Horwood becomes SoA's new committee chair

Novelist William Horwood will be the new chair of the Society of Authors' (SoA) Management Committee.

The committee voted to appoint Horwood, fantasy author behind The Duncton Chronicles series (Pan Macmillan), from among its members during a meeting yesterday (21st January). 

Horwood succeeds previous chair Daniel Hahn who was thanked for his "informed and passionate service" as well as his "many eloquent articulations" of SoA's causes. Hahn will step down from the committee at the end of his term in 2018.

Horwood said: "It’s an honour and a challenge to be elected chair of the Society of Authors at this critical time for authors, in whatever media. Our income, our copyrights, our status as 'content providers' are under daily threat in a rapidly changing publishing world. The newly launched C.R.E.A.T.O.R. campaign now gathering pace to promote rights for all writers - not just our 9,500 members - is important and I believe persuasive. I am thrilled to be part of it."

Horwood wrote a recent blog entitled "Eh, sorry, no fee" highlighting the "pittance, if anything at all" authors are paid for appearances at literary festivals, despite the fact "very few writers are anywhere near being well off". Pullman recently resigned from his post at the Oxford Literary Festival for its conflict with his role as president of the SoA.

The SoA is also pushing for "serious contractual reform" to address the issue of falling author earnings, as publicised by the SoA's open letter issued at the start of this year.