The prestigious Young Walter Scott Prize - a UK-wide historical writing prize for 11-19 year olds, now in its ninth year is now open for entries for its 2023 award.

The prize which challenges young people to write a piece of short fiction, between 800-2000 words, set in a time before they were born is judged in two age groups, 11 to 15 years and 16 to 19 years, and welcomes any form of fiction, from prose to poetry, drama to fictional letters or reportage.

The winner in each age group will receive a £500 travel grant and an invitation to the Scottish Borders to be presented with their prizes. All winning and highly commended writers will see their work published in the special Young Walter Scott Prize Anthology published each year.

Stories can now be submitted until the closing date of 31st October 2023. For full details and rules of entry, see www.ywsp.co.uk.

The prize organiser, Lindsey Fraser, said:“We are delighted to be opening the Young Walter Scott Prize for another year and can’t wait to see what imagination, endeavour and talent all the young writers bring to their entries. The Prize – the only one of its kind for young writers in the UK – has been going from strength to strength each year, and we are sure that this year’s crop of entries will once again astound and delight the judges in its variety, ambition and show of technical skill.

The Prize very sadly lost its Founder and Patron, the Duchess of Buccleuch, earlier this year, and we hope very much that the 2023 award will reflect more than ever all the hard work, energy and passion that the Duchess brought to the Prize that was so dear to her heart and which owes its existence entirely to her.”

This year’s YWSP was won by Ellie Karlin for her story Mrs Fujita’s Living Room in the 11-15 years category, and by Rosie Brooker, author of Forever England, in the 16-19 years category. Both stories examine the effects of war, with Ellie’s story set on the eve of the end of the Second World War and Rosie’s set in the immediate wake of World War 1. The winners received their awards in June at the Borders Book Festival, Melrose, alongside the winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, Lucy Caldwell, for her novel about the Belfast Blitz, These Days. Lucy Caldwell paid tribute to the young winners in her acceptance speech and said that without winning a writing competition herself aged 12, she never would have gone on to become a writer.

The Young Walter Scott Prize was launched in 2015 by the Duke and late Duchess of Buccleuch, and is named after Sir Walter Scott, who, as a boy sent to live in the Scottish Borders, set about exploring the countryside and listening to the stories of the people he met there. This inspired Scott to write and ultimately to become the most celebrated author of his time.

The Young Walter Scott Prize is closely linked with the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, which is given to a published book each year. Both prizes are generously supported by the Duke and the late Duchess of Buccleuch and the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust.

The winner of the Young Walter Scott Prize 2023 will be announced in spring 2024.