It is with huge pleasure that we share the news that Night Train to Odesa by Jen Stout has been shortlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2025. This prize celebrates the wide range of literature written in or about the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and the shortlisted titles represent authors who were born in or live in the Highlands, as well as books whose content illuminates the culture, landscape, and heritage of the region.

Night Train to Odesa chronicles Jen Stout’s time reporting from the war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, and is as timely as ever as the war continues to rage on. Jen’s remarkable book focuses on ordinary people in Ukraine and includes stories from the night trains, birthday parties, military hospitals and bunkers: stories from the ground, from a writer with a deep sense of empathy.

The Highland Book Prize judges shared that, “it felt a privilege to be taken to those people, places and moments, to trace the changing rhythms of the war, and the moments of loss and re-encounter.”

This is the latest in a string of accolades for Jen’s debut book, including winning the Saltire Society First Book of the Year Award, being selected as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, and shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Award.

The paperback edition of Night Train to Odesa is available now. A huge congratulations to Jen on the recognition of her work, and to all the other well-deserving shortlisted authors.

Find out more about the Highland Book Prize here.