Kai Thomas and Kevin Jared Hosein are on the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2024 shortlist announced on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is a British literary award created by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose ancestors were closely linked to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott, generally considered the originator of historical fiction with the novel Waverley in 1814. Founded in 2010 and worth £25,000, it is open to novels published in the previous year in the UK, Ireland, or the Commonwealth.
The 2024 jury comprises novelist, columnist, and Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund Katie Grant (chair) alongside former Scottish National Portrait Gallery Director James Holloway, award-winning children’s author Elizabeth Laird, broadcaster James Naughtie, broadcaster Kirsty Wark, and award-winning author and film-maker Saira Shah. The longlist was announced on February 22 before the shortlist was announced on Wednesday, May 1.
While announcing the shortlists the jury said, “‘The Walter Scott Prize judging criteria – originality, innovation, ambition, durability and of course quality of writing – are beautifully showcased in our 2024 shortlist. In addition, we have six novels as diverse in their subject-matter as in style of writing: an attempted sexual revolution in eighteenth century London; dangerously entwined lives in 1940s Trinidad; gripping tensions in Nazi-occupied Rome; a gentle 1960s home-counties heartbreaker; stories within stories from the terminus of the Underground Railroad; and love, betrayal and scandal in the Straits Settlements of Penang. At the heart of each novel lies a deep understanding of humanity in all its quirky strengths and weaknesses, with each of the WSP 2024 shortlisted authors having something new to say and a new way of saying it.’”
From the six writers listed, the following writers of African descent feature;
- Hungry Ghosts, Kevin Jared Hosein (Bloomsbury)
- In The Upper Country, Kai Thomas (Viking Canada/John Murray)
Kevin Jared Hosein said on the listing, “So happy that Trinidad got a spot for this incredible prize!”
The winner will be announced in June.
