In a tweet on November 30, 2020 the Royal Society of Literature(RSL) announced their new vice presidents, among which was the Pakistani writer, Kamila Shamsie.
🥳Today we announce nine new Vice-Presidents of the RSL: Simon Armitage, @wmarybeard, @BernardineEvari, Grace Nichols, @JackieKayPoet, Blake Morrison, @Elif_Safak , @kamilashamsie and Colm TĂłibĂn. All have lifetime voting rights in electing new Fellows. #RSL200 #RSLVP pic.twitter.com/ofIViesb7j
— Royal Society of Literature (@RSLiterature) November 30, 2020
“Thrilled” about the news, Shamsie poted to her twitter;
Very thrilled about this, not least for the company… https://t.co/hbCjzsHv8q
— Kamila Shamsie (@kamilashamsie) November 30, 2020
The award winning author is a RSL fellow and has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction for Burnt Shadows and Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction for Home Fire. She has also won the Prime Minister’s Award for Literature in Pakistan for In the City by the Sea in 1999. Her other books include; Salt and Saffron, Kartography, Broken Verses, Offence: the Muslim case and A God in Every Stone.
Born and raised in Karachi, Shamsie is also a British national after moving to London in 2007.
Currently celebrating their 200th anniversary, the RSL 200 project is celebrating the “best in literature past, present and future.” Founded in 1820, RSL is an organization promoting literature by giving awards and grants to writers. They also organize at least twenty events every year to celebrate literature from the past as well as present. Adding to this, they have an outreach program allowing children across the United Kingdom to have the opportunity to meet the best of literature. The aim of the organization is to make literature accessible to everyone.
