The Kelpies Prize for Writing

The Kelpies Prize for Writing 2026: Shortlist Announced!

Congratulations to the five talented writers who make up this year’s shortlist: MJ Burns, Jenni Fuchs, Christine Irvine, Louisa MacDougall and Hannah Watson.

Entrants to this year’s prize were asked to submit either the first five chapters of a children’s book or a complete picture book text, a synopsis for their book, and a short piece of writing for children starting with a prompt.

Read on to find out more about our shortlisters and read a sample of their work, or download the press release. The winner will be announced at an exclusive award ceremony at the Grassmarket Centre, Edinburgh on Friday 18^th September.

The Shortlist

MJ Burns

MJ Burns is a writer and illustrator from Aberdeenshire. They have published short stories in many literary magazines and have been shortlisted and longlisted for a number of writing awards. They have also published a few short comics and are working on a graphic novel. They love Scottish history and currently live in a 17th century converted castle with their wife, where they like to draw all the birds that visit the garden, and dream up daring adventures for brave young heroes.

The judges were transported by the dramatic opening of MJ’s atmospheric novel for teens, and were impressed by their highly skilled worldbuilding and deft characterisation.

Jenni Fuchs

Jenni Fuchs was born in Germany but grew up largely in Scotland after moving to Edinburgh at the age of five. Since then her life has zigzagged between the two countries for school, university and work, with one son born in Edinburgh and the other in Berlin. Bilingual in English and German, Jenni has always been fascinated by languages, stories and folklore — she has dabbled in Scottish Gaelic, and met her husband at a Japanese night class. She loves climbing Edinburgh’s hills, reading crime novels, and crochet, and plays a variety of musical instruments — enthusiastically rather than expertly!

The judges enjoyed Jenni’s vivid, concrete descriptions, noted her sensitivity to children’s age range, and admired her well-paced and satisfying story arcs.

Christine Irvine

Christine Irvine is a queer writer from East Kilbride who now lives in the southside of Glasgow. In 2024, she organised the first Southside Book Hunt, partnering with local businesses to help over 100 kids get their hands on free books. Christine loves writing stories and characters that don’t quite fit, and hopes her stories might be comforting for any young people trying to figure out who they are. When she’s not writing, Christine loves swimming, aerial circus, drawing and bookbinding. She volunteers with a local community meals initiative called Kin Kitchen and with the Glasgow Film Theatre.

The judges were impressed by Christine’s ability to grab the reader’s attention from the off, and particularly enjoyed her skilled weaving of lyrical storytelling with drama and tension.

Louisa MacDougall

Louisa MacDougall is a writer and former primary school teacher who lives on the windy Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. She helps on her family croft and is editor of the island’s newspaper. She is the author of five books for children, including Rory and the Snack Dragons. In the past she has been chased by elephants and fallen in a crocodile-infested river, though the scariest thing she does now is battle through clouds of midgies.

The judges were impressed by Louisa’s engaging, funny tone, which felt well-pitched for younger readers, as well as her strong, memorable concept with bags of child-appeal.

Hannah Watson

Hannah Watson grew up on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors listening to stories of feuding giants, dastardly smugglers and captive mermaids. After an MA in Egyptology, her career in the charity sector has allowed her to step into hidden worlds and different lives — from the dusty backstages of UK theatres to libraries and schools all over sub-Saharan Africa. Hannah now lives in Glasgow, where she works for an international peacemaking and conflict resolution charity.

The judges were impressed by this writer’s sure-footed storytelling, tantalising mystery-building and imaginative take on Egyptian mythology.

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History of the Kelpies Prize

The Kelpies Prize was launched in 2004 to find the best new Scottish writing for children. Our very first winner, Mike Nicholson, continues to be one of our best-loved authors to this day, and many more of our winners and shortlisters have gone on to have sparkling writing careers.

In 2019, we changed the format of the prize to reflect our new aims of nurturing and developing children’s writers in Scotland, asking entrants to submit a selection of writing samples as opposed to a complete manuscript. In addition, we introduced an all-new prize package including a mentoring programme with our experienced editorial team.

Find out more about our past Kelpies Prize winners.