The Wigtown Poetry Competition
Calling all budding poets! It's time to polish your pararhyme and sharpen your stanza writing skills! Scotland’s largest poetry competition is just about to launch into it's fourth year. Whether you are an established poet or someone new to writing, the Wigtown Poetry Competition provides a unique opportunity to showcase your poetry and take your writing further.
Since the competition began 4 years ago, it has turned the spotlight on some exciting new poetry stars and established itself as a hallmark of quality. The 2006/07 winner Kathryn Simmonds has gone on to be shortlisted for this years Forward Prize for best first collection, and last year's winner Jane Weir is just about to publish a new collection of poetry.
The Wigtown Poetry Competition is thrilled to present acclaimed Scottish poet, academic and critic Professor Douglas Dunn as this year's Judge. He published his first collection of poetry, Terry Street, in 1969 and since then has gone on to win numerous awards including the Somerset Maugham Award, Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and the coveted Whitbread Book of the Year. He has a keen eye for a poem and in addition to his collections of poetry and short stories, he has edited various anthologies and critical works, the most recent being Twentieth Century Scottish Poetry (2006).
DGAA are also delighted to announce celebrated poet and novelist Kevin MacNeil as the competition's Gaelic Judge, winner of the prestigious Tivoli Europa Giovani International Poetry Prize and author of The Stornoway Way. Kevin has just finished a writing residency at Shetland Arts Centre and has done much to champion the Gaelic language across the UK and Europe.
The competition is offering a first prize of £2500. It also has second and third prizes of £1000 and £500 respectively, and ten supplementary prizes of £50 each.
The competition also offers the largest prize for a Gaelic poem, £1000, supported by the Gaelic Books Council.
The winning poem and runner up will be published in the Scotsman and all the winning and commended poems will be published in a special anthology.
The Wigtown Poetry Competition 08/09 will be launched by Douglas Dunn at the Wigtown Festival on Saturday 28th September.
The competition closes on Friday January 30th 2009. Winners will be notified by Monday 6th April and prizes will be presented in Wigtown on Saturday 2rd May.
Details of how to enter on www.wigtownbookfestival.com/poetrycomp. Enquiries to DGAA on 01387 253383 or e-mail catriona@dgaa.net