Companion of Literature explained
The title Companion of Literature[1] is the highest award bestowed by the Royal Society of Literature. The title was inaugurated in 1961, and is held by up to twelve living writers at any one time.[2]
Recipients
Those who have been awarded the honour are listed below, by the year in which it was granted; those still living are indicated in bold.
1961
- Winston Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965)
- E. M. Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970)
- John Masefield (1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967)
- W. Somerset Maugham (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965)
- G. M. Trevelyan (16 February 1876 – 21 July 1962)
1962
- Edmund Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974)
- Aldous Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963)
1963
1964
1967
1968
1972
1974
1978
- Philip Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985)
- David Garnett (9 March 1892 – 17 February 1981)
- Stephen Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995)
1983
1987
1991
1994
1998
2001
2004
2007
2012
- Brian Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015)
- Margaret Atwood (November 18, 1939 –)
- Alice Munro (10 July 1931 –)
2020
Notes and References
- Web site: Definition of Companion of Literature. https://web.archive.org/web/20200220014644/https://www.lexico.com/definition/companion_of_literature. dead. February 20, 2020. Lexico, Oxford Dictionary.
- Web site: Companions of Literature. Royal Society of Literature.