Borders Book Festival announces new literary prize

The Walter Scott Prize

A new literary award for historical fiction is announced

Worth £25,000 to the winner, the Walter Scott Prize is open to historical novels first published in the United Kingdom in 2009.  It will be awarded at the 2010 Borders Book Festival, held in Scotland between 17th and 20th June.

The £25,000 award puts the Walter Scott Prize in the top five biggest book awards in the UK.  It is being launched through the imaginative generosity of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose forebears had ties both of kinship and deep and intimate friendship with Sir Walter.  His immense achievements and his place as one of the world’s most influential novelists will, they believe, be properly honoured by the naming of such an award in this way.  The prize is also supported by EventScotland, as part of their £18,000 funding for this year’s Borders Book Festival.

Paul Bush, Chief Operating Officer of EventScotland, the national events agency, said: ‘The Borders Book Festival attracts thousands of people to the Borders each year along with some of the country’s most prestigious authors, making it a real highlight in Scotland’s cultural events calendar.  The Walter Scott Prize will be an exciting addition to the festival and will recognise the work of authors writing in one of the most popular literary styles of the century.