Adventure Writing Prize | Shortlist
The six-strong shortlist for the £10,000 2026 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize is here!
Our Founder, Niso Smith, said: "These novels show how adventure can be personal or political, historical or speculative, intimate or epic, but always transportive. We hope readers around the world will discover new perspectives and ideas through these books.”
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The only question is, which adventure will you set out on first?
Do you fancy navigating the treacherous, blood-soaked secrets of the French Revolution in The Tarot Reader of Versailles, or attempting to survive the clash between the wild Iceni marshlands and Nero's Imperial Rome in Boudicca's Daughter? Perhaps you might set out on a globe-trotting mystery bound to the enduring legacy of the Atlantic slave trade with Esperance, or immerse yourself in the forbidden love and political rebellion of 1960s India in The Fertile Earth. Will you take on the battle against nature and corporate greed in the freezing Canadian Arctic with White Road, or plunge yourself into the glittering, ruthless underworld of 1920s London with Poor Girls?
Let us know which ends up in your hands first!