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The Highland Book Prize, established in 2017, celebrates the finest published work that recognises the rich talent, landscape, and cultural diversity of the Scottish Highlands
This annual prize is open to work in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
Presented by the Highland Society of London and facilitated by Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre, this literary prize aims to bring recognition to books created in or about the Highlands.
The roll of honour is as follows:
2017: Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe by Kapka Kassabova
2018: Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller
2019: Awarded jointly to all four shortlisted books and authors following the Covid pandemic. These were The Frayed Atlantic Edge: A Historian’s Journey from Shetland to the Channel by Dacid Gange, Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie, Spring by Ali Smith and Moder Dy by Roseanne Watt.
2020: The Changing Outer Hebrides: Galson and the Meaning of Place by Frank Rennie
2021: The Stone Age by Jen Hadfield
2022: Crann-Fìge/ Fig Tree by Duncan Gillies
2023: Sea Bean by Sally Huband
2024: Night Train to Odessa by Jen Stout
This annual prize is open to work in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
Presented by the Highland Society of London and facilitated by Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre, this literary prize aims to bring recognition to books created in or about the Highlands.
The roll of honour is as follows:
2017: Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe by Kapka Kassabova
2018: Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller
2019: Awarded jointly to all four shortlisted books and authors following the Covid pandemic. These were The Frayed Atlantic Edge: A Historian’s Journey from Shetland to the Channel by Dacid Gange, Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie, Spring by Ali Smith and Moder Dy by Roseanne Watt.
2020: The Changing Outer Hebrides: Galson and the Meaning of Place by Frank Rennie
2021: The Stone Age by Jen Hadfield
2022: Crann-Fìge/ Fig Tree by Duncan Gillies
2023: Sea Bean by Sally Huband
2024: Night Train to Odessa by Jen Stout
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So to the 2025 prize. To be eligible books must be published by an established UK-based publisher and imprint between 1st January, 2025 and 31st December, 2025.
Further, to be eligible for submission to the Highland Book Prize, titles must comply with at least one of the following criteria:
* The book promotes or concerns itself with Highland culture, heritage or landscape, or
Has a significant amount of activity set in the Highlands, or
* The author(s) is/was born/brought up in the Highlands, or
* The author(s) is/are a permanent resident(s) in the Highlands.
For the purpose of the Highland Book Prize the “Highlands” are defined as the Local Authority areas Argyll & Bute, Highland, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Western Isles and Moray.
The longest was announced in January 2026 and the shortlist will be revealed in May 2026 and the winner announced in June 2026.
So the new longest comprises:
An Staran by Petra Johana Poncarová
Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Drifting North: Finding a sustainable future in Scotland’s past by Dominic Hinde
Dwell Time by Taylor Strickland
The Edge of Silence: In Search of the Disappearing Sounds of Nature by Neil Ansell
Fo Fhasgadh Beinn Chianabhail Mòrag Anna NicNèill
Fower Pessoas by Colin Bramwell
The Highland Cow and the Horse of the Woods by Roy Dennis
Looking Down at the Stars: Life beneath the waves by Christina Riley
The Lost Elms by Mandy Haggith
Pathfinding: On Walking, Motherhood and Freedom by Kerri Andrews
The Shapeshifter’s Daughter by Sally Magnusson
Further, to be eligible for submission to the Highland Book Prize, titles must comply with at least one of the following criteria:
* The book promotes or concerns itself with Highland culture, heritage or landscape, or
Has a significant amount of activity set in the Highlands, or
* The author(s) is/was born/brought up in the Highlands, or
* The author(s) is/are a permanent resident(s) in the Highlands.
For the purpose of the Highland Book Prize the “Highlands” are defined as the Local Authority areas Argyll & Bute, Highland, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Western Isles and Moray.
The longest was announced in January 2026 and the shortlist will be revealed in May 2026 and the winner announced in June 2026.
So the new longest comprises:
An Staran by Petra Johana Poncarová
Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Drifting North: Finding a sustainable future in Scotland’s past by Dominic Hinde
Dwell Time by Taylor Strickland
The Edge of Silence: In Search of the Disappearing Sounds of Nature by Neil Ansell
Fo Fhasgadh Beinn Chianabhail Mòrag Anna NicNèill
Fower Pessoas by Colin Bramwell
The Highland Cow and the Horse of the Woods by Roy Dennis
Looking Down at the Stars: Life beneath the waves by Christina Riley
The Lost Elms by Mandy Haggith
Pathfinding: On Walking, Motherhood and Freedom by Kerri Andrews
The Shapeshifter’s Daughter by Sally Magnusson
