Congrats to all our Writing Prizes winners and runners-up for 2025!
If you’d like to see our winners read their pieces, you can reserve a free ticket to the Creative Writing Conference on Eventbrite. Please note that the writers will be reading at the Inspace section of the conference, so you should reserve a ticket for “Readings and anthology launch at InSpace Gallery”.
Book your free ticket on Eventbrite
RUNNER-UP OF THE 2025 GRIERSON VERSE PRIZE Kaja Kubickova: ‘I like a lot of things in life. I like fridge poetry, home-cooked dinners with loved ones, climbing rocks and jumping fences, crochet, planting trees, sunny days in the Meadows, running really fast down a hill. I’m a neuroscience student …
cO-WINNER OF THE 2025 LEWIS EDWARDS MEMORIAL PRIZE Grace Murray is a fourth-year literature student, based in Edinburgh and Norfolk. Grace’s debut novel, ‘Blank Canvas’, will be published by ‘Fig Tree’ in January 2026. May 7, 2025
cO-WINNER OF THE 2025 GRIERSON VERSE PRIZE Aoibh Downey is an English literature and History student from the Isle of Man. Their work draws on Irish and Manx folkloric cultures, touching on themes of cultural erasure, memory, loss, queerness and everything in between. Beyond the page, Aoibh is a …
cO-WINNER OF THE 2025 LEWIS EDWARDS MEMORIAL PRIZE Ignacio Gil Pineda is a 1st year History and Politics student from Guatemala. Interested in the ways we repress and connect, Authoritarianism, and all things Latin-America, he normally explores his ideas through essays, poetry, short fiction, and perpetually incomplete novels. May …
RUNNER-UP OF THE 2025 LEWIS EDWARDS MEMORIAL PRIZE Anjali Klinder is a shockingly aerodynamic human woman studying Philosophy and English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, with a special interest in the Philosophy of Physics. She has not published any poetry previously, but has had three short stories published …
WINNER OF THE 2025 SLOAN PRIZE Catherine Hodge is a fourth-year student studying English and Scottish Literature. Primarily focused on Scottish gothic writing of the nineteenth century, she plans on moving to Aberdeen to study an MLitt in Literatures, Environments and Places. She enjoys writing prose (as opposed to …
RUNNER-UP OF THE 2025 SLOAN PRIZE EVAN LAW – After graduating from his Linguistics & English Language degree last year, Evan has been enjoying making the time to rekindle his passion for writing and recalibrating what he wants to express. Coloured by his upbringing in West Lothian, he is …
co-winner OF THE 2025 GRIERSON VERSE PRIZE My name is Malika and I’m an artist and writer from Miami, Florida. I’ve received runner up for the Grierson Verse prize for the last two years now. My interest is in nature and animal poetry, and the intersection between design and writing. …
Winner of the 2024 Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize Pollyanna Jackson is an English Literature student based between Edinburgh and Oxfordshire, though soon to be making to move to Cumbria to start work as an Editor. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Bridport Prize, selected for Mark Gatiss’ writing programme with …
Runner-up OF THE 2024 GRIERSON VERSE PRIZE Malika McKenney is a student, writer, and visual artist from Miami, Florida. She has received runner-up for the Grierson Verse Prize for the last two years and is currently head designer of the Inkwell. She first began writing poetry in university and is …
JOINT RUNNER UP OF THE 2024 LEWIS EDWARDS MEMORIAL PRIZE Maya Engwell: ‘I’m so pleased to have been chosen as runner up for the prize this year. It’s a lovely leaving present and has given me a boost of confidence in my writing. Thanks Michael!’ I’ve also attached a …
RUNNER-UP OF THE 2024 SLOAN PRIZE Declan Kelly was born in Edinburgh and has lived there his whole life, especially enjoying the city for its atmosphere and people. He first began writing in high school and continued to do so after winning a school writing prize. He is currently studying …
WINNER OF THE 2024 GRIERSON VERSE PRIZE Emily Wheeler is a poet and English teacher from Virginia, USA, and earned her Bachelor of Science in English from Radford University. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in many magazines, including Blue River Review, Exit 109, Wingless Dreamer, and From …
WINNER OF THE 2024 SLOAN PRIZE Suzy Enoch: ‘I am a Scottish writer, director, and actress who began my writing life in theatre. I love to work across disciplines and have worked considerably in narrative circus, co-founding contemporary circus company, Circus Alba. However, lockdown motivated me to delve into the …
Winner of the 2023 Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize Pollyanna Jackson is an English Literature student based in Edinburgh & Oxfordshire. She was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2022, and selected by Mark Gatiss for his writing programme with the Dartington Trust that same year. She enjoys writing fiction and …
Winner of the 2023 Grierson Verse Prize Rachel Rankin is a poet and translator from Coatbridge, currently based in Edinburgh. She received a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2019, a Dewar Arts Award in 2017, and was shortlisted for the 2017 Jane Martin Poetry Prize. Most recently, she …
Winner of the 2023 Sloan Prize Declan Kelly was born in Edinburgh and has lived there his whole life, especially enjoying the city for its atmosphere and people. He first began writing in high school and continued to do so after winning a school writing prize. He is currently studying …
Runner-Up for the 2023 Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize Devki Panchmatia is a poet based in Edinburgh and London. She was a runner up for the Orwell Youth Prize in 2019, has performed her poetry at the Hidden Door Festival, and is the assistant editor of Outcrop Poetry magazine. You can …
Runner-Up for the 2023 Sloan Prize Suzy Enoch is a Scottish writer and actress who grew up in Aberdeen. After spending many years writing for stage and screen, she is currently completing the Creative Writing Masters in Edinburgh Uni. Stanes is her first foray into writing in Scots, and she …
