Stephen King’s son among writers boycotting British Library event in solidarity with striking workers King’s son, Joe Hill, joins V Castro and Keith Rosson in withdrawing from the Tales of the Weird festival this weekend in support of industrial action

More authors booked for events at the British Library are pulling out in solidarity with our striking members
#BritishLibraryonStrike
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Management Committee 2025 elections open - The Society of Authors Voting is underway for four available seats on the SoA board

Head here to download the candidates' statements:
societyofauthors.org/2025/09/09/m...

AFTER YOU VOTE:

🗣️ Remind at least 5 other members of the SoA to vote.
💪 Tell them why you're voting for Jen, Matt, Polly and Mohamed and why you think they can pave the way for better pay, protection against AI, refusing complicity in genocide, and freedom of speech.
🤳 Share these posts!

❗ All votes need to be received by Wednesday 22 October. We recommend posting yours by Friday 17 October if you live in the UK, earlier if you live outside the UK. If you don’t receive your voting pack by mid-September, email membership@societyofauthors.org to ask for another.

HOW TO VOTE:

Voting is open to anyone who has been a Full Member of the Society of Authors since May 1.

🗳️ Ballot papers will be sent to you in the post.
✉️ You can only vote by post.
💰 Your voting pack will include a pre-paid envelope.

A pink background with a black and white picture of Mohamed Tonsy. White text on a black background reads, “As a member of the SoA board, I will push for making the book world more accessible to people of colour, fight for more equitable pay, and strategise to connect all our members”

Mohamed Tonsy is is an Egyptian writer and bookseller based in Edinburgh. His debut novel was developed through Maslaha’s MFest Short Story Competition. He has been active in literary networks, including the Scottish BPOC Writers Network.

A pink background with a black and white picture of Polly Atkin. White text on a black background reads, “The industry needs a culture shift to make it more accessible to disabled, D\deaf and neurodivergent people… together, we can make thriving in this industry possible for everyone.”

Polly Atkin is a poet, nonfiction writer, editor, and bookseller based in Cumbria. Her writing includes biography, memoirs, and nature writing, and she has been active in the literary and academic worlds for more than two decades. She also co-owns a long-established independent bookshop.

A pink background with a black and white picture of Matt Abbott. White text on a black background reads, “I’m also passionate about campaigning for both vocal and practical expressions of Palestinian solidarity… I intend to use my experience to grow the membership of your union and, in the process, build the power to change the publishing industry for the better”

Matt Abbott is a poet, lyricist, and educator whose work combines literature with social engagement. He began performing poetry in 2006 and has been a full-time poet since 2013, publishing collections, contributing to anthologies, and writing commissioned work for organisations and campaigns.

A pink background with a black and white picture of Jen Calleja. White text on a black background reads, “For as long as I have been writing and translating, I have spoken and written about the largely invisible workloads and payment structures of authors and literary translators… I’ve learnt that writers and translators must work together to shape our industry.”

Jen Calleja is is an author, translator, and publisher. She has published seven books of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, and has translated around 20 books from German into English for both large and small publishers.

A pink background with a holographic sticker-style text reading Voting Is Open. Black and white text on corresponding backgrounds reads, for the SoA management committee elections. Fossil Free Books collectively endorses these four BRILLIANT candidates…Jen Calleja Matt Abbot Polly Atkin Mohamed Tonsy. Is the SoA the union you need? It will not change by itself. Your vote matters. The Fossil Free Books logo sits in the bottom left corner of the slide.

Voting for the Society of Authors Management Committee elections is NOW OPEN until Wednesday 22 October! 🗳️ Here's some more info on the four amazing candidates Fossil Free Books organisers have decided to collectively endorse 👉

Today @tribunemagazine.bsky.social publishes a vitally important, highly personal and urgently necessary piece by Yara Rodrigues Fowler on the history of the FFB campaigning around literary festivals:

When Out-Spoken Press held a MAP fundraiser back in October 2023, we featured the poetry of Haia Mohammed, a young poet in Gaza who had recently sent us some of her work. Over the course of the unfolding genocide we stayed in touch. She even joined us in the Poetry Room amid all the devastation and upheaval she was experiencing just to work on her craft.

Over the course of the year Haia continued to write on what she was experiencing. In March 2025, she messaged me saying she was unsure if she would survive the genocide and wanted her poems to defy borders, hold witness and act in service of her people being brutally silenced.

We published her pamphlet, The Age of Olive Trees, in May with all proceeds going directly to her and her family. At the same time, Goldsmiths University in London opened their Palestinian Scholarships programme, offering four Palestinians full scholarships to pursue their studies at the university. Haia messaged to say she wanted to apply for the scholarship, to come to London and write poetry that held at its centre a testimony to the violent oppression and the endurance of the Palestinian people.

Haia prepared her application under relentless bombardment, mass killings, starvation, and illness. Out-Spoken Press, together with a small committed team to whom I'm forever indebted, supported her with the tools to finish her submission. The pamphlet received critical acclaim in The Guardian and has continued to win the hearts of readers from all over the world in the space of a few months.

Please read & share the scholarship story of Gazan poet Haia,

❗️and how you can take one action now to help her and the other scholars trapped in Gaza by UK govt red tape ❗️

Editor's note: Husam ends this piece with a request: "Get me out of here."

You can contribute to the campaign - www.gofundme.com/f/aider-les-...

If you decide to withdraw from a festival, contact us at fossilfreebooksuk@gmail.com - we'll make sure you have access to our mutual aid fund to soften any financial ramifications of withdrawing. If you decide to continue with a planned event but would like to take an action at the festival, email us for support - we can put you in touch with other attendees and help you navigate how best to express solidarity at your event.

Build the books industry you need and deserve! Fossil Free Books meets regularly on a Monday afternoon at 12:30pm. We invite you to reach out to fossilfreebooksuk@gmail.com to request a meeting invite where you can join us in transforming the books industry.

If you decide to withdraw from a festival, contact us - we'll make sure you have access to our mutual aid fund.

If you decide to continue with a planned event but would like to take an action at the festival, email us for support.

Join us to build the books industry we all deserve!

The ADCL guide is here: www.clairewade.com/uploads/1/2/...

The BDS Movement’s Anti-Normalization Guidelines Explained Due to rising demand for a better understanding of the anti-normalization guidelines among non-Arabic speakers in recent years, we present the most...

The link to what’s meant by ‘normalisation’ is here: www.bdsmovement.net/news/bds-mov...

We encourage solidarity between the many communities that make up the books industry. Many of the battles we are fighting are not just interconnected, but viciously entangled and need to be fought with a united front. This means: • Solidarity with the trans community. • Solidarity with Palestine. • Solidarity with disabled book workers. • Solidarity with people working against human rights abuses. • Solidarity with people working for a liveable future.

Build solidarity with Palestinian book workers by: • Writing to festivals and encouraging them to endorse BDS and PACBI (The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel). • If a festival has programmed writers who have denied genocide, write to the organisers to question the purpose of this harmful choice and to tell them how it affects you. You may wish to draw attention to how this supports the 'normalisation' of Israeli apartheid and occupation.

Advocate for the safety of trans and non-binary authors and book workers at festivals by: • Asking festivals to affirm that trans writers and audience members will be able to access facilities which align with their gender. • If a festival has programmed 'gender critical' writers who've advocated for the removal of rights for trans people, contact the festival expressing concern about why this is harmful and dangerous, especially when disguised under the spirit of debate and dialogue.

Centre the voices of disabled book workers at festivals by: • Following the ADCI guide on working with disabled authors and asking about remote access to events, while ensuring that streaming with captions and/or BSL interpretation is prioritised at the events of disabled authors who rely on this accessibility. • If a festival has programmed a writer who has perpetuated harmful ableist ideology such as promoting removal of access to welfare, support or diagnoses, write to the festival to question the purpose of this choice and share how it affects you.

We encourage solidarity between the many communities that make up the books industry.

Full text in images and alt text.

Ahead of the summer book festival season, and in response to rapidly changing situations, we are sharing guidance and updates on engaging with these literary spaces and the wider books industry.

Full text in images above (alt text on images).

Fossil Free Books affirms our solidarity with Palestinian poet Fady Joudah and Palestinian novelist Randa Jarrar who have pulled out of their events at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival due to the programming of two Israeli writers, Anshel Pfeffer and genocide denier Etgar Keret. Ahead of the summer book festival season, and in response to rapidly changing situations, we are sharing guidance and updates on engaging with these literary spaces and the wider books industry.

A spokesperson for EIBF said, "At this critical and distressing time, we respect and acknowledge the right of authors to choose which festival programmes to participate in and work with all of our authors to support them to take part." By holding tight to the flawed notion that debating both sides can lead to meaningful, reparative change, the festival has put the onus on its Palestinian attendees to decide whether or not to appear. As of July 14th, Etgar Keret's event was subsequently cancelled.

Fossil Free Books' primary aim as a collective is to build worker power across the books industry. By organising as workers last year, we were able to pressure literary festivals into re-evaluating their sponsorship models. We welcome this change and reiterate our invitation for a collaboration between festivals and Fossil Free Books to further explore ethical funding models that are aligned with the values of the book workers that make these festivals possible.

Fossil Free Books is not calling for any collective action relating to EIBF or any other literary festival this year. However, we encourage all festival participants and attendees to consider how you can best assert your solidarity with Palestine and the ongoing fight for trans and disability justice.

Fossil Free Books affirms our solidarity with Palestinian poet Fady Joudah and Palestinian novelist Randa Jarrar who have pulled out of their events at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival due to the programming of two Israeli writers, Anshel Pfeffer and genocide denier Etgar Keret.

Write to your MP to help us Free Alaa Alaa is a British citizen who is wrongfully imprisoned in Egypt on trumped-up charges. He has been subjected to torture, arbitrarily detained, and urgently needs British consular support. He is curre...

Write to your MP now: freealaa.net/message-mp

Keir Starmer must act to secure the release from prison in Egypt of British-Egyptian writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah. #FreeAlaa

Time is pressing as his mother, Laila Soueif's health is deteriorating.

Black text on white background: If you’re an LGBTQ+ bookworker - organise with us. We may not be able to convince those in power to change. But by building our collective power as workers, we can transfer power away from those in charge and into the hands of those working to make our industry better and safer for all. DM or email us at fossilfreebooksuk@gmail.com to get involved.

If you’re an LGBTQ+ bookworker - organise with us.

By building our collective power as workers, we can transfer power away from those in charge and into the hands of those working to make our industry better and safer for all.

DM or email us at fossilfreebooksuk@gmail.com to get involved.

Black text on white and pink background: The clear purpose of the Supreme Court ruling and EHRC interim guidance is to segregate and ostracise trans women. The policing of public spaces such as toilets and venues is harmful to all women, also impacting trans men, non-binary people, disabled people and people of colour. Our response to fascist policies which seek to erode our rights and divide society needs to be one of collective solidarity and action.

Our response to fascist policies which seek to erode our rights and divide society needs to be one of collective solidarity and action.

Black text on white background with elements highlighted: If you’re attending literary festivals this year, write to them asking that they affirm the safety and dignity of trans guests and audiences. A sample letter is in our bio. If you’re a member of the Society of Authors, contact them and demand that they release a statement of solidarity and practical guidance to support trans authors, translators and illustrators when attending festivals or participating in book events.

Attending literary festivals this year? Then write to them asking they affirm the safety and dignity of trans guests and audiences.

If you’re a member of the SoA, demand that they release both a statement of solidarity and practical guidance to support trans authors, translators and illustrators.

Black text on both white and blue background: Trade unionists: your trans and non-binary members need leadership to denounce the Supreme Court’s ruling and issue guidance for members who may now face discrimination in their places of work. Write to your union representatives and leaders, asking that they support their trans workers and publicly oppose the implementation of the EHRC’s interim guidance.

Write to your union representatives and leaders, asking that they support their trans workers and publicly oppose the implementation of the EHRC’s interim guidance.

Black text on white background: So what can we do to be unequivocal in our support for trans people? Bookshops, publishers, festivals, venues and all other literary spaces: you can make a clear public statement that you will prioritise the safety and dignity of trans writers, readers and workers, and will not adhere to the interim guidance. You can also sign the collective letter to the EHRC from cultural organisations, taking a stand against trans segregation: https://tinyurl.com/EHRCletter

So what can we do to be unequivocal in our support for trans people?

Bookshops, publishers, festivals, venues and other literary spaces can make a clear public statement that you will prioritise the safety & dignity of trans writers, readers and workers, and won't adhere to the interim guidance.

Black text on background of Trans Solidarity Flag: The EHRC interim update for organisations is not legally binding. An updated code of practice is due to be submitted for ministerial approval in June, following a two-week consultation period. This means there’s currently no legal obligation for businesses and organisations to implement trans segregation policies. It also means we can – and must – fight for a more just interpretation of the law.

The EHRC interim update for organisations is not legally binding.

This means there’s currently no legal obligation for businesses and organisations to implement trans segregation policies.

It also means we can – and must – fight for a more just interpretation of the law.

Black text on background of Trans Solidarity Flag: Fossil Free Books stands in solidarity with our trans siblings. We are united in our anger at the Supreme Court ruling and EHRC update. Rather than providing “clarity”, this ruling and the EHRC interim update are causing confusion, uncertainty and fear. They have also given strength to the authoritarian, sexist campaign for the persecution and ostracism of trans women. Trans, non-binary and intersex people – including bookworkers – are facing exclusion from basic aspects of public life.

We stand in solidarity with our trans siblings and are united in our anger at the Supreme Court ruling & EHRC update.

Trans, non-binary and intersex people are facing exclusion from basic aspects of public life.

Please read this thread that contains recommendations and calls to action.

A bright purple background has text reading 'I belong in my union and so do you' in shiny holographic sticker style writing. Below it sits the Fossil Free Books logo and smaller text that reads 'Join the Society of Authors as a Full Member by Wed 30th Apr to vote in this year's Management Committee elections'

Join the Society of Authors by Wednesday 30th April so you can vote in this year’s Management Committee elections.

Need help with union fees? Request a £50 grant via our Open Collective fund.

Links for eligibility + help with fees: linktr.ee/fossilfreebo...

✊️ I belong in my union and so do you.

And it needs to lead the way in resisting a vocal minority expressing racist, Zionist views at the expense of a broad member base.

This can only happen if you re-join. [3]