S to T

The Siegfried Sassoon Fellowship
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (1886-1967), poet, war hero, critic and memoirist. He became known as a writer of satirical anit-war verse during World War I. The Fellowship organises events, produces a biannual journal and ebulletins, and offers book discounts. For information on the Fellowship visit www.sassoonfellowship.org.

The Malcolm Saville Society
Malcolm Saville (1901-1982) is best known as an author of children’s series fiction but also wrote books about the English countryside. Millions of children have read Malcolm Saville’s adventure stories which are set in real locations which he encouraged his readers to explore for themselves. His principal works involved The Lone Pine Club – a group of children who form a secret society in wartime Shropshire. The Malcolm Saville Society was formed in 1994 and exists to remember the author and to promote awareness of his work. They organise a number of walking weekends each year plus their Annual Gathering in April. They have published several books, a dvd of the two films made from his stories as well as their quarterly magazine Acksherley!. For more detail, visit their website at www.witchend.com.

The Dorothy L Sayers Society
Dorothy L Sayers (1893 – 1957) was a writer, scholar, poet, playwright and lay theologian. Formed in 1976, the Society encourages the performance of her plays and the publication of texts by her about her work and life. It also maintains an extensive archive, preserving original material, providing information and assistance for researchers and devotees. The Society organises events throughout the year. Members come from all walks of life and from across the globe. There is an annual convention and its proceedings are published, along with its journal, as well as a bi-monthly Bulletin, occasional papers and other texts. For more information, visit their website at www.sayers.org.uk.

The Shaw Society
George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, and moved to England at the age of twenty. An ardent socialist, Shaw wrote brochures and speeches for the Fabian society, became a journalist writing music and literary criticism, and went on to write more than sixty plays. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925 and won an Oscar in 1938 for the filmed version of his play Pygmalion, later transformed into the musical My Fair Lady. The Shaw Society was established in 1941 to discuss and celebrate the life and works of George Bernard Shaw. Meetings are held at the Actor’s Centre – for further details please visit their website at www.shawsociety.org.uk.  The Shavian is published three times a year. A playreading group meets on the first Thursday of the month – details from Alan Knight on 020 8542 7620.

The May Sinclair Society
May Sinclair was the pseudonym of Mary Amelia St Clair (1863 – 1946), a popular British writer who wrote about two dozen novels, short stories and poetry. She was an active suffragist, and member of the Woman Writers’ Suffrage League. She was also a significant critic in the area of modernist poetry and prose, and she is attributed with first using the term ‘stream of consciousness’ in a literary context, when reviewing the first volumes of Dorothy Richardson’s novel sequence Pilgrimage in The Egoist in April 1918. The Society was founded in 2013 as a hub of modernist scholars and readers with an interest in Sinclair. You can find out more at maysinclairsociety.com.

The Robert Louis Stevenson Club
Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (1850-1894), Scottish novelist, and essayist. Author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Jekyll and Hyde. The Club was formed in 1920 to foster interest in Stevenson’s life and works. The Club does this today by organising events, outings, talks and other occasions, issuing its quarterly newsletter and holding an annual lunch. For more information visit www.robert-louis-stevenson.org or email mail@stevenson-house.co.uk.

The Tennyson Society
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), poet. One of his most famous works was Idylls of the King. He was poet laureate. The Society promotes the study and understanding of the life and work of Tennyson. It holds events, lectures, visits, etc. For more information visit www.tennysonsociety.org.uk.

The Angela Thirkell Society
Angela Margaret Thirkell (1890-1961), novelist. Granddaughter of Burne-Jones, cousin of Rudyard Kipling and Stanley Baldwin, between 1933 and 1961 she wrote 29 Barsetshire novels, regarded at the time as popular fiction, but revealing to the modern reader an extraordinary range of references and allusions, from the classics of the ancient world through English literature to topical events of her time, so that they have now become a valuable source of social history. Wickedly witty, with a range of idiosyncratic characters in the manner of her beloved Dickens, she wrote with impeccable style about a world which in some ways still resembled that of Jane Austen, and has ceased to exist today. Books include Three Houses (autobiography), Wild Strawberries, August Folly, Pomfret Towers, Northbridge Rectory, The Old Bank House, The Duke’s Daughter. Based in the UK, with a thriving North American branch and members in Australia, where Mrs Thirkell lived in the 1920s, various European countries, notably Ireland, where the Society was formed in 1980. Annual outing in the UK, AGM in September, regional UK meetings to discuss the books. To find out more contact Hilary Temple (Chairman) at templehilary@gmail.com – or visit their website at angelathirkellsociety.co.uk.

The Dylan Thomas Society
Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), influential writer of poetry. Best known works Fern Hill, Do Not Go Gentle, death Shall Have No Dominion. A considerable amount of prose and also film scripts, and his most famous ‘play for voices’ Under Milkwood. The Society fosters interest in the work of Dylan Thomas and other Anglo-Welsh writers. Monthly meetings, lectures, readings, performances, and publications. For more information visit www.dylanthomasbirthplace.com. Or contact Matthew Hughes, Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Uplands, Swansea SA2 ORA, matt@dylanthomasbirthplace.com.

The Edward Thomas Fellowship
Philip Edward Thomas (1878-1917), born in Lambeth, educated at St Paul’s and Lincoln College Oxford. Wrote biographies, histories, geographical books, and essays. One book of complete poems, which has never been out of publication since it was first published in 1920. Married Helen Nobel. Died Arras, Easter Monday 1917. The Fellowship works to perpetuate the memory of Edward Thomas and to foster interest in his life and work. It supports the conservation of places and things known to Edward Thomas and keeps members abreast of relevant literary matters. It also arranges events which extend fellowship. For information on the Fellowship, please visit their website at www.edward-thomas-fellowship.org.uk.

The R S Thomas & M E Eldridge Society
The Society honours the convergence of the creative lives of the poet R S Thomas (1913 – 2000) and his wife, the artist M E Eldridge (1909 – 1991). This is a newly formed society.The Society’s annual Poetry and Art Festival in June in Aberdaron will carry forward the series of festivals that began there in 2014. The AGM is in November. To learn more about the Society, visit www.rsthomaspoetry.co.uk.

The Friends of Tilling
The Friends of Tilling celebrate the Lucia novels and other comic works of E F Benson. They organise an annual Tilling Gathering in Rye, in Sussex, each September, bringing together Mapp & Lucia devotees to revel in the world of Tilling and to remember the life of its creator. For more detail, visit www.friendsoftilling.com.

The Tolkien Society
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973), writer, poet, philologist. Best known as the author of the high fantasy classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The Tolkien Society works to encourage and further interest in the life and works of Tolkien. Based in the UK and a registered charity, the Society has an international membership which benefits from regular publications and events. Further details about the Tolkien Society, as well as educational materials for use in schools and colleges, may be found at the website www.tolkiensociety.org.

The Sylvia Townsend Warner Society is listed under ‘W’

The Traherne Association
Thomas Traherne was born in Hereford c. 1637, living through the civil war. He became Rector of Credenhill, 5 miles north west of Hereford in 1657, and wrote extensive works of poetry and prose. At their heart was love, the fountain of all happiness, peace and security! The Association normally holds an annual Traherne Festival, during the weekend of Trinity Sunday. It also arranges a Traherne Lecture on the evening of October 10 each year. It publishes a newsletter four times a year, exploring the relevance of Traherne’s thought for today. For more detail, contact Hilary Rosankiewicz at hilary.jackson@talktalk.net, or visit www.thomastraherneassociation.org.

The Trollope Society
Anthony Trollope (1815-1882), novelist. Best known for The Chronicles of Barsetshire. The Society has an international membership and promotes and publishes the works of Trollope. It produces a quarterly journal, and runs a wide range of events. It also encourages local seminar groups. For more information visit www.trollopesociety.org.