22nd June, 2016
The first prizewinners are announced
The Young Walter Scott Prize judges are delighted to announce the category winners of our first ever Prize:
11-15 age group:
Winner: Joe Bradley for A Very Unusual Childhood
Runner-up: Iseabail Duncan for Whales Don’t Care
16-19 age group:
Rosi Byard Jones for In A Time of Shadows
Runner-up: Alexander Leggett for The Oak Tree.
Joe and Rosi visited the Borders Book Festival in June 2016 to be presented with their prizes by the Duchess of Buccleuch, and enjoyed a weekend of historical and literary treats.
Joe (15), from Oxford, and Rosi (17), from Reading, travelled up to the Borders Book Festival in Melrose on Saturday 18th June, where they were presented with a certificate and £500 travel grant each by the Duchess of Buccleuch at a special Young Walter Scott Prize event as part of the book festival. Their prize also included meeting published writers including Patrick Gale, Gavin McCrea, Allan Massie and Simon Mawer, the winner of this year’s Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.
Rosi, Joe and their families took a tour of local historical sites including Abbotsford and Melrose Abbey, and were hosted as literary VIPs by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch at their home, Bowhill House near Selkirk. Their weekend was rounded off with a literary ‘Brunch’ at Bowhill, which was attended by a wealth of stars including Frederic Forsyth, James Naughtie, Sara Pascoe and Jay Rayner.
Joe Bradley’s story, A Most Unusual Childhood, is set in China during the Boxer Rebellion, and features a family of English missionaries. It was based on the story of his own great-great-grandparents, and inspired by the discovery of artefacts, photographs and documents belonging to his ancestors, in an attic in the old family home. Rosi Byard Jones’ story, In A Time of Shadows, is set in more recent times: Indonesia in the 1960s following the ‘Year of Living Dangerously’. It describes a young man’s return to his homeplace which has been destroyed by the brutal new political regime. Rosi was inspired to write by her own Indonesian heritage. She brought along to the event two examples of the beautiful shadow puppets described in her story.
The Judges said of In A Time of Shadows by Rosi Byard Jones:
‘A wonderfully assured and mature story in which complex themes are skillfully woven together to make a satisfying whole. The setting in Indonesia at a time of brutal oppression is very well realised, and the reader is caught up in the agonising dilemmas of the main character.’
The Judges said of A Very Unusual Childhood by Joe Bradley:
‘An exciting, fully imagined story about the Boxer Rebellion, written with assurance and confidence. The author has created well-rounded, complex characters whose relationships develop as the story progresses. A compelling piece.’
Entries from across the UK for the first year of the prize were judged by a panel including two award-winning published writers, Elizabeth Laird and Ann Weisgarber; the Prize’s sponsor Duchess of Buccleuch; its Director Alan Caig Wilson, and the literary agent Lindsey Fraser.
There were two runners-up in each category: Whales Don’t Care by Iseabail Duncan of Banchory, Aberdeenshire (11-15 age group) and The Oak Tree by Alexander Leggatt of Orpington, Kent (16-19 age group) .
The Duchess of Buccleuch, the Prize’s founder and sponsor, said:
‘In setting up the Young Walter Scott Prize I want to let young people all over the country set their imaginations free and be ever more curious about the past and our place in it, and to write their stories down for others to enjoy.’