A new prize for historical fiction is announced
Worth £25,000 to the winner, the Walter Scott Prize is open to historical novels first published in the United Kingdom in 2009. It will be awarded at the 2010 Borders Book Festival between 17th and 20th June.
The £25,000 award puts the Walter Scott Prize in the top five biggest book awards in the UK. It is being launched through the imaginative generosity of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose forebears had ties both of kinship and deep and intimate friendship with Sir Walter. His immense achievements and his place as one of the world's most influential novelists will, they believe, be properly honoured by the naming of such an award in this way. The marketing of the prize is supported by EventScotland, as part of their funding for this year's Borders Book Festival.
Sir Walter was the founding father of the historical novel, contributed mightily to the development of the genre, and would have been delighted to see it resurgent in the first decade of the 21st century. Historical novels now regularly lead the bestseller lists. Until now, however, there has been no award designed to recognise outstanding work in this burgeoning genre.
The judges on the panel for the new prize will be Elizabeth Buccleuch, Elizabeth Laird, Allan Massie, David Robinson, and Gavin Wallace. A shortlist of books will be announced in March 2010, and the winner will be announced and awarded at Abbotsford House on a date between 17th and 20th June 2010. After the announcement, the short-listed authors and the winner will be invited to give readings and talk to audiences at the Borders Book Festival.
Prize Rules
- Books may only be submitted by publishers. The submission of an author's work by the publisher will be taken as agreement by the author that he/ she is willing for the submitted work to be considered. There is no charge for entering.
- Books must be published in English in the UK between 1 January and 31 December 2009.
- Authors must be resident in the UK.
- For the purposes of this Prize, 'historical' is deemed to be where all of the events described take place at least 60 years before the publication of the novel, and therefore stand outside any mature personal experience of the author. This comes from Walter Scott's subtitle for Waverley: 'Tis Sixty Years Since'.
For a submission form, and any enquiries, please contact:
Rebecca Salt
The Walter Scott Prize
Haddington House
28 Sidegate
Haddington
East Lothian EH41 4BU
Tel 01620 829 800
Email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
