British authors who have received UK honours

We look at some famous writers and novelists who have received a knighthood, damehood, CBE, OBE or MBE British honour.

Authors and novelists who have received a knighthood or damehood

Since the 1800s, writers and novelists have been given recognition for their contribution to the world of literature through the reigning monarch’s Birthday and New Year honours.

Some of literature’s biggest names such as Sir Hall Caine (Gazette issue 32766) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Gazette issue 27494) were knighted during their lifetimes, while Dame Agatha Christie (Gazette issue 45262) also received a damehood in 1970.

The latest authors to be appointed Ordinary Dames Commanders of the Order of the British Empire were Dame Julia Donaldson and Dame Malorie Blackman. Appointed for their services to literature, both authors were appointed dames in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours (Gazette issue 65091).

Living authors with a knighthood or damehood

Here is a list of notable living authors who have received a knighthood or damehood for services to literature:

• Dame Pat Barker – Regeneration, The Ghost Road (Gazette issue 64759)
• Dame Malorie Blackman – Noughts and Crosses, Knife Edge (Gazette issue 65091)
• Dame Julia Donaldson – The Gruffalo, Stick Man (Gazette issue 65091)
• Lady Antonia Fraser – Mary Queen of Scots, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Gazette issue 59647)
• Dame Susan Hill – The Woman in Black, The Mist in the Mirror (Gazette issue 63135)
• Sir Alan Hollinghurst – The Line of Beauty, Our Evenings: A Novel (Gazette issue 64607)
• Sir Kazuo Ishiguro – The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go (Gazette issue 62310)
• Dame Penelope Lively – Moon Tiger, How It All Began (Gazette issue 60009)
• Sir Michael Morpurgo – War Horse, Private Peaceful (Gazette issue 62150)
• Sir Philip Pullman – Northern Lights, The Amber Spyglass (Gazette issue 62507)
• Sir Ian Rankin – Knots and Crosses, Hide and Seek (Gazette issue 63714)
• Sir Salman Rushdie – The Satanic Verses, Midnight’s Children (Gazette issue 58358)
• Dame Jacqueline Wilson – Girls in Love, The Story of Tracy Beaker (Gazette issue 64607)

Former authors who received a knighthood or damehood

Here is a list of notable former authors who received a knighthood or damehood for services to literature:

• Sir Martin Amis – Money, London Fields (Gazette issue 64082)
• Sir Kingsley Amis – Lucky Jim, The Old Devils (Gazette issue 52173)
• Dame AS Byatt – Possession, The Children’s Book (Gazette issue 55513)
• Sir Hall Caine – The Manxman, The Bondman (Gazette issue 32766)
• Dame Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express, The A.B.C. Murders (Gazette issue 45262)
• Dame Jilly Cooper – Riders, Rivals (Gazette issue 64269)
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Lost World (Gazette issue 27494)
• Sir William Golding – Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors (Gazette issue 51558)
• Dame Hilary Mantel – Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies (Gazette issue 60895)
• Dame Iris Murdoch – The Sea, the Sea, Under the Net (Gazette issue 50764)
• Sir Terry Pratchett – Good Omens, The Colour of Magic (Gazette issue 58929)
• Sir VS Pritchett – A Cab at the Door, Midnight Oil (Gazette issue 46593)
• Dame Muriel Spark – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Girls of Slender Means (Gazette issue 53332)
• Sir PG Wodehouse – The Code of Woosters, Right ho, Jeeves (Gazette issue 46444)

Living authors who have received British honours

Here is a list of notable living authors who have received a CBE, OBE or MBE for services to literature:

• Dame Pat Barker CBE – Regeneration, The Ghost Road (Gazette issue 55710)
• Anthony Browne CBE – Voices in the Park, Willy the Wimp (Gazette issue 63218)
• Lauren Child CBE – Charlie and Lola, Clarice Bean (Gazette issue 63377)
• Lady Antonia Fraser CBE – Mary Queen of Scots, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Gazette issue 55513)
• Jackie Kay* CBE – Other Lovers, Trumpet (Gazette issue 62866)
• Hanif Kureishi CBE – The Buddha of Suburbia, The Black Album (Gazette issue 58557)
• Dame Penelope Lively** CBE – Moon Tiger, How It All Began (Gazette issue 56430)
• Ian McEwan CBE – Atonement, Machines Like Me (Gazette issue 55710)
• Sir Philip Pullman CBE – Northern Lights, The Amber Spyglass (Gazette issue 57155)
• Ali Smith CBE – Autumn, How to Be Both (Gazette issue 61092)
• David Almond OBE – Skellig, Kit's Wilderness (Gazette issue 63377)
• Malorie Blackman OBE – Knife Edge, Checkmate (Gazette issue 58729)
• Bernardine Evaristo*** OBE - Girl, Woman, Other, The Emperor's Babe (Gazette issue 63135)
• Sir Kazuo Ishiguro OBE – The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go (Gazette issue 54066)
• Sir Michael Morpurgo**** OBE – War Horse, Private Peaceful (Gazette issue 58014)
• Richard Osman OBE – The Thursday Murder Club, We Solve Murders (Gazette issue 64940)
• JK Rowling OBE – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Gazette issue 55879)
• Sarah Waters OBE – Fingersmith, The Little Stranger (Gazette issue 62666)
• Jeanette Winterson OBE – Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Written on the Body (Gazette issue 57855)

*Jackie Kay also received an MBE in 1989 (Gazette issue 58014)

**Alongside her damehood and CBE, Penelope Lively also received an OBE in 1989 (Gazette issue 51772)

****Bernardine Evaristo also received an MBE in 2009 Birthday honours (Gazette issue 59090)