We're delighted to unveil the winners and runners up of Wigtown Poetry Prize 2023

 

"The Wigtown Prizes in English, Scots and Gaelic are among the most eagerly sought after accolades and the list of judges and winners read like a who's who of contemporary poetry" - Author and poet, Hugh McMillan

 

 

 

 

Wigtown Poetry Prize

 

 

John Wheway, My Mother Unwraps My Gift of Frida Kahlo's Me and My Parrots

 

 

Runner up

 

 

Rachel Rankin, Winter Solstice

 

 

 

 

Wigtown Scots Poetry Prize

 

 

Craig Aitchison, Juist

 

 

Runner up

 

 

Keeks Mc, Peer Breiths

 

 

 

 

Wigtown Gaelic Poetry Prize

 

 

Seonaidh Charity, Mapaichean

 

 

Runner up

 

 

Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, Ainneamhag Gheal

 

 

 

 

 

Alastair Reid Pamphlet Prize

 

 

Stephanie Green, Ortelius' Sea Monsters

 

 

 

 

 

Dumfries and Galloway Fresh Voice Award

 

 

Robin Leiper, Sunshine Against Shadow

 

 

Runners up

 

 

Diane Schofield, One Moonless Light

 

 

Jane McBeth, That Day

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to all the winners and runners up. It's a huge achievement to be handpicked among hundreds of entrants by experts in the field. You can view the judges' comments on the winning entries and runners up here.

 

 

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who entered. Each of the judges commented on the high standard of entries and how difficult it was to narrow their choice. Thank you for trusting us with your work.

 

 

You can read the winning poems on the Wigtown Book Festival blog here.

 

 

The prize giving event hosted at Wigtown Book Festival by author and poet Hugh Macmillan was livestreamed to our website. You can watch the event here.