Writing prizes

This prize, estimated value £900, is awarded to a matriculated student of the University of Aberdeen or the University of Edinburgh.

It is given for a poem or series of poems, using any recognised verse form other than free verse, totalling no more than 80 lines on a given theme. When submitting your entry, please note which form you used in your email and in the document above your poem.

The theme for 2024 is "friendship", and any valid interpretation of the theme is acceptable.

I am incredibly honored and grateful to have won the Grierson Verse Prize 2024. This poem allowed me to portray the tender, intimate moments of friendship as we grow older and explore the return to a place of nostalgia, like a parking lot, and the ruminations that accompany them.

Past winners

This prize was established in memory of Lewis Edwards, who died while a student of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. It is open to any matriculated undergraduate student of the University.

The award, estimated value £1,400, is offered for a composition in English verse (including free verse) or prose (fiction). Poetry submissions must be no more than 80 lines, and prose (fiction) submissions must be no longer than 2,000 words. Please feel free to not use the maximum word capacity.

Oops, I did it again! I'm completely bowled away and honoured to have won the Lewis Edwards Prize, this piece means a lot to me and it’s so rewarding to have it recognised.

Past winners

This prize, estimated value £1,500, is awarded annually for a prose or verse composition in Lowland Scots vernacular to a matriculated student of the University of Edinburgh, or to a graduate of the University of Edinburgh of less than three years’ standing.

Poetry submissions must be no more than 80 lines, and prose (fiction) submissions must be no longer than 2,000 words. Please feel free to not use the maximum word capacity.

You should include a statement about the particular dialect chosen as accuracy plays a big part in determining the award (along with the literary and imaginative interest of the composition).

I am absolutely thrilled to receive this award and grateful for the recognition of work that is so personal to me. Writing 'Hame' was a real journey of discovery, finding ways to weave the threads of Scots vernacular and history into a narrative that speaks universally. Thank you to Michael Pedersen for seeing value in my little story.

Past winners