Neil Gunn Writing Competition Homecoming Scotland 2009
This biennial competition is organised by The Highland Council and the Neil Gunn Trust; this is the tenth competition.
PLEASE NOTE: The competition is now CLOSED and no further submissions can be accepted.
Neil Gunn Writing Competition Winners 2009
The Neil Gunn Writing Competition Homecoming 2009 winners’ ceremony was held at Inverness Town House on Tuesday 23rd June 2009. Below is a list of the prize winners with links to their work.
Adult Poetry
1st Prize James Knox Whittet – "Cuttings"
2nd Prize Jim Bradbury – "A Memory of Old Men Grieving"
3rd Prize Donald S. Murray – "Lifting Song"
Commended Elizabeth Rimmer – "Goes Without Saying"
Commended Yvonne Gray – "The Road to Nový Most"
Adult Prose
1st Prize Jacqueline Liuba – “…there are angels as there are trees. (Borges)”
2nd Prize Daniela Norris – “Hands”
3rd Prize Fiona Thackeray – “Forgotten Tigers of Rio de Janeiro”
Highly Commended Helen Forbes – “On the edge”
Commended Alison Napier – “The Magic of Plumwood”
Commended Elizabeth Maitreyi – “The Unrepeatableness of the Moment”
Commended Jon Haylett – “The Wall”
Secondary Schools
1st Prize Beth O’Connell Thurso High – “Troika”
2nd Prize Neil Henderson Thurso High – “The Weighting Room”
3rd Prize Isabella Claydon Gairloch High – “She”
Highly Commended Alison Castle Thurso High – “Partager”
Commended Charlotte Gordon Thurso High – “Redemption”
Commended Conal McDonagh Gairloch High – “Block 616”
Commended Fiona Cowan Thurso High – Untitled
Commended Katrina Gallacher Dingwall Academy – “Living with One Another”
Commended Kirsten Brown Charleston Academy – “Head of the House”
Primary Schools
1st Prize Simon Thomas North Kessock Primary – “Slavery”
2nd Equal Prize Ruby Partridge Broadford Primary – “A Garden of Flowers”
2nd Equal Prize Robbie F. Graham Applecross Primary – “Peace Not War”
Commended Ainsley MacDonald Balloch Primary – “Living with One Another”
Commended Belinda Gordon Mount Pleasant Primary – Untitled
Commended Daniel Goldthorpe Applecross Primary – “Everyone’s Your Family”
Please click on the title or see the Current Documents section on the right to view the works in PDF format.
Purpose of competition
To celebrate the contribution of Neil Gunn to our literary heritage by encouraging writing about the contemporary world and the place of individuals in it.
2009 Theme: ...'Living with One Another '...
This theme has been drawn from the following quote and recognises the fact that this tenth competition is taking place in the same year as Homecoming Scotland 2009.
"For at the end of the day, what's all the bother about? Simply about human relations, about how we are to live one with another on the old earth. That's all, ultimately. To understand one another, and to understand what we can about the earth, and in the process gather some peace of mind and, with luck, a little delight." The Serpent, Neil M Gunn
Judging
The principal judge for the 2009 competition is the award winning Scottish author James Robertson. Each section of the competition has two judges.
The award ceremony will take place at the Town House in Inverness on Tuesday 23rd June 2009. All prize winners have now been notified of their success, but publicity will be withheld until the day of the ceremony.
Sponsors
The Highland Council and the Neil Gunn Trust gratefully acknowledge the following sponsors:
The Royal Bank of Scotland for sponsoring the junior prizes
HI-Arts for sponsoring the overall winner's prize of a residential week at Moniack Mhor or any other Arvon Centre in the UK.
Previous prize winning entries
The winning entries from the 2007 competition can be viewed (and in some cases heard being read by the authors) by visiting www.ambaile.org.uk and entering 'Neil Gunn competition' in the search box.
Contact
For further information please contact Charlotte MacArthur, Area Libraries Officer, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey & Lochaber. Email charlotte.macarthur@highland.gov.uk or phone 01463 663828