Tag: literary prizes

The Winston Graham Historical Prize 2026 @Cornwall_Museum @ardevor #WGHPrize

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It’s a busy time of year for literary prizes, whether it’s the announcement of winners (The Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, The Booker Prize), the publication of longlists and shortlists, or the closing dates for submission of entries (The Women’s Prize for Fiction/Nonfiction 2026, The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2026). Also in the latter category is The Winston Graham Historical Prize 2026, entries for which closed on 1st October.

Author Winston Graham
Winston Graham

The Prize is the result of a bequest by Winston Graham, author of the Poldark series, to the Royal Institute of Cornwall, the charity which runs the Cornwall Museum & Art Gallery in Truro. Winston Graham researched many of his bestselling novels in the Royal Cornwall Museum’s Courtenary Library. Originally limited to books set in Cornwall or the South West, the Prize was relaunched in 2024 with a nationwide scope.

To be eligible for the 2026 Prize, novels must have been published in the UK between 30 September 2024 and 30 September 2025, set at least 60 years ago in the UK and Ireland with a strong sense of place, and written by authors resident in the UK. The prize is unusual in that the shortlist is created by a Readers’ Committee who whittle down the entries to just a handful of novels.

Last year’s prize was awarded to Andrew Miller’s novel The Land in Winter, which also won the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2025 and is shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Many of the books on last year’s shortlist I’ve either read or have in my TBR pile.

Previous winners of the Winston Graham Historical Prize include Benjamin Myers for Cuddy, Kayte Nunn for The Botanist’s Daughter, Ian Mortimer for The Outcasts of Time and Martin Sutton for Lost Paradise.

The shortlist for the 2026 Prize will be published in January (something for us fans of historical fiction to look out for) and the winner, determined by a judging panel chaired by author Charlotte Hobson, will be announced at a ceremony at the Cornwall Museum & Art Gallery in March.

The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2025 – Who Will Win? @waltscottprize

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WalterScottPrize

The winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Fiction will be announced later today at the Borders Book Festival and, excitingly, I will be there!

I’ve read all the books on the shortlist and here are some brief thoughts on each of them. They are shown in the order in which I read them.

The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry (Canongate) – An enthralling, skilfully crafted combination of love story and adventure story set in 19th century Montana. I was completely captivated by Tom and Polly’s story which, although you suspect is doomed from the start, you can’t help hoping will turn out differently. ‘…And wasn’t it a remarkable turn of events that showed love and death they co-exist in our violent and sentimental world. They might even depend one on the other.’

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller (Sceptre) – The story of two couples – Eric and Irene, and Bill and Rita – exploring their hopes and fears, and revealing the fractures in their relationships that threaten to split wide open. Set in a remote part of the West Country during the extreme winter of 1962, there’s a real feeling of not just physical isolation but emotional as well.

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Viking) – Set in the rural Dutch province of Overijssel fifteen years since the Second World War the book explores, through the intense and intimate relationship between two women, how secrets have a way of finding their way to the surface.

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Fig Tree) – A wonderfully imaginative and comic story (albeit with darker undertones) set in Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War. Told with an Irish lilt, it features best friends, Lampo and Gelon, who embark on an ambitious project to stage a play by Euripides in a quarry using Athenian prisoners as their cast.

The Book of Days by Francesca Kay (Swift Press) – The book is set in a small village at the end of Henry VIII’s reign where daily life is governed by the rhythm of the changing seasons and the rituals of religious devotion. That is until events in the outside world intrude. Beautifully written with a hypnotic quality because of its gentle pace.

The Mare by Angharad Hampshire (Northodox Press) – The incredibly powerful and unflinching story, told in fictional form, of Hermine Braunsteiner who worked as a concentration camp guard at Ravensbrück and was the first person to be extradited from the Unites States for Nazi war crimes.

Predicting a winner is difficult. Both The Safekeep and Glorious Exploits have received a lot of attention, especially as they’re debut novels.  If you’d asked me a couple of days ago to pick a winner, I’d have said The Heart in Winter.  Now it’s The Mare.

Do you have a winner from the shortlist?