Walter Scott Prize
The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010.[1] At £25,000, it is one of the largest literary awards in the UK.[2] The award was created by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose ancestors were closely linked to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott, who is generally considered the originator of historical fiction with the novel Waverley in 1814.[3]
Eligible books must have been first published in the UK, Ireland or Commonwealth in the preceding year.[1] For the purpose of the award, historical fiction is defined as being that where the main events take place more than 60 years ago, i.e. outside of any mature personal experience of the author.[1] The winner is announced each June at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose.[1]
Winners and shortlist
Blue Ribbon (
2010
The shortlist was announced 1 April 2010[4] and the winner was announced 19 June 2010 as part of the Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival which took place at Sir Walter Scott's historic home Abbotsford House in Scotland.[5]
Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall - Thomas Cromwell (1485–1540). - Adam Thorpe for Hodd - Robin Hood (early medieval).
- Robert Harris for Lustrum - Cicero (106–43 BC)
- Sarah Dunant for Sacred Hearts - 16th-century Italian convent
- Iain Pears for Stone's Fall - early 20th-century mystery/thriller
- Simon Mawer for The Glass Room - 1930s Czech
- Adam Foulds for The Quickening Maze - John Clare and Alfred Tennyson (early 19th century)
2011
The shortlist was announced on 1 April[6] and the winner was announced on 19 June:[7]
Andrea Levy for The Long Song - 1820s Jamaica - Tom McCarthy for C - turn of the 20th-century Europe
- David Mitchell for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - late 18th-century Shogun Japan
- Joseph O'Connor for Ghost Light - 20th-century England and Ireland
- C. J. Sansom for Heartstone - England during the summer of 1545
- Andrew Williams for To Kill A Tsar - St Petersburg around the turn of the 20th century
2012
The shortlist was announced on 4 April 2012[8] and the winner was announced on 16 June.[9]
Sebastian Barry, On Canaan's Side - 20th-century Ireland and Chicago - Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers - Oregon and California in 1851
- Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues - World War II-era Europe
- Alan Hollinghurst, The Stranger's Child - World War I-era Europe
- Andrew Miller, Pure - Paris in 1786
- Barry Unsworth, The Quality of Mercy - London of 1767 and a Durham coastal mining village
2013
The shortlist was announced on 18 April 2013[10] and the winner was announced on 14 June 2013.[11]
Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists - 1940s and '50s Malaya - Pat Barker, Toby's Room - WWI
- Thomas Keneally, The Daughters of Mars - WWI
- Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies - Tudor England
- Anthony Quinn, The Streets - 1880s London
- Rose Tremain, Merivel: A Man of His Time - 1680s England
2014
The shortlist was announced 4 April 2014,[12] and the winner was announced at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, on 13 June.[13]
Robert Harris, An Officer and a Spy - Dreyfus Affair, which took place in France in the late 1890s - Kate Atkinson, Life After Life - during the 20th century
- Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries - New Zealand gold rush of the 19th century
- Jim Crace, Harvest - remote English village following the Enclosure Act in the 18th century
- Andrew Greig, Fair Helen - 1590s in the Borderland of Scotland and England
- Ann Weisgarber, The Promise - 1900 Galveston hurricane
2015
The shortlist was announced 24 March 2015,[14] and the winner was announced at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, on 13 June.[15]
John Spurling, The Ten Thousand Things - China in the 14th century - Martin Amis, The Zone of Interest - Europe during World War II
- Helen Dunmore, The Lie - England during WWI
- Hermione Eyre, Viper Wine - England in the 17th century
- Adam Foulds, In the Wolf's Mouth - Italy in World War II
- Damon Galgut, Arctic Summer - India in the early 20th century
- Kamila Shamsie, A God in Every Stone - India during WWI
2016
The shortlist was announced 23 March 2016.[16] The winner was announced 18 June 2016 at the Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival.[17]
- William Boyd, Sweet Caress - 20th century global
- Patrick Gale, A Place Called Winter - early 20th century Saskatchewan
- Gavin McCrea, Mrs Engels - 19th century England
- Allan Massie, End Games in Bordeaux - France WWII
Simon Mawer, Tightrope - France WWII - Lucy Treloar, Salt Creek - mid-19th century Australia
2017
The shortlist was announced 28 March 2017.[18] The winner was announced 17 June 2017 at the Baillie Gifford Borders Book Festival, Melrose.[19]
- Jo Baker, A Country Road, A Tree - WWII France
Sebastian Barry, Days Without End - US Civil War - Charlotte Hobson, The Vanishing Futurist - Russia early Soviet era
- Hannah Kent, The Good People - 19th century Ireland
- Francis Spufford, Golden Hill - 18th century New York
- Graham Swift, Mothering Sunday - 30 March 1924
- Rose Tremain, The Gustav Sonata - Switzerland during WWII
2018
The shortlist was announced April 18, 2018.[20] The winner was announced 16 June 2018 at the Baillie Gifford Borders Book Festival.
- Jennifer Egan, Manhattan Beach - WWII New York
- Jane Harris, Sugar Money - 18thC Martinique and Grenada
- Paul Lynch, Grace - 19thC Ireland
- Patrick McGrath, The Wardrobe Mistress - 1940s London
- Rachel Malik, Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves - WWII
Benjamin Myers, The Gallows Pole - Yorkshire 18thC
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 Walter Scott Prize Archived 6 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine., bordersbookfestival.org. Retrieved April 2012.
- ↑ "Historic fiction award honours Sir Walter Scott", BBC, 27 January 2010
- ↑ "New Walter Scott prize to honour historical novels", The Guardian, 2 February 2010
- ↑ "Booker rivals clash again on Walter Scott prize shortlist", The Guardian, 2 April 2010
- ↑ "Mantel's Wolf Hall wins inaugural Walter Scott Prize for historical novels", The Scotsman, 20 June 2010
- ↑ "Walter Scott historical fiction shortlist announced". BBC News. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
- ↑ Alison Flood. "Andrea Levy wins Walter Scott prize", The Guardian, 20 June 2011
- ↑ "Walter Scott historical fiction shortlist announced". BBC News. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
- ↑ Alison Flood (16 June 2012). "Sebastian Barry wins Walter Scott prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ↑ "Shortlist for 2013 Walter Scott Prize Announced". Borders Book Festival. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- ↑ "Tan Twan Eng wins The Walter Scott Prize". Borders Book Festival. 14 June 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- ↑ "Walter Scott Prize Shortlist 2014". Walter Scott Prize. 4 April 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ↑ "Robert Harris wins Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction". BBC News. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ↑ "2015 Shortlist announced". Walter Scott Prize. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ↑ "John Spurling wins top prize at Borders Book Festival". BBC News. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- ↑ "The 2016 Shortlist is announced!". Walter Scott Prize. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ↑ "The winner of the 2016 Walter Scott Prize is announced!". Walter Scott Prize. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ↑ Danuta Kean (28 March 2017). "Walter Scott prize for historical fiction unveils 2017 shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ↑ Danuta Kean (19 June 2017). "Sebastian Barry's 'glorious and unusual' novel wins Walter Scott prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ↑ "The 2018 Prize". Walter Scott Prize. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
External links
- Walter Scott Prize
- "Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction: The new time-travellers", Scotsman.com, 19 June 2010 – examines a rising interest in historical fiction in relation to the new prize.