Wigtown Poetry Prizes Winners Revealed
At an award ceremony during Wigtown Book Festival, the winners have been unveiled for the 2024 Wigtown Poetry Prizes.
Celebrating work in Scotland’s three indigenous languages, the annual prize also awards the Alastair Reid Pamphlet Prize and the Dumfries and Galloway Fresh Voice Award. For the first time, Wigtown International Poetry Prize was awarded to two joint winners.
Wigtown International Poetry Prize
- Joint Winner: Cracked - Magi Gibson, from Glasgow (£850)
“Her poem is beautifully crafted … constructed as a series of couplets in deceptively prosaic everyday language, yet the imagery is vividly heightened, surreal at times. The result is a poem urgently of our time, one that resonates universally.”
- Gerda Stevenson, Wigtown International Poetry Prize judge
- Joint Winner: Homosexual - Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, from Edinburgh (£850)
“This poem takes a single word, in this case the poem's title, and uses it to explore the nature of that identity and the fundamental necessity of that word for the person in whose voice the poem speaks. That single word goes on a journey through each stanza, from taboo, loss and fear to open celebration. The language is intense, rhythmic with vivid imagery, emotionally naked, yet never sentimental.”
- Gerda Stevenson
Judge, the writer, actor and director Gerda Stevenson, said every poem on the shortlist was of a high quality and deserved recognition.
Receiving his award Marcas spoke about his and Magi’s success:
“I want to say a couple of words about the incredible woman who just read her winning poem, who's been an inspiration to me for a number of years and has supported me for a very long time as a writer. I have to admit that with the first draft of this poem, I sent it to Magi, and she gave me feedback. And so I owe her a lot. So, this is the ideal result for me.”
Wigtown Scottish Gaelic Prize
(Supported by The Gaelic Books Council)
- Winner: Fianais, Rònaigh an Taibh - Rody Gorman, Isle of Skye (£500)
- Runner up: Crìoch cànain - Mona Claudia Wagner, from Germany (£200
“Bha na dàin a chaidh a chur a-steach do dhuaisean Baile Ùige am bliadhna-sa a' dearbhadh cho fallain agus farsaing 's a tha bàrdach sa chànan, le bàird à iomadh dùthaich a' sgrìobhadh gun eagal agus gun chrìochan. 'S e gearr-liosta gu math laidir a bh'ann, agus cnap math eile ann a bha airidh air moladh - ach b' iad na dàin aig Rody agus Mona a thug an tlachd as motha dhomh fhìn.”
- Peter Mackay, Wigtown Gaelic Prize Judge
Translation:
“It's hugely important that Gaelic has a place at Wigtown, and the historic strength of the language in the area is recognised in the celebration of contemporary Gaelic poetry.“
The Gaelic poems submitted to Wigtown this year showed how diverse and strong poetry in the language is just now, with lots of poets writing ambitious, daring work. It was a strong shortlist, and there were many others worthy of high praise - but it was a delight, in particular, to read Rody's and Mona's poems.”
“Às leth Chomhairle nan Leabhraichean, bu mhath leam taing mhòr a thoirt do na britheamhan agus don sgioba aig Baile na h-Ùige airson cothrom a thoirt do bhàird Ghàidhlig tron fharpais chliùiteach seo. Tha na dàin a chaidh a chur a-steach am-bliadhna a’ dearbhadh cho fallain ’s a tha sgrìobhadh bàrdachd san latha an-diugh agus a’ taisbeanadh tàlant nam bàrd a thàinig troimhe dhan gheàrr-liosta, agus tha Rody Gorman, Mona Claudia Wagner rim moladh gu mòr. Mealaibh ur naidheachd.”
- Alison Lang, Director of the Gaelic Books Council
Translation:
“On behalf of Comhairle nan Leabhraichean, I would like to thank the judges and the Wigtown team for the opportunity that this prestigious prize presents for Gaelic poets. This year’s entries demonstrate the vigour of contemporary poetry and the talent of the shortlisted poets, and Rody Gorman and Mona Claudia Wagner deserve high praise and our most sincere congratulations.”
Wigtown Scots Prize
(Supported by Saltire Society)
- Winner: Loch Awe – Lesley Benzie, from Glasgow (£500)
- Runner up: A Black Ex-Miner Caas Doon the Miners' Raws – Robert Duncan, Newcastle upon Tyne (£200)
“The winning piece, Loch Awe, captured a moment in time. It was an adventure but so much more with its references to kelpies and spectres. It had a feeling of fear but also fun. Each time I read it I found a little more in it and was glad that they got 'a safe passage back tae shore’.”
“The second piece, A Black Ex-Miner Caas Doun the Miners' Raws, used very rich Scots to good effect as it captured the end of an era. It was a hard life the miners had and the houses tell the stories of their lives. There is good use of alliteration and assonance in the poem as in 'Stievely, siccarly, He swings his forehaimmer’.”
- Ann MacKinnon, Wigtown Scots Prize Judge
“We were delighted to see the range of work submitted in Scots for the prize and the winner and runner-up, in their very different ways, demonstrate the health of writing in the leid. Loch Awe is a really interesting poem drawing effectively on folklore and playing (appropriately enough) with depths and shallows. Congratulations to Lesley and to Robert on their achievement."
- Mairi Kidd, Director of the Saltire Society
Alastair Reid Pamphlet Prize
(In memory of one of Scotland’s foremost literary talents)
- Winner: I Go To The Devil - Sarah Gibbons (prize: publication)
“Sarah Gibbons’ pamphlet is a series of verses, an imagining of the inner and outer worlds of the renowned Isabelle Gaudi, a woman who confessed to witchcraft in 1662. The language in Gibbons’ pamphlet is finely wrought, vividly realising the psychology of a woman on the edge of extremity. The poet brilliantly blends the sometimes surreal imagination of Gaudi a Sabbath breaker within a deft depiction of a harsh life and landscape.”
- Gerda Stevenson, judge of the Alastair Reid Pamphlet Prize
Dumfries & Galloway Fresh Voice Award
- Winner: In between places – Suzannah Goss, from Edinburgh – who wins support and a place on a course at Moniack Mhor to help further develop her poetry.
“I was hoping to find poetry to engage with, richness of subject matter and imagery alongside attention to structure. I found all this and more from the entrants to the Fresh Voices Award.
“The poets had also provided a series of interconnected poems, clearly working towards a pamphlet of work and aware of the requirements of the competition.”
- Liz Niven, Fresh Voice Award judge.
The prizes date back to 2005 and have become recognised as Scotland’s international poetry awards. Wigtown Festival Company is grateful for the continuing support for the Wigtown Poetry Prizes from the Gaelic Books Council / Comhairle nan Leabhraichean, Saltire Society, StAnza, Moniack Mhor and Scottish Poetry Library.
