The Royal Society of Literature October News

October news We were sad to learn of the death of RSL Fellow Dannie Abse on 28 September. Listen to our 2007 audio recording of Dannie discussing loss.   RSL Brookleaze Grants are for novelists, short-story writers, poets or playwrights with pieces of work in hand. Deadline for applications for this round is 17 October. Eligibility and more information. The Sri Lankan novel  22 October, 7pm, Somerset House V.V. Ganeshanathan, Romesh Gunesekera and BBC journalist Razia Iqbal discuss the long shadow that war has cast over Sri Lankan literature, the challenges of writing fiction in the context of a troubled political climate, and the connection between writers living in Sri Lanka, and those of the diaspora working in Canada, America, Australia and the UK. Book now

Writing about monsters 5 November, 7pm, Somerset House Richard Davenport-Hines, Lucy Hughes-Hallett and Selina Hastings discuss writing about dark characters. Are sinners more easily brought to life on the page than saints? Do such subjects get a writer down, or makes them feel better about themselves? And how do they think they would have got on with their chosen monsters in real life? Book now. In Berlin 7 November, 7pm, Europe House On 9 November, it will be a quarter of a century since East and West Germans tore down the wall that had separated them since 1961. Maxim Leo and Rory Maclean revisit the reality and myth of the Cold War capital, and explore its remarkable capacity for reinvention. Book now.