THE short list for the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction has been announced.
The books in the running for the £25,000 prize include Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan, Sugar Money by Jane Harris, Grace by Paul Lynch, The Wardrobe Mistress by Patrick McGrath, Rachel Malik's Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves, and Benjamin Myers' The Gallows Pole.
The winner will be announced at the Borders Book Festival on June 16.
The judging panel includes chairman Alistair Moffat, as well as Elizabeth Buccleuch, Kate Figes, Katharine Grant, James Holloway, Elizabeth Laird, James Naughtie and Kirsty Wark.
The Walter Scott Prize, which celebrates its tenth anniversary next year, was founded by patrons the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch.
The winner receives £25,000, and shortlisted authors each receive £1,000.
To qualify, books must have been published in the previous year in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth, and be mostly set in the past - for the purposes of the Prize, at least 60 years ago.
This definition comes from the subtitle of Walter Scott’s novel Waverley; Or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since.
www.walterscottprize.co.uk
PREPARATIONS for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe continue with the announcement of 96 shows by the leading venue Underbelly.
They include the writer Julia Donaldson, who will perform The Gruffalo, The Witch and The Warthog, circus acts, Fringe veteran Paul Foot, Black Adder and Helen Lederer.
Foot presents a brand new show for his tenth year on the Fringe Image Conscious.
Also on a limited run are the Edinburgh born Rory Bremner and Jan Ravens "who delve into the treacherous world of politics as they aim to establish whether Brexit means Brexit."
Underbelly's Big Brain Tumour Benefit returns, with all box office income will go straight to The Brain Tumour Charity.
www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk
THE St Magnus International Festival runs on Orkney between 22 and 28 June.
This year’s programme opens with Rachmaninov’s Vespers sung by the Sonoro choral group.
Sonoro also join the St Magnus Festival Chorus in a performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle.
Award-winning Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman leads Orkney’s own choirs, Orkney Rocks! and the Mayfield Singers, in spirituals and other freedom songs later in the week.
As part of the theme of Year of Young People 2018, young people from Stromness Academy and Kirkwall Grammar School present the life of a young person growing up in Orkney through music, theatre, mask and dramatic scenes in two Johnsmas Foys.
The Festival will have an outdoor stage at Skaill House for a series of concerts.
www.stmagnusfestival.com
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