English Association

The English Association is a subject association for English dedicated to furthering the study and enjoyment of English language and literature in schools, higher education institutes and amongst the public in general. It was founded in 1906 by a group of English scholars including F. S. Boas, A.C. Bradley and Sir Israel Gollancz. Since December 1993, the association has been based at the University of Leicester. It received its royal charter (under the legal name of the Chartered English Association) on 5 September 2006. Past presidents have included John Galsworthy, Harley Granville-Barker, John Bailey, Sir Ernest Gowers, Sir Kenneth Clark, C.V. Wedgwood, Elaine Treharne, Peter Kitson, and George Steiner. The association elects Fellows in special recognition of their significant enrichment and promotion of English. There are over 350 such Fellows and they are entitled to use the letters FEA or, according to the charter, FCEA (Fellow of the Chartered English Association) after their names.