The Nan Shepherd Writing Competition run by The WORD Centre for Creative Writing was launched at this year's May Festival (24- 26 May 2019).
The Festival saw two sell-out events about the life and work of this celebrated University of Aberdeen alumna and author of The Living Mountain, The Quarry Wood,poetry collection In the Cairngorms, and much more.
The new Nan Shepherd Prize for Creative Writing is for writers aged 16–18, with a first prize of £250 and two runners-up prizes of £100. Entry forms with full details of this competition can be downloaded from this site.
Nan Shepherd, who has become one of Scotland's best-loved nature writers and appears on the Scottish five-pound note, was an early female graduate from the University of Aberdeen and remained closely connected with this place of learning for the rest of her life. This new University of Aberdeen initiative (funded by the Principal’s Dowry Fund) aims to encourage and inspire young writers on their creative journey, just as Nan Shepherd did in a life devoted to education and sharing knowledge. The theme this year is ‘Life and Landscape’ and the competition is open to S5 and S6 pupils in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Morayshire. Closing date for submissions is March 1st 2020. Enquiries to nan.shepherd@abdn.ac.uk
We are also delighted to be linked with Nan Shepherd’s publisher, Canongate, who have simultaneously launched their own Nan Shepherd Prize to search for the ‘the next big voice in nature writing’. More details of this can be found here: https://nanshepherdprize.com
Entry forms with full details of this competition can be downloaded here.
Teaching notes can be downloaded here.
The closing date for entries is 1 March 2020.
