The Wigtown Poetry Competition 2008/2009

The Wigtown Poetry Competition is the largest poetry competition in Scotland, with over 2000 entries in its first year.

1st Prize £2500
2nd Prize £1000
3rd Prize £500
Gaelic Prize £1000

Ten supplementary prizes of £50 each
Winning poem and runner up will be published in the Scotsman.

Closing date: 5.00pm Friday 30th January 2009
Winners notified by Monday 6th April 2009
Winners announced in the Scotland on Sunday.

Prizegiving Lunch will take place in Wigtown on Saturday 2nd May 2009
Winners on the Wigtown website from Monday 11th May 2009

Judge: Douglas Dunn
We are thrilled to present Douglas Dunn as this year’s judge. Douglas’ first collection of poetry, Terry Street, was published by in 1969, and was awarded both a Scottish Arts Council Book Award and a Somerset Maugham Award. Love or Nothing (1974) was awarded a Scottish Arts Council Book Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in 1976. His other poetry books include St. Kilda’s Parliament (1981), winner of the Hawthornden Prize in 1981, and the acclaimed Elegies (1985), written after the death of his wife, winner of Whitbread Book of the Year. Secret Villages, a collection of short stories, was published in 1985. More recent publications include a collection of short stories, Boyfriends and Girlfriends (1995), and three poetry collections, The Donkey’s Ears (2000), The Year’s Afternoon (2000) and New Selected Poems 1964-2000 (2002). Dunn has also edited various anthologies and critical works, written several television and radio plays and has published a translation of Racine’s Andromache (1990).

Gaelic Judge: Kevin MacNeil
We are also delighted to present Kevin MacNeil as the Gaelic Judge. Author of The Stornaway Way, Kevin was born on the Outer Hebridean island of Lewis (Scotland) and writes in English and Gaelic. He was educated at the Nicolson Institute, University of Edinburgh and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. He is the first person from Scotland to win the prestigious Tivoli Europa Giovani International Poetry Prize. He is a poet, novelist, lyricist and playwright, and has been the recipient of a number of national and international literary honours and awards. MacNeil has held Writing Residencies in the Scottish Highlands, Uppsala University, Sweden, Edinburgh and Bavaria. He is a founder member of the trip-hop poetry band Tomorrowscope. His publications include: Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides. Zen and the Art of Poetry, Be wise, Be otherwise.

Enter Online

Click here to enter the Wigtown Poetry Competition 2008/2009 online.

Download an Entry Form

To enter, offline, please click here to download a PDF entry form.

Enter Online

Click here to enter the Wigtown Poetry Competition 2008/2009 online.

Rules

1. All poems are judged anonymously and the name of the poet must not appear on the manuscript.

2. Each poem must be typed on a separate sheet of paper.

3. For postal entries please include two copies of each poem.

4. Poems must not exceed 40 lines (not including title).

5. All entrants must be 16 years of age or over.

6. Entries may be in English, Scots or Scots / Irish Gaelic.

7. The competition is open to anyone throughout and outside the United Kingdom.

8. Poems must not be previously published, accepted for publication or currently entered into another competition.

9. There is no restriction on the number of poems submitted by each applicant, provided the appropriate entry fee is included.

10. Competition entries cannot be returned.

11. Alterations cannot be made to poems once they have been submitted.

12. All poems will be read initially by a team at the Scottish Poetry Library prior to the final judging process.

13. Winners will be notified by Monday 6th April. Winning poem and runner up entries will appear in the Scotsman and winners will be listed on the Wigtown website from Monday 11th May. No personal correspondence will be entered into regarding notification of results.

Fees

The first poem submitted costs £6.00 and three poems costs £15.00. Subsequent entries cost £6.00 each or an additional £10.00 for every additional 3.

Copyright

The copyright of each poem remains with the author. The authors of the winning poems grant the Wigtown Book Festival Company the right to use the poems in publicity material for one year from 3 April 2009.

Please note: No employee or board member of Wigtown Book Town Company, Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association, or the Scottish Poetry Library may enter the competition. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence can be entered into.

In Association With

Wigtown Book Festival - Scotland’s National Book Town Festival
26th September - 5th October 2008