Winner of the 2022 SloanPrize Jo Higgs (he/him) is a student from Edinburgh currently undertaking an MScR in English Literature, delving into the underappreciated works of Agnes Owens. He also writes things unrelated to his studies, predominantly about music (mainly to be read in Secret Meeting) and some fiction too. …
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 …
Runner Up for the 2022 Sloan Prize Dorothy Lawrenson was born in Dundee and grew up in Fife. She has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh, an MFA in Creative Writing from Texas State University, and an MA in Fine Art from the University of Edinburgh. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Runner Up for the 2022 Grierson Verse Prize Beth Grainger is a writer and PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh. She writes and researches contemporary social justice poetry with a particular focus on the representation of working-class issues in UK poetry. She has had work published in journals such …
Runner Up for the 2022 Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize Hattie Atkins is a Mancunian writer living and studying in Edinburgh. Amongst other literary magazines, her prose and poetry have appeared in Gutter and en bloc, and has been anthologised by The Common Breath and Forest Publishing. Her poem, ‘Home Remedies’, received a …
Runner Up for the 2022 Sloan Prize Declan Kelly was born in Edinburgh and have 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 …
Runner Up for the 2022 Grierson Verse Prize Carl Alexandersson (he/him) is a queer spoken word poet and writer, based in Edinburgh. He was selected for the BBC Words First programme in 2021, awarded the UniSlam Slambassadors Award in 2020, and shortlisted for the Wolves Lit Fest Poetry Competition in 2022. His …
Runner Up for the 2022 Grierson Verse Prize Tim Tim Cheng is a poet and a teacher from Hong Kong, currently reading the MSc in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. She is a WrICE fellow, awardee of the William Hunter Sharpe Memorial Scholarship and a mentee of Roddy …
Tim is from Stoke-on-Trent, lives in Scotland and works for Manchester Metropolitan University. He has an MFA from Syracuse University and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, which explored mental illness in Confessional poetry. He won the Grierson Verse Prize in 2017. His pamphlet, Lake Effect, is published by …
Alycia Pirmohamed is the author of the chapbooks Hinge (ignitionpress), and Faces that Fled the Wind (BOAAT Press), and co-author with Pratyusha of Second Memory (Guillemot Press and Baseline Press). Her debut collection, Another Way to Split Water, is forthcoming with YesYes Books and Polygon Books in 2022. She is …
Read a selection of our past winners’ entries Read a selection of the entries given a special mention Feb 21, 2022
Roshni is a poet from Leeds. Roshni received a special mention of the Grierson Verse Prize in 2019. She is a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awardee 2022. Her work is published in Best Scottish Poems 2020, Gutter, Butcher’s Dog, The Scotsman newspaper and more. She has performed her work …
Jamie Perriam is a freelance writer and law student at the University of Edinburgh. He won the Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize in 2021. He hopes that his admittedly tall tale of judicial misconduct will prove no bar to professional progression in either field. Feb 18, 2022
Alex Aldred lives and writes in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he is currently studying towards his PhD in creative writing. He was the recipient of a special mention of the Grierson Verse Prize in 2020. His debut pamphlet, Faces Adjacent, was published by Ghost City Press in June 2021. You can …
Alice is a writer and academic from Edinburgh. She has been published in Scottish Review, Nomad, Extra Teeth, Like the Wind and Forum. Her short story, ‘The Return’, won The Sloan Prize in 2021 and is currently being adapted as a novel. Alice currently works as a Staff Writer and …
I’m a 4th year student at Edinburgh studying English Literature and Classics. Born and raised in Cardiff, I’ve been writing creatively for as long as I can remember, winning an award in one of the Rotary Club’s short story competitions and even being crowned Bard at my high school’s Eisteddfod. …
