Benson Medal
The Benson Medal is a medal awarded by the Royal Society of Literature in the UK.
It was founded in 1916 by A. C. Benson who was a Fellow of the Society, to honour those who produce "meritorious works in poetry, fiction, history and belles-lettres.".[1] The medal has been awarded several times to writers in other languages, and is occasionally awarded those who are not writers, but who have done conspicuous service to literature.
The medal is awarded at irregular intervals for lifelong achievement. Recipients include: Edmund Blunden, Anita Desai, Maureen Duffy,[1] E. M. Forster,[2] Christopher Fry,[1] John Gawsworth,[3] Nadine Gordimer, Philip Larkin,[1] R. K. Narayan[4] A. L. Rowse,[5] George Santayana,[1] Wole Soyinka,[6] Lytton Strachey, J. R. R. Tolkien,[1] and Helen Waddell.[7]
Recent Recipients
2015
- Nancy Sladek[8]
2011
2010
2009
- Mark Le Fanu
- Kay Dunbar
2008
- John Saumarez Smith
- Douglas Matthews
2007
2006
- Ronald Blythe
- Joan Winterkorn — Manuscript expert,
2005
Earlier Recipients
- 2004 Maureen Duffy [9]
- 2003 Anita Desai [10]
- 2002 David Sutton [11]
- 2001 Christopher Fry [12]
- 1996 Shusaku Endo [13]
- 1993 Julien Green [14]
- 1990 Wole Soyinka [15] Nadine Gordimer [16]
- 1989 Anthony Burgess [14]
- 1982 A. L. Rowse [14]
- 1981 Sir Sacheverell Sitwell[17]
- 1980 R. K. Narayan [18]
- 1975 Philip Larkin [19]
- 1969 Cecil Woodham-Smith [14]
- 1966 J.R.R. Tolkien;[20] Rebecca West;[14] E. V. Rieu [14]
- 1952 Frederick S. Boas [14]
- 1941 Christopher La Farge [14]
- 1940 Christopher Hassall[17] John Gawsworth
- 1937 E. M. Forster[21]
- 1934 Edith Sitwell [14]
- 1931 Stella Benson [14]
- 1928 George Santayana
- 1923 Lytton Strachey
- 1917 Gabriele d'Annunzio[14]Benito Perez Galdos [14] Maurice Barres [14]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Benson Medal Archived 5 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine. from the website of the Royal Society of Literature
- ↑ E. M. Forster Archived 7 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine. from the Tiscali UK web portal
- ↑ Two Kings of Redonda: M. P. Shiel and John Gawsworth, from a University of Iowa website
- ↑ Narayan's author biography from the Penguin Books website
- ↑ A. L. Rowse: Historian and friend - Obituary, a December 2001 Contemporary Review article via findarticles.com
- ↑ Biography of Wole Soyinka from the website of the Echo Foundation
- ↑ Biography of Helen Waddell, from the online Dictionary of Ulster Biography
- ↑ http://rsliterature.org/award/the-benson-medal/
- ↑ "Ms. Maureen Duffy". Debretts. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- ↑ "Desai, Anita (1937-)". Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- ↑ University archivist wins top international prize, from the University of Reading website
- ↑ Fry, Christopher. International Who's Who. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books/about/Silence.html?id=gRbKAAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "The Benson Medal". Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ↑ "Wole Soyinka Biography". Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- ↑ "Nadine Gordimer Biography". Net Industries. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- 1 2 Dictionary of National Biography
- ↑ "R.K.Narayan". Penguin Books. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ↑ "Philip Larkin". Experience Literature Poetry. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- ↑ "Facts and History about Professor Tolkien and his books". Skies of Rohan. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ↑ "E(dward) M(organ) Forster". Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2010.