THE longlist for the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2018 has been announced, containing thirteen books.

The list has been selected from the largest number of entries in the prize’s eight year history – an increase of 40% on last year.

Books in the running are The Clocks In This House All Tell Different Times by Xan Brooks, Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore, Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan, The Last Man In Europe by Dennis Glover, Sugar Money by Jane Harris, Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr, The Draughtsman by Robert Lautner, Grace by Paul Lynch, The Wardrobe Mistress by Patrick McGrath, Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves by Rachel Malik, The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers, The Horseman by Tim Pears and The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley.

The judges of the 2018 Prize are Alistair Moffat, who is chair, Elizabeth Buccleuch, Elizabeth Laird, Kate Figes, Katharine Grant, James Holloway, James Naughtie and Kirsty Wark.

The panel will choose a shortlist in April, and a winner will be announced at the Borders Book Festival on June 15.

The winner receives £25,000, while each shortlisted author receives £1,000.

www.walterscottprize.co.uk

THE MugStock festival have announced the first of over 150 acts to perform at the annual festival in Mugdock Country Park, near Glasgow.

The festival is in its fourth year and takes place from July 27 to 30.

They include Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5, Tide Lines, Girobabies and Emily Middlemas, as well as Katee Kross, Supa & Da Kryptonites, Mt. Doubt, Harry & The Hendersons, Captain Hotknives, Half Formed Things and Awkward Family Portraits, among others.

In total there will be 150 acts across at around seven stages.

Early Bird tickets for MugStock are now on sale.

http://mugstock.org

AN artist who lives and works in Scotland, Stuart Middleton, is to be included in the latest show at the Saatchi Gallery in London.

He works with drawing, painting, sculpture, text and animation.

He graduated from Camberwell College of Art, London in 2009 and from Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main in 2016.

The new show, of 17 contemporary artists, runs from March 21 to June 24 in London.

The exhibition, called Known Unknowns, features artists born between 1966 and 1990 from the Saatchi Gallery's collection.

The gallery said: "The title refers to the artists' status in the mainstream art world – whilst the group is largely unknown, their respective practices are greatly admired by their artistic peers and seen as breaking new ground."

www.saatchigallery.com