The winners of the 2023 Young Walter Scott Prize for writers of historical fiction have been announced, with first places awarded to Iyla Latif in the 11-15 years category for her story Portrait of a Great Leader, which the Judges termed, “an imaginative reconstruction of an artist's feelings as he paints a portrait of Stalin”; and to Elise Withey in the 16-19 years category, for her story Juditha Triumphans, described by the judging panel as “a gently sinister story of revenge woven round the tender awakening of love.”
The Young Walter Scott Prize is open to young writers aged 11-19 who are invited to submit a short story set in a time before they were born.
Chair of the Judging panel, Elizabeth Laird, said: “As usual this year, when the bundle of entries for the Young Walter Scott Prize arrived, I had no idea what to expect. The young writers had explored an astonishing variety of themes and styles. We were with a firefighter at Chernobyl, then with a soldier at Rorke's Drift and a moment later with a ruby miner in Myanmar. There were stories from Japan, Uganda, Napoleonic France and Franco's Spain.
“The entries were heartfelt, original and ambitious, and, above all, a pleasure to read. It was hard to select the ones which will be printed in our 2023 anthology, but the readers of it are in for a treat!"
Talking about her winning short story, Iyla, from London, said: “I am fascinated by the history of the USSR, particularly under Stalin, and have been wanting to explore the era in writing for a while. I wished to delve into the role of artists, an unconventional perspective not often explored in fiction about the period, despite them being key producers of propaganda. I find it interesting to consider how much responsibility an artist, acting as a vehicle for the state, has in upholding a regime, and how that may conflict with their personal principles.”
Elise, from Bathford in Somerset, said: “I began more with a painting than a period. I love Klimt’s Golden Phase, and his languidly murderous ‘Judith und Holofernes’ is one of my all-time favourite works of art. I knew I wanted to set my story in 1901, when’ Judith’ was painted, which led me to start exploring dynamics of violence and desire towards (and between) Edwardian women—and the restrictions they faced.”
The two winners each receive a £500 travel grant, their stories will be published in this year’s Young Walter Scott Prize Anthology, and they will be special guests at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, in June (13th-16th) to be presented with their prizes.
For more information on the Young Walter Scott Prize, visit: www.walterscottprize.co.uk/young-walter-scott-prize