A new poetry writing competition to mark the 900th anniversary of the capital has been launched by Edinburgh Libraries.
As part of the Edinburgh 900 celebrations taking place the city-wide contest invites local residents to share their creativity and love for Edinburgh through original poems.
The competition celebrates the city’s rich history, culture, and community spirit and six winning entries will be featured on exclusive bookmarks distributed throughout the capital’s council-run libraries.
Entries must be written about the City of Edinburgh in connection with the Edinburgh 900 celebrations. There are ten themes for the Edinburgh 900 which can be used as inspiration:
City of David
City of Faith
City of Commerce
City of Industry
City of Conflict
City of Finance
City of Ideas
City of Leisure
City of Celebration
City of Diversity
Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for the city’s poets to showcase their creativity and contribute to Edinburgh’s special celebrations.
“I’m excited to hear voices from all over the city capturing the spirit, beauty and history of our remarkable capital.
“Edinburgh has long been a city where literature thrives, as we mark 900 years these unique bookmarks provide another meaningful way to honour the city’s legacy and the power of words to connect and inspire.”
The deadline for submissions is Friday 31 January 2025. Entrants should reside in the Edinburgh postcode area and have an EH postcode and be 18 years or older.
Full details on how to enter and terms and condition are on the Edinburgh 900 website.
New stories of an old city retold in poetry competition
A three year collections project, Auld Reekie Retold, comes to a close tomorrow (Sunday 19 February) at the City Art Centre.
To mark the event, staff at Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have announced the results of a poetry competition hosted with the Scottish Poetry Library and Hannah Lavery, the Edinburgh Makar.
Poems had to be inspired in some way by objects in the current exhibition at the City Art Centre. Entries covered the full range of objects exhibited, from small pottery items made at the Buchans factory in Portobello to a blue dress sold by Jenners in the 1980s.
The judging panel was made up of representatives from Museums & Galleries Edinburgh and Scottish Poetry Library, with the final selection made by Hannah Lavery.
Nico Tyack, Auld Reekie Retold project manager said: “The poems were of a really high standard, and had us laughing, smiling and even crying but they all moved us and showed us the amazing power of objects.
“We all see the same objects in an exhibition, but what they mean to us varies in so many ways. It was humbling to see the collections interpreted in such creative ways.”
Culture and Communities Convener, Cllr Val Walker, said: “The poems are a moving and beautiful closure to the Auld Reekie Retold exhibition and project.
“Auld Reekie Retold was all about celebrating the shared public ownership of the collections, so what better way to tell new stories about the city than letting the people of Edinburgh do the talking?”
The winning entries were:
Under-18 Jiffy Washing Machine by Archer Thomson Adams
Over-18 First place, It is your turn, by Lynda McDonald Second place, Mind?, by Alison Findlay
Highly commended The Impermanent Collection by Iain Macfarlane and The Ballant o’ Hugh McKail’s Guid Beuk by Sam Phipps.
This short film shows the poets reading their winning entries, with images of the objects that inspired them.
World Poetry Day is the ideal opportunity to share poems with your youngsters. Playful, silly, beautiful, fun… there’s something for everyone. Former primary school teacher Becky Cranham of education resources experts PlanBee shows you how
A Lockdown Haiku Another zoom call Daily freezing groundhog walk Will this ever end?
Writing poetry has always been a way for people to express difficult feelings and emotions. There is something so cathartic about immortalising thoughts on paper, particularly if those words are arranged in a precise and pleasing arrangement of sounds and syllables.
Yet as technology advances and people find other outlets for self-expression, poetry is becoming less and less mainstream. For those for whom poetry is unfamiliar, it can seem a daunting and curious art form, especially when it comes to introducing children. Where do you start? What forms should you teach? How do you condense something so vast into manageable and understandable chunks?
Part of the joy of poetry, however, is its simplicity. It doesn’t have to be ‘The Iliad’; it can be playful and silly and freeing. It can also be tender or thoughtful, pensive or angry, hopeful or despairing. Poetry can be anything you want it to be, and that is its unique beauty.
World Poetry Day is the perfect excuse to use poetry to help children (and adults) through these tough times.
So how exactly can poetry help? First and foremost, poetry is fun! Search ‘nonsense poetry’ online with your children and you will find a plethora of hilariously stupid poems to make your children laugh. Or look up the poems of the nonsense king, Spike Milligan, for some classic nonsense such as ‘On the ning nang nong’ or ‘Land of the Bumbly Boo’.
Funny poems, whether nonsense or not, are fantastic at any time of day to lighten the mood – and we could all use a bit more of that at the moment!
Poetry is also a great way of encouraging children to explore their feelings. Children have had to deal with so much this past year: a scary virus, school closures, virtual learning, missing family and friends, as well as the loss of loved ones for many.
Poetry gives children the chance to reflect on how they feel and give a voice to their feelings. Encouraging your children to write a poem, carefully choosing which words they want to include, can help them process difficult emotions.
It also affords children the chance to look to the future and the (hopefully) brighter days ahead. We all need a big old dose of hope right now and poetry can help children express what they are looking forward to about the future, helping them recognise that current events are just temporary and that life will look different soon.
Which is why at PlanBee, we’re running a special poetry competition this year.
Write a poem entitled ‘When Lockdown is Over’ for your chance to win a beautiful poetry anthology
In honour of World Poetry Day 2021, PlanBee is running a competition for children aged five to 11 to encourage them to engage with poetry. All they need to do is write a poem about what they will do, or are hoping for, when lockdown ends, called ‘When Lockdown is Over’.
The poem can be in any form at all but some ideas and templates are included in this free download to get them started.
