McLellan Poetry Competition 2025 results!
Arran Theatre and Arts Trust would like to thank all the fantastic writers who submitted entries to the 2025 McLellan Poetry Competitions.
We are pleased to announce the winning and commended entries for both the English and the Scots competitions, as selected by our wonderful judge, Jim Carruth.
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Image: Jim Carruth, Craig Aitchison and David Bleiman at the Poetry Winners' Gig 2025
The McLellan English Poetry Competition 2025
First Prize: Cáit O'Neill McCullagh for “THE FIRTH BLUE AS A BLACKBIRD'S EGG & WE ARE”
Highly Commended entries:
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Mark Fiddes for "The men who watch geese"
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Pratibha Castle for “THE NEW NEIGHBOUR INTRODUCES HIMSELF”
The McLellan Scots Poetry Competition 2025
First Prize: Craig Aitchison for “The Wecht o the Warld”
Highly Commended entries:
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Christie Williams for "galloo sendeens"
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David Bleiman for "Onie Baxter’s Mixter-Maxter"
Congratulations to all of our very worthy winning and highly commended poets.
We would also like to extend our grateful thanks to Jim Carruth for his hard work in selecting the winning entries in this year's competitions, and to all the writers who took the time to enter the competitions and to trust us with their words and work.
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Read the winning and commended poems by clicking the links below:
Judge for 2025: Jim Carruth
Jim Carruth is a poet, editor and awards and events programmer. He is the co-founder and chair of St Mungo’s Mirrorball and has been an artistic advisor for StAnza. He is the current Poet Laureate of Glasgow and is the RLF Fellow at Glasgow University. His poetry has won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship; the James McCash poetry competition, the McLellan Poetry Prize and the Callum Macdonald prize.
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He has brought out four full collections and nine chapbooks. Killochries was shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Poetry Book of the Year, the Seamus Heaney Centre For Poetry Prize and the Fenton Aldeburgh Prize. His latest collection Far Field came out in 2023.
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Previous Years
Judge Sean O'Brien with the many of the 2019 Winners and the Competition Organisers at the Prize Giving on Arran.
(from the right: Cicely Gill, Organiser; Sean O'Brien, Competition Judge; Jane Kinton, 3rd Prize; Kitty Donnelly, Commended; Pamela Brough, 1st Prize; James Caruth, Commended & David Underdown, Organiser.)
2018 winner Char March recorded her entry in Scots and English
Maura Dooley presents 1st Prize to 2017 winner Louise Greig
Jed Myers receiving 1st Prize from
David Constantine in 2016
