We’re delighted to announce that HALF BLOOD BLUES by Esi Edugyan has been shortlisted for the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction.

The shortlist (of six) was formally announced today, Wednesday 4th April:

PURE by Andrew Miller
ON CANAAN’S SIDE by Sebastian Barry
HALF BLOOD BLUES by Esi Edugyuan
THE STRANGER’S CHILD by Alan Hollinghurst
THE SISTERS BROTHERS by Patrick de Witt
THE QUALITY OF MERCY by Barry Unsworth

The winner will be announced at the Borders Book festival in Melrose, Scotland on Saturday 16th June.

The announcement follows a 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction shortlist and a 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction longlist. Edugyan, who lives in Canada, also won the Canadian Giller Prize, one of that country’s major literary awards.