We’re so pleased to see Once The Deed is Done by Rachel Seiffert (Virago) and Boundary Waters by Tristan Hughes (Parthian Books) on the longlist for the seventeenth Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

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.

On this years longlist, the Chair of Judges, Katie Grant, said:

“As always, compiling the Longlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction isn’t easy, and again, as always, we’re guided by our criteria: originality, innovation, ambition, durability and quality of writing. The 2026 list spans all human experience and emotional intensity, with our authors crafting their work on both the small domestic canvas and a 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.”

The shortlist will be announced on 16th April.  and the winner will be announced in June  at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland. The winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction receives £25,000 and each shortlisted author receives £1,500. To see the full longlist, click here.