“The task of the writer is to take the past out of the archive and relocate it in a body.”

Hilary Mantel, Reith Lecture 2017 

THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE

 I've loved historical fiction all my life. When I was a child, Geoffrey Trease was my favourite author. The Crown of Violet plunged me into the luminous light of ancient Athens, with all its political skulduggery. Cue for Treason swept me into the theatrical world of Tudor England. I thrilled to the stories of courage and comradeship in the Roman novels of Rosemary Sutcliffe.

 I was honoured and delighted to be invited to join the judging panel when the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction was established by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch in 2009, and I've remained a judge ever since.

 The prize has its base at Abbotsford in the Scottish Borders, the romantic home of Sir Walter Scott, whose legacy the prize celebrates. It's awarded every year in June at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose. But although its roots are in Scotland, the prize has a world-wide reach, being open to books first published in the previous year in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth. Every year, a rich and fascinating mix of stories from many parts of the world is set before the judges. It's never easy to choose between them.

To find out more, go to http://www.walterscottprize.co.uk

this year’s winner…

… and this year’s winner is Kevin Jared Hosein, for his brilliant novel, Hungry Ghosts, receiving congratulations from Matthew Maxwell Scott, the descendant of Sir Walter Scott himself.

Hungry Ghosts tells the story of marginalised Hindu communities in Trinidad during the 1940s when, in the words of the Kevin Jared Hosein, ‘British colonial rule was loosening’ and ‘Trinidad was starting to be reborn’.

Katie Grant, the chair of the judges said: ‘Richly imaginative, urgent and compelling, Hungry Ghosts plunges us into the turbulence of precarious lives struggling to flourish amid the vivid natural lushness of 1940s Trinidad. For the 2024 Walter Scott Prize Kevin Jared Hosein has triumphed with a many-layered tale woven with the dexterity and alchemy of the true story-teller.’

Kevin Jared Hosein lives in Trinidad and Tobago, where he worked as a secondary school biology teacher for over a decade. He is the author of two previous novels and won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018. Travelling to the Scottish Borders to attend the Prizegiving ceremony, he said:

‘Truly a privilege to be shortlisted and to have Trinidad and Tobago be represented on such an impressive stage. Moreover, I feel like I am accomplishing the dreams of my ancestors when they first crossed those dark seas from India almost two centuries ago.’

THE YOUNG WALTER SCOTT PRIZE

The Young Walter Scott Prize was the inspiration of the late Duchess of Buccleuch. Founded in 2015, it offers a unique chance for young writers between the ages of 11 and 19 to show what they can do. Every year, hundreds of you are inspired to send in stories. I'm a judge of the Young Walter Scott Prize, too, and I'm always amazed by the variety and the quality of the entries.

 The winners receive a £500 travel grant, tickets to one of the UK's best book festivals and the chance to see their own work printed in a special anthology. Stories must be between 800 and 2,000 words, and set at a time before the writer was born.

 If you're interested, take a look at our website www.walterscottprize.co.uk/young-walter-scott-prize. You can find out more about the rules on our How To Enter page.

And this year’s winners are…

Iyla Latif, for their story Portrait of a Great Leader and Elise Withey, for her story Juditha Triumphans

Here’s Ilya Latif at Bowhill House with the Duke of Buccleuch … and here I am with Elise Withey in the garden of Abbotsford, in front of the portrait of Sir Walter Scott the home of Sir Walter Scott