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Writing Prizes

The University of Edinburgh's three creative writing prizes, open for 2024 submissions
 
Writing Prizes

Pollyanna Jackson: Georgie

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 literary criticism, and is currently working on a literary fiction novel. She is extremely good at getting thrown off horses.

Connect with Pollyanna
Instagram: @towriteawrong

Read more“Pollyanna Jackson: Georgie”

Rachel Rankin: Single Track Road

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 was shortlisted for the 2022 Aurora Prize for Writing and selected for the 2022/23 Clydebuilt Verse Apprenticeship Scheme. Rachel’s work has been published in Magma, Gutter, The Scotsman, Words Without Borders and Multiverse: An International Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry, among others. She is currently finalising a PhD in Scandinavian Studies/Translation Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Connect with Rachel

Website: https://rachelrankin.co.uk/

Twitter: @rakelrank

Instagram: @rakelrank

Read more“Rachel Rankin: Single Track Road”

Declan Kelly: The Immortality of a Crab

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 law at the University of Edinburgh and has received a special mention of the Sloan Prize in 2020 and 2022, before winning in 2023.

Read more“Declan Kelly: The Immortality of a Crab”

Devki Panchmatia: Bear Hunt

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 …

Suzanne Enoch: Stanes

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 …

Rosie Gandon: Four

Runner-Up for the 2023 Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize Rosie Gandon is a student and writer from East Sussex, currently studying Japanese and Linguistics in her first year at Edinburgh University. She has been writing ever since she was young, though this is her first time ever submitting a piece to …

Kate Genevieve: Lessons

Runner-Up for the 2023 Grierson Verse Prize Kate Genevieve is a Uk-based writer born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She received her BA and a BEd  degrees from the University of British Columbia before pursuing a master’s degree in poetry at the University of Edinburgh. Her poetry can be found …

Alice Eaves: Breeding Fires

Runner-Up for the 2023 Grierson Verse Prize Alice Eaves is an artist and writer from Blackpool, England. She is currently completing her MSc in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. She has been published or forthcoming in The Literary Platform, The Manchester Review and Origin Stories: An Anthology of Beginnings with …

Holly Sargent: Collecting Dust

Runner-Up for the 2023 Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize Holly Sargent is a fourth year student of English Literature from Bracknell, England. Her literary interests drew her to study in Scotland, where her writing has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She also enjoys rocks, kitsch, and useless things a …

Meghan Link: The Sound o Hame

Runner-Up for the 2023 Sloan Prize Meghan Link is a Spanish and English Literature student at the University of Edinburgh, from rural Angus. Taking inspiration from her family connections to Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England, she is fascinated by the themes of language and identity. She writes in her spare …

Armaan: Hills of Basalt

Winner of the 2022 Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize Armaan Verma is a student of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. He published his first book, ‘Glorious Greeks: Meet the Gods’, when he was eleven. His work has appeared in newspapers and magazines like The Quint, HIMAL Southasian, and The Skinny, …

Olivia Thomakos: What You Wish For

Winner of the 2022 Grierson Verse Prize Olivia Thomakos is an English teacher and poet from Ohio, USA. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. She is published or forthcoming in Berfrois, Dreich Magazine, Loud Coffee Press, and small leaf poetry studio among other blogs and university …

Siru: Fengxian

Runner Up for the 2022 Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize Siru grew up by a tributary of the Yangtze River, in a town engulfed by mountains. They now read philosophy and linguistics in Edinburgh. They don’t know where they will end up in this tiny big world. Siru writes to reclaim …

Heather Dunnett: let mi spik

Runner Up for the 2022 Sloan Prize Heather Dunnett is a queer Aberdonian poet currently working towards her MSc in Creative Writing (Poetry) at Edinburgh University. She has lived in Edinburgh for the past five years and writing poetry in the dialect of her hometown is one way she stays …

Ailsa Fraser: Augurs Alone

Runner Up for the 2022 Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize Ailsa Fraser (she/her) is a queer writer of speculative fiction, studying History and Politics at the University of Edinburgh. She has been writing for as long as she can remember. Her fiction work has been published in The Inkwell, and her non-fiction work can be …

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