The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

Honouring the achievements of the founding father of the historical novel, the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction is one of the UK’s most prestigious literary prizes. The winner receives £25,000 and shortlisted authors each receive £1,500.  Since it was founded seventeen years ago by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, the Prize has awarded over £450,000 to writers and brought nearly 200 great novels to wider public attention.

The Walter Scott Prize celebrates quality of writing in the English language, and is open to novels published in the previous year in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth. Reflecting the subtitle ‘Tis Sixty Years Since’ of Scott’s famous work Waverley, the majority of the storyline must be set at least 60 years ago.

The Prize is managed by The Abbotsford Trust, the independent Scottish Charity responsible for Sir Walter Scott’s extraordinary Borders home, and is supported by Hawthornden Foundation and the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust and Duke of Buccleuch, in memory of Elizabeth Buccleuch.

The 2026 Prize Longlist has just been announced – find out more here.  You can find a Prize timetable and the Rules and Conditions here.  More about the Prize’s history and Reading Group guides for each of our winners is on our Resources section.

The Young Walter Scott Prize

The Young Walter Scott Prize is the UK’s only creative writing prize dedicated to historical fiction.  This annual story-writing competition is for young people aged between 11 and 19, and prizes include a £500 travel grant, an invitation to one of the UK’s best book festivals, and the opportunity to see your work in print in a special anthology.  Last year’s competition winners can be found here  – and the 2025 YWSP is now closed for submissions.

The YWSP also runs the Imagining History workshops, in which you can learn how to write historical fiction in amazing spaces throughout the UK, and online.  Find out more about Imagining History UK here.