Scots authors among historical fiction prize contenders
Getty ImagesTwo Scottish authors are among the early contenders to take this year's Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction.
Damian Barr and Graeme Macrae Burnet are on the 12-book longlist for the £25,000 award with their works The Two Roberts and Benbecula.
It is the 17th edition of the event run by the Abbotsford Trust - the charity dedicated to preserving the legacy and home of Sir Walter in the Borders.
The works will be narrowed down to a six-book shortlist before the winner announcement and prizegiving at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose and nearby Abbotsford House in June.
In his book, Bellshill-born Barr reimagines the love story of artists Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde while Burnet, from Kilmarnock, tells the story of a historical murder on a Scottish island.
The prize has had two previous Scottish winners - poet Robin Robertson in 2019 for The Long Take and author James Robertson in 2022 for News of the Dead.
The full list of the books in the running this year is:
- Venetian Vespers - John Banville
- The Two Roberts - Damian Barr
- Eden's Shore - Oisín Fagan
- Helm - Sarah Hall
- The Pretender - Jo Harkin
- Boundary Waters - Tristan Hughes
- The Matchbox Girl - Alice Jolly
- Edenglassie - Melissa Lucashenko
- Benbecula - Graeme Macrae Burnet
- Once the Deed is Done - Rachel Seiffert
- The Artist - Lucy Steeds
- Seascraper - Benjamin Wood
Chair of judges, Katie Grant, said: "The 2026 list spans all human experience and emotional intensity, with our authors crafting their work on both the small domestic canvas and broader, more epic scale.
"And readers be warned: in amongst the clever, the funny, the poignant, the piquant, the moving, the intriguing and the surprising, in this year's list you'll find writing so visceral it will remain with you long after you have closed the book."
Matthew Maxwell Scott, Walter Scott's great-great-great-great grandson and trustee of The Abbotsford Trust, added: "This is a terrific longlist and I am sure that debate amongst our wonderful judges about which books will make the shortlist, and which novel will be this year's eventual winner, will be very passionate."
