The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010. At £25,000, it is one of the largest literary awards in the UK. 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.
Eligible books must have been first published in the UK, Ireland or Commonwealth in the preceding year. 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. The winner is announced each June at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose.
Winners and shortlist
Blue Ribbon () = winner
The shortlist was announced 1 April 2010 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.
Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall about Thomas Cromwell (1485–1540).Adam Thorpe for Hodd about Robin Hood (early medieval).Robert Harris for Lustrum about Cicero (106–43 BC)Sarah Dunant for Sacred Hearts about a 16th-century Italian convent.Iain Pears for Stone's Fall about an early 20th-century mystery/thriller.Simon Mawer for The Glass Room about 1930s Czech.Adam Foulds for The Quickening Maze about John Clare and Alfred Tennyson (early 19th century).The shortlist was announced on 1 April and the winner was announced on 19 June:
Andrea Levy for The Long Song set in 1820s Jamaica.Tom McCarthy for C set in turn of the 20th-century Europe.David Mitchell for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet about late 18th-century Shogun Japan.Joseph O'Connor for Ghost Light set in 20th-century England and Ireland.C. J. Sansom for Heartstone set in England during the summer of 1545.Andrew Williams for To Kill A Tsar set in St Petersburg around turn of 20th century.The shortlist was announced on 4 April 2012 and the winner was announced on 16 June.
Sebastian Barry, On Canaan's Side set in 20th-century Ireland and ChicagoPatrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers set in Oregon and California in 1851Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues set in World War II-era EuropeAlan Hollinghurst, The Stranger's Child set in World War I-era EuropeAndrew Miller, Pure set in Paris in 1786Barry Unsworth, The Quality of Mercy set in London of 1767 and a Durham coastal mining villageThe shortlist was announced on 18 April 2013 and the winner was announced on 14 June 2013.
Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists set in 1940s and '50s MalayaPat Barker, Toby's Room set during WWIThomas Keneally, The Daughters of Mars set during WWIHilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies set in Tudor EnglandAnthony Quinn, The Streets, set in 1880s LondonRose Tremain, Merivel: A Man of His Time set in 1680s EnglandThe shortlist was announced 4 April 2014, and the winner was announced at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, on 13 June.
Robert Harris, An Officer and a Spy concerns the Dreyfus Affair, which took place in France in the late 1890sKate Atkinson, Life After Life set during the 20th centuryEleanor Catton, The Luminaries set in the New Zealand gold rush of the 19th centuryJim Crace, Harvest set in a remote English village following the Enclosure Act in the 18th centuryAndrew Greig, Fair Helen set in the 1590s in the Borderland of Scotland and EnglandAnn Weisgarber, The Promise takes place during the 1900 Galveston hurricaneThe shortlist was announced 24 March 2015, and the winner was announced at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, on 13 June.
John Spurling, The Ten Thousand Things China in the 14th centuryMartin Amis, The Zone of Interest Europe during World War IIHelen Dunmore, The Lie England during WWIHermione Eyre, Viper Wine England in the 17th centuryAdam Foulds, In the Wolf's Mouth Italy in World War IIDamon Galgut, Arctic Summer India in the early 20th centuryKamila Shamsie, A God in Every Stone India during WWIThe shortlist was announced 23 March 2016. The winner was announced 18 June 2016 at the Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival.
William Boyd, Sweet CaressPatrick Gale, A Place Called WinterGavin McCrea, Mrs EngelsAllan Massie, End Games in Bordeaux Simon Mawer, TightropeLucy Treloar, Salt Creek