The Benson Medal is a medal awarded by the Royal Society of Literature in the UK."The Benson Medal"
The Royal Society of Literature website. 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''". 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 Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was a ...

Anita Desai Anita Desai, born Anita Mazumdar (born 24 June 1937) is an Indian novelist and the Emerita John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a writer she has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three ti ...

, Maureen Duffy,

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

Christopher Fry Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially ''The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Biograph ...

, John Gawsworth, Nadine Gordimer,

Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, ''The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, ''Jill'' (1946) and ''A Girl in Winter'' (1947 ...

, R. K. Narayan A. L. Rowse,

George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of '' Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight ...

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

, and

Helen Waddell Helen Jane Waddell (31 May 1889 – 5 March 1965) was an Irish poet, translator and playwright. She was a recipient of the Benson Medal. Biography She was born in Tokyo, the tenth and youngest child of Hugh Waddell, a Presbyterian minister ...

. In November 2020, the new design for the medal by Linda Crook was unveiled. The design includes books on one side, and people on the other.

Recent recipients

2022

* Sandra Agard

2021

* Alastair Niven

2020

Boyd Tonkin Boyd Tonkin Hon. FRSL is an English writer, journalist and literary critic. He was the literary editor of ''The Independent'' newspaper from 1996 to 2013. A long-time proponent of foreign-language literature, he is the author of ''The 100 Best Nov ...

2019

Susheila Nasta Susheila Nasta, MBE, Hon. FRSL (born 1953), is a British critic, editor, academic and literary activist. She is Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literatures at Queen Mary University of London, and founding editor of ''Wasafiri'', the UK's le ...

2018

* Liz Calder

2017

* Margaret Busby * Carmen Callil *

Mary-Kay Wilmers Mary-Kay Wilmers, Hon. FRSL (born 19 July 1938) is an American editor and journalist. She was the editor of the '' London Review of Books'' from 1992Brooks, Richard"''London Review of Books'' £27m in the red – but it isn’t counting" ''The ...

2016

* Christopher MacLehose

2015

* Nancy Sladek

2014

* Deirdre Le Faye * Valentina Polukhina

2013

* Wm. Roger Louis

2012

*David Pease *

Jenny Uglow Jennifer Sheila Uglow (, (accessed 5 February 2008).
(accessed 19 August 2022). born 1947) is an English biographer, hi ...

2011

Diana Athill Diana Athill (21 December 1917 – 23 January 2019) was a British literary editor, novelist and memoirist who worked with some of the greatest writers of the 20th century at the London-based publishing company Andre Deutsch Ltd. Early life ...

* Francis King

Earlier recipients

* 2010:

Al Alvarez Alfred Alvarez (5 August 1929 – 23 September 2019) was an English poet, novelist, essayist and critic who published under the name A. Alvarez and Al Alvarez. Background Alfred Alvarez was born in London, to an Ashkenazic Jewish mother and a ...

* 2009: Mark Le Fanu; Kay Dunbar * 2008: John Saumarez Smith; Douglas Matthews * 2007: Nadine Gordimer * 2006:

Ronald Blythe Ronald George Blythe (born 6 November 1922)"Dr Ronald Blythe ...

;

Joan Winterkorn Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine *Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multiple ...

– manuscript expert * 2005:

Edward Upward Edward Falaise Upward, FRSL (9 September 1903 – 13 February 2009) was a British novelist and short story writer who, prior to his death, was believed to be the UK's oldest living author. Initially gaining recognition amongst the Auden Group as ...

* 2004: Maureen Duffy; James Parker * 2003:

; David Sutton * 2000:

* 1996: Shusaku Endo * 1993: Julien Green * 1990:

; * 1989:

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...

; Nadine Gordimer * 1982: A. L. Rowse * 1981: Sir Sacheverell Sitwell ;

Odysseas Elytis Odysseas Elytis ( el, Οδυσσέας Ελύτης , pen name of Odysseas Alepoudellis, el, Οδυσσέας Αλεπουδέλλης; 2 November 1911 – 18 March 1996) was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as th ...

* 1979: R. K. Narayan * 1975:

* 1969: Cecil Woodham-Smith * 1966:

;

Rebecca West Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

; E. V. Rieu * 1952: Frederick S. Boas * 1941: Christopher La Farge * 1940: Christopher Hassall ;'' Dictionary of National Biography''. John Gawsworth * 1939: F. L. Lucas ;

Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian L ...

; * 1938:

; G. M. Young * 1934:

Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964) was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess ...

* 1931:

Stella Benson Stella Benson (6 January 1892 – 7 December 1933) was an English feminist, novelist, poet, and travel writer. She was a recipient of the Benson Medal. Early life Benson was born to Ralph Beaumont Benson (1862–1911), a member of the landed ...

; Siegfried Sassoon * 1930:

* 1927: Frederick Arthur Simpson ;

* 1926:

Percy Lubbock Percy Lubbock, CBE (4 June 1879 – 1 August 1965) was an English man of letters, known as an essayist, critic and biographer. His controversial book ''The Craft of Fiction'' gained influence in the 1920s. Life Percy Lubbock was the son of the ...

; Robert Wilson Lynd ; Harold Nicolson * 1925:

Gordon Bottomley Gordon Bottomley (20 February 187425 August 1948) was an English poet, known particularly for his verse dramas. He was partly disabled by tubercular illness. His main influences were the later Victorian Romantic poets, the Pre-Raphaelites and ...

;

* 1923:

* 1917: Gabriele d'Annunzio ; Benito Pérez Galdós ; Maurice Barres

References

{{reflist

External links

"The Benson Medal"
at The Royal Society of Literature website. Royal Society of Literature awards Awards established in 1916 1916 establishments in the United Kingdom Literary awards honoring lifetime achievement British literary awards