Caribbean writer Kevin Jared Hosein has won the 2024 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for his novel Hungry Ghosts (Bloomsbury Books), which tells the story of marginalized Hindu communities in colonial 1940s Trinidad. The Trinidadian writer previously won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018. Paul Cargill reports for The Standard. [Also see our previous post Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein.]

Caribbean writer Kevin Jared Hosein has won the for his novel Hungry Ghosts. The novel tells the story of marginalised Hindu communities in Trinidad during the 1940s when, in the words of the author, British colonial rule was loosening and Trinidad was starting to be reborn.

The judging panel, which included broadcasters Kirsty Wark and James Naughtie and was chaired by writer Elizabeth Laird, described the tale as “richly imaginative, urgent and compelling”.

Jared Hosein lives in Trinidad and Tobago, where he worked as a secondary school biology teacher for over a decade.

He is the author of two previous novels and won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018.

The writer said ahead of attending a prizegiving ceremony in the Scottish Borders it was “truly a privilege” to be shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize.

As Scott was the inspiration for the genre of historical fiction, we hope this year’s nominees and winner can inspire many more authors in their writing careers.

Jared Hosein was awarded the £25,000 prize at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose on Thursday by Walter Scott’s great-great-great-great grandson Matthew Maxwell Scott.

Mr Maxwell Scott is a trustee of his ancestor’s residence, Abbotsford, which also manages the prize, with support from Hawthornden Foundation, the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust, and the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry in honour of Elizabeth Buccleuch. He said: “As Scott was the inspiration for the genre of historical fiction, we hope this year’s nominees and winner can inspire many more authors in their writing careers.

For original article, see https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/trinidad-and-tobago-caribbean-british-kirsty-wark-james-naughtie-b1164289.html

Also see https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4nn44zgx4ro

[Photo of the author by Mark Lyndersay (BBC).]