McCash Prize for Poems in Scots

The McCash Scots Poetry competition, run by The Herald newspaper and the University of Glasgow, is celebrating ten years. To mark this, the organisers are running a competition this year on the theme ‘The Pleasures of Hope’ and are asking for entrants to send in poems, in Scots, based on this theme. Entrants must submit up to three original, unpublished poems, no longer than 30 lines, but in a form and style of their choosing. The language may be either in a standardised Scots, or in any of the regional variants. This year’s winners will see their work included in an anthology of 100 of the best McCash entries over the last decade, to be published in autumn 2012 by The Herald and University of Glasgow.

The first prize will be £750, followed by £350 for the second prize and £200 for the third prize. There will also be a prize of £200 for the best entry from someone who is aged 17 or younger.

The committee of judges will comprise Professor Nigel Leask, Professor Alan Riach and Lesley Duncan who is Poetry Editor at The Herald.

Entrants within the UK should send their entries on A4 paper with name, address and telephone number and/or email marked on the reverse to:

McCash Scots Poetry Competition,

C/o Lesley Duncan,

The Herald, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB

Overseas entries may be emailed to Lesley.duncan@theherald.co.uk but must be included within the body of the email and not as attachments.

The closing date for entries if Saturday 14 July 2012.