The RSL International Writers honour is a relatively new award ‘recognising the contribution of writers across the globe to literature in English, and the power of literature to transcend borders to bring people together.’ I confess that I had not heard of this before and would have continued scrolling through my Instagram feed except that one name jumped out at me – Noongar writer – Kim Scott.

Out of curiosity, I dug a little deeper into this award.

It began in 2021 to celebrate the 200th birthday of the Royal Society of Literature. To be considered, the writers must have had at least two works of ‘outstanding literary merit’ published in English or translated into English. They must not be citizens of or residents within the UK.

The judging panel selects a longlist (of about thirty authors) from the hundred or so public nominations they receive. As the 2024 Chair, Kit Fan explained, ‘With pain and passion – and soul-searching deliberation – we selected twelve writers whose works not only challenge the status quo of our limited time on earth, but reimagine a different kind of being where apart from fighting and idling, we find a common language for dream and solidarity.’

The 2024 recipents are:

The award is described as a ‘lifetime literary honour’. I have searched high and low to discover what this means exactly, but to no avail.

For Tony Birch, Australia’s 2023 recipient, the main benefit so far seems to have been an ‘in conversation’ event at the Royal Society of Arts, London with Dorothea Smartt as part of the BLAK to Black series, which brings together a First Nations author and a Black British author to show ‘just how literature is a pipeline to a wealth of histories and never-ending stories – igniting our imaginations, appealing to our emotions, changing our perspectives.’