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    HomeNewsUniversity of Exeter’s Professor Daisy Hay Joins Royal Society of Literature Council...

    University of Exeter’s Professor Daisy Hay Joins Royal Society of Literature Council to Strengthen Literary Impact

    University of Exeter’s Professor Daisy Hay Joins Royal Society of Literature Council to Strengthen Literary Impact

    (IN BRIEF) Professor Daisy Hay, a biographer and expert in 18th and 19th-century British literature, has been elected to the Council of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL). Hay, a Fellow of the RSL since 2018, will serve a four-year term guiding the society’s activities. She has authored award-winning biographies and is committed to enhancing the role of the RSL in supporting writers. Hay aims to strengthen the relationship between the University of Exeter’s Department of English and Creative Writing and the RSL, particularly in promoting literature from the South West of England.

    (PRESS RELEASE) EXETER, 24-Jan-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — University of Exeter, a public research university, announces that Daisy Hay, an acclaimed biographer and specialist in 18th and 19th-century British literature, has been appointed to the Council of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL), one of the UK’s most prestigious arts organizations. A Professor of English and Life Writing at the University of Exeter, Hay’s election to the Council comes after her distinguished role as a Fellow of the RSL since 2018, joining notable figures such as Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith, and Kazuo Ishiguro.

    Hay’s new role will see her serving a four-year term on the Council, where she will work alongside RSL Fellows, staff, and President Bernadine Evaristo to help guide the society’s activities and initiatives. Reflecting on the significance of the appointment, Professor Hay commented, “This has been a challenging year for the RSL, but it remains an essential institution for how it celebrates literature and supports writers. My Fellowship means a great deal to me, and I’m eager to contribute to the RSL’s ongoing progress, particularly in implementing the governance review commissioned by the previous Council.”

    Founded in 1820 with the patronage of King George IV, the RSL’s mission is to “reward literary merit and excite literary talent.” Over the years, it has become home to some of the most celebrated literary figures in history, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, J.R.R. Tolkien, Rudyard Kipling, and Thomas Hardy.

    Since joining Exeter in 2013, Professor Hay has become known for her award-winning biographies, including Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron, and Other Tangled Lives (2010), Mr and Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance (2015), and Dinner with Joseph Johnson: Books and Friendship in a Revolutionary Age (2022). She began her career in academic writing at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, and later held prestigious fellowships at Oxford, Harvard, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

    In her new role with the RSL, Professor Hay intends to focus on the Society’s governance and its constitution. She is particularly interested in exploring the potential benefits for both the Society and her department at the University of Exeter. “The Department of English and Creative Writing plays a central role in promoting and celebrating literature in the South West,” she explained. “The RSL is similarly dedicated to the recognition of writing from all corners of the UK, and there is much potential for collaboration between us to raise awareness of the literary voices from our region.”

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    First published in this link of EuropaWIRE.

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