Bonnie Greer Appointed to the ALCS Board of Directors

Award-winning playwright, author, critic and teacher Bonnie Greer brings a wealth of experience of writing and the arts to her new role on the ALCS Board. Among her stated aims are to help the new generation of writers to understand intellectual property and what it means in the internet age; more inclusion from all communities in the business of writers and writing, including policy making; and the promotion of ALCS as the "go to organisation" for these aims.

Commenting on her appointment as a Non-Executive Director, Bonnie says:

"I'm delighted to be joining the Board of ALCS. We are in the midst of the greatest change to the dissemination of the written word since the Age of Guttenberg. We have to make sure that the new generation of writers understands that what they write must ,and should be protected and allowed to benefit not only others, but themselves. This protection is one of the ways to preserve the unique voice of every writer and what will save and develop that unique human characteristic which distinguishes us from other species." 

Chair of the ALCS Board, Adam Singer comments:

"The great thing about Bonnie is her considered thoughts packaged in an engaging you-know-she-is-there style.  Not only will she bring her passion for writing but also presence to the ALCS cause of helping writers to make a living." 

Editor's Notes  

About Bonnie Greer 

Born on the Southside of Chicago and a resident of the UK since 1998, Bonnie Greer trained as an actress at The Actors Studio in New York, studying with Norman Mailer and Elia Kazan. Her plays have been produced both in her home town of Chicago, and New York City, and since moving to the UK she has had over ten plays produced on BBC Radio, and been shortlisted for a mental health award for Voices in the Room, her play about mental health in the black community. She has been shortlisted for the Arts Council John Whiting Award for Best New Play, and won the Verity Bargate Award for Best New Play. She has also been produced in the West End, and had a libretto performed at the Linbury Studio Theatre of the Royal Opera House.

Bonnie is also the author of two novels and two non-fiction books. For almost a decade, she was a regular contributor to BBC2's The Late Review. She is a member of English PEN, has been a judge of the Orange (now Baileys) Prize and the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction.

Bonnie was on the board of the British Museum from 2005-13, serving as Deputy Chair for four years. She is President of the Brontë Society based in Haworth, West Yorkshire; is on the government's Advisory and Cultural Committees for the Commemoration of WW1; and is Chancellor of Kingston University. She has been a teacher and advocate of writing for over 30 years and works closely with Kingston' University's Writing School whose supporters include double Man Booker Prize winner, Hilary Mantel.

Bonnie was awarded an OBE for Services to the Arts in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

About ALCS 

The Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) is a 'collecting society' and membership organisation set up by writers, for writers. It collects fees on behalf of the whole spectrum of UK writers and all writers are eligible to join. ALCS collects fees that are difficult, time-consuming or legally impossible for writers and their representatives to claim on an individual basis: money that is nonetheless due to them.

ALCS also campaigns on behalf of writers at a national and an international level. Through its advocacy work, ALCS aims to ensure that writers receive fair payment for the use of their work and that writers' rights are recognised and respected.

Find out more from the ALCS website: http://www.alcs.co.uk