Fox O'Loughlin elected new SoA chair, succeeding Harris

Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin has been elected the new chair of the Society of Authors (SoA), taking over from Joanne Harris who has come to the end of her second two-year term.  

Fox O’Loughlin writes crime as Irish bestseller Sam Blake, and was unanimously elected chair of the SoA’s management committee – the SoA’s member-elected board of directors and charity trustees – at their January 2024 meeting.  

The management committee meets six times a year to govern the direction of the SoA. Twelve elected members, alongside the chairs of professional and nation groups – including the Translators Association, the Children’s Writers & Illustrators Group, and Society of Authors in Scotland – are responsible for setting the strategy and policies of the organisation. 

Fox O’Loughlin is founder of the Inkwell Group publishing consultancy, online writing resources magazine writing.ie, and Murder One, Ireland’s International Crime Writing Festival. She has served on the management committee since 2019 and was previously the chair of Irish PEN.  

She said: “This will be a year of change for the SoA, as we welcome a new chief executive in April and a new honorary president later in 2024. But change is exciting and having worked with the staff team over the past few years I know their strength is adapting to the issues that impact members – their support and advocacy is at the forefront of everything they do. It is a great privilege to take on this role from Joanne, and I look forward to working with board members and the staff team on the challenges ahead. We are seeing many already – from AI to falling incomes, not to mention cyber-attacks on the institutions that pay authors. I can’t wait to get started.” 

During Harris’ two terms as chair, membership grew by 13% to 12,400, the SoA said. “We navigated the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, awarded more than ever in grants to authors in need and to support new work, and campaigned on piracy, author incomes, artificial intelligence and more.” 

She also saw controversy during her tenure, and in 2022 faced a members’ vote on whether she should stand down as chair alongside demands for a review of how the organisation protects free speech. Members overwhelmingly voted to keep her in post.

Reflecting on her time in the role, Harris said: “It has been an honour to serve as chair of the SoA for the past four years. I’m very proud of the progress we have made together: greater diversity and accessibility; online events; new prizes; the millions given out by the contingency fund; and the steady increase in members.

"And good luck to Vanessa in her new role. It has been a pleasure to work with her over the past few years. With her years of experience of advocating for authors in the UK and Ireland, I am confident I’m leaving the board in very safe hands.”