Walter Scott Prize nomination for novel inspired by Norwich

The long list for the 2024 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction has been announced, with 12 novelists shortlisted for the £25,000 award.

Chairwoman of the judges Katie Grant said: “This year’s longlist sweeps us from one end of the world to the other, and from the Dark Ages to the 20th century – almost a millennium-and-a-half.

“Along the way, we hear tales of 15th century Norwich and of the Highland Clearances of the 1800s."

READ MORE: 'I love Norwich but the awful pain of my motherland is always with me'

Those tales of Norwich are provided by Victoria MacKenzie's novel For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain, which tells the story of two women, their books and their survival.

St Julian's Church, off Rouen Road in Norwich (Image: Denise Bradley/Newsquest)A mural commemorates Julian of Norwich in Ber Street (Image: Denise Bradley/Newsquest)

Ms MacKenzie is a writer and poet based on the Fife coast in Scotland who teaches creative writing and was inspired by a meeting of Julian of Norwich and King's Lynn mystic Margery Kempe in the Fine City in 1413.

READ MORE: Who is Julian of Norwich and what is her coronation role?

 Juliana's Revelations of Divine Love was the first to be published by a woman in the English language and The Book of Margery Kempe is believed by some to be the first English autobiography.

There is a bench celebrating Margery Kempe in Saturday Market Place in King's Lynn (Image: King's Lynn Civic Society)

Explaining the book's themes, Ms MacKenzie says: "Julian, an anchoress, has not left Norwich, nor the cell to which she has been confined, for 23 years. She has told no one of her own visions - and knows that time is running out for her to do so.

I could not be happier about being on this magnificent longlist! 😊📚💙 Thank you @waltscottprize and congrats to all the longlisted authors, it's a privilege to be in your midst! #ForThyGreatPain #JulianofNorwich #MargeryKempe https://t.co/YE4pMkT2Wj

— Victoria MacKenzie (@forthygreatpain) February 22, 2024

"The two women have stories to tell one another. Stories about girlhood, motherhood, sickness, loss, doubt and belief; revelations more powerful than the world is ready to hear. Their meeting will change everything."

The jury for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction will announce a shortlist in May.