: Express Web DeskDecember 9, 2025 05:21 PM IST 2 min readThe Royal Society of Literature (RSL) has appointed acclaimed British-Turkish novelist, essayist and public intellectual Elif Shafak, the author of 21 books including The Bastard of Istanbul and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, as its new president.She succeeds Bernardine Evaristo, the Booker–winning British author of Girl, Woman, Other, whose four-year term concluded at the Society’s Annual General Meeting.On her appointment, Shafak said, “I am deeply honoured and excited to become the new President of the Royal Society of Literature—a much-loved cultural and literary institution with over 200 years of history and tradition… I sincerely look forward to working closely with everyone to build bridges and spread the love of literature.”Founded in 1820, the RSL is the UK’s foremost learned society for literature, electing fellows in recognition of outstanding literary achievement and promoting reading, debate and free expression. The society is a cultural tenant at London’s Somerset House.Shafak’s appointment follows one of the most turbulent periods in the RSL’s modern history. In December 2023, publication of the Society’s annual Review was halted and its editor, Maggie Fergusson, was dismissed. Fergusson told The Times she had faced pressure to remove a reference to “the devastating machinery of the Israeli state in operation.” The RSL denied censorship, but designer Derek Westwood and author Benjamin Myers supported her account.Also Read | Nobel Laureate Laszlo Krasznahorkai’s desolate elegy: In place of hope, a vision of silent angelsIn February 2024, after an open letter in the Times Literary Supplement, the RSL confirmed it had referred itself to the Charity Commission. In January 2025, both director Molly Rosenberg and chair Daljit Nagra stepped down amid a governance review.The crisis compounded earlier criticism of the RSL’s response to the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie. Disputes also emerged over fellowship expansion. Evaristo later defended reforms in a letter to The Guardian, rejecting claims that standards had been diluted. © IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:booksliterature