Three stellar literary names join the Winston Graham Historical Prize judging panel this year, as the quest continues for the very best new historical fiction by UK-based authors.
Two returning judges give us their invaluable expertise once again.
Charlotte Hobson
Chair of the Judges remains award-winning writer, Charlotte Hobson. Hobson is author of Black Earth City which won the Somerset Maugham Award, and The Vanishing Futurist, a historical novel shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize.
Peggotty Graham
Peggotty Graham, daughter-in-law of Winston Graham and an Executor of the Winston Graham Literary Estate, also continues on the judging panel. Peggotty is former Chair of Judges of the Winston Graham Prize. As an academic she was Dean and Director of Social Sciences at the Open University, trustee at the Open College of the Arts and a consultant in distance and open learning. She is currently closely involved with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.
The existing judges are joined this year by Wyl Menmuir, Patrick Gale, Cathy Johnson, Sravya Raju.
Wyl Menmuir
Wyl Menmuir is a multi-award winning author based in Cornwall. His 2016 debut novel, The Many, was longlisted for the Booker Prize and was an Observer Best Fiction of the year pick. Two further award-winners followed, The Draw of the Sea and The Heart of The Woods.
A former journalist, Menmuir has written for Radio 4, The Guardian and The Observer. He is co-creator of the Cornish writing centre, The Writers’ Block, and is a senior lecturer in creative writing at Falmouth University. When he is not writing or teaching writing, Wyl enjoys messing around in boats.
Patrick Gale
Patrick Gale is a keen cellist, gardener, beekeeper and patron of the Penzance LitFest and Charles Causley Trust. He lives with his husband, the farmer and sculptor, Aidan Hicks, at the western tip of Cornwall.
In addition to his latest, Love Lane, his eighteen novels include Mother’s Boy, Take Nothing With You, Notes From an Exhibition, and A Perfectly Good Man. His work has been adapted for stage and screen.
Cathy Johnson
Cathy Johnson is a book blogger and avid reader of historical fiction. Since 2016 she has published over one thousand book reviews on her blog, What Cathy Read Next.
Cathy has an MA in English and when not engrossed in a book can be found tending her wildlife-friendly garden. She lives near Reading with her husband.
Sravya Raju
Sravya Raju is a Cornish-born editor and arts administrator with a MA in English. Sravya has worked with Cornish creative organisations including Krowji, Creative Kernow, and Stranger Collective, is a new trustee of The Writers’ Block, and is currently based in Falmouth University’s Research & Knowledge Exchange team.
Sravya has previously been commissioned as a writer and director for radio and short film projects, delivered literary research papers at conferences, and contributed a chapter to George Egerton: Terra Incognitas (Routledge, 2024). She is the founding editor of Aspier, a contemporary Cornish literary and arts journal, and is passionate about supporting writers, especially those emerging and underrepresented, to get their work platformed, and to help connect up Cornwall’s creative community.
An update on the prize…
Readers up and down Cornwall are currently engrossed in reading the many brilliant historical novels submitted for consideration this year. There are some well-known names in the mix as well as debut and early career authors. The novels on the ‘long list’ are inspired by centuries of history, and peopled by characters bought vividly to life through meticulous research and powerful imagination.
We’ll be announcing the shortlist in January, after which the judging panel will be given a chance to read and deliberate at length before the winner of the Winston Graham Historical Prize 2026 is announced at a ceremony here at the museum in March.
You may also notice that the Prize has its very own visual identity this year, inspired by the author’s signature. Graham spent many hours in the museum’s library researching his novels, and his typewriter and one of his notebooks (featuring that distinctive handwriting) can be seen on display in the Heart of Cornwall Gallery.
