Wigtown Book Festival have invited entries for their forthcoming Wigtown Poetry Competition. As well as writing in English, the competition also has categories for both Gaelic and Scots. The main prize is worth £2000 (to be judged by Robin Robertson), with £400 to the runner-up and prizes each of £250 for the best poems in Gaelic and Scots, to be judged by Meg Bateman and Liz Niven respectively. It costs £7.00 to enter a poem or £19.00 for three entries, though there are further prices for additional entries which may be detailed by contacting the festival. Entrants must be aged 16 or over and each poem must not be more than 40 lines (excluding title). Each poem must be on a separate sheet, without the author’s name to ensure judging is anonymous. In addition, poems must be unpublished original work. Please state the category each poem is being entered for. The deadline for submission is 31 May 2013. Winners will be notified on Friday 9 August and will be invited to read their work at the Wigtown Book Festival as well as see their work published on the festival website.

If you would like to find out more details please download the competition brochure (see PDF below) or contact the Book Festival at www.wigtownbookfestival.com/poetrycomp or phone 01988 402036.