SAW Summer 2026 Adjudicators
Introducing this year’s Summer Competition adjudicators.
Lauren Pope
Adjudicator
JAMES MUIR POETRY
Lauren Pope has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University Of Edinburgh with an emphasis on écriture féminine in the early poetry of Medbh McGuckian and Louise Glück. Her poetry has appeared in various publications including Gutter, Magma, New Writing Scotland, The North, Poetry Wales, The Rialto, Best New British and Irish Poets (2017) and The Brotherton Poetry Prize Anthology (Carcanet). Her poetry pamphlet, Announce This (Templar Poetry), was shortlisted for the 2018 Callum Macdonald Memorial Awards.
She is a 2019 Manchester Poetry Prize finalist, and winner of the 2021 Brotherton Poetry Prize. Her debut collection, Always Erase, was published by Blue Diode Press in 2022, and her second pamphlet, Close Your Eyes When You Look At Me, was published by Broken Sleep Books in the same year.
Lucy Ribchester
Adjudicator
Westerwood Short Story
Lucy Ribchester is a novelist and short story writer based in Edinburgh. Her first novel, The Hourglass Factory, is a thriller set during the suffragette movement. It was longlisted for the Historical Writers Association Debut Crown and selected by Waterstones’ Edinburgh branches as their Book of the Year. Her most recent historical novel, Murder Ballad, was published in 2024 and is set in 18th century Edinburgh’s music scene.
She has won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award and a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the Costa Short Story Award, and Manchester Fiction Prize, and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She is currently a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Edinburgh.
Lucy also writes about dance, books and children’s events for The List magazine, and writes contemporary thrillers under the name Elle Connel.
Sheena Blackhall
Adjudicator
Caledonian Quaich
Sheena Blackhall is a writer, illustrator, traditional ballad singer and storyteller in North East Scotland. From 1998-2003 she was Creative Writing Fellow in Scots at the Elphinstone Institute. She has published four Scots novellas, fifteen short story collections many owersetts, and over 2019 poetry collections. In 2009 she became Makar (poet laureate) for Aberdeen and the North East, and Makar for the Doric Board in 2019. She has won many awards and prizes for her work.
Poem up to a maximum of 40 lines
Adjudicator – Lauren Pope
Prizes:
1st £100
2nd £50
3rd £25
Open only to members of SAW who are either a paid up individual member or a member of an affiliate club
Submissions to competition now open!
Results announced Saturday 10th October
Adjudicator – Lucy Ribchester
Prizes:
1st Dinner, Bed and Breakfast at the Westerwood Hotel
2nd £50
3rd £25
Open only to members of SAW who are either a paid up individual member or a member of an affiliate club
Submissions to competition now open!
Results announced Saturday 10th October
Up to 2000 Words
Adjudicator – Sheena Blackhall
Prizes:
1st £100
2nd £50
3rd £25
Open only to members of SAW who are either a paid up individual member or a member of an affiliate club
Submissions to competition now open!
Results announced Saturday 10th October
£10 per entry
£10 per entry
£10 per entry
Closing Date
Entries must be submitted via our website competition forms by midnight UK time on closing date of 22nd August 2026.
No late entries will be accepted. Early submissions are welcome.
Rules of Entry
Poetry single spaced.
- No Cover Page Needed: When entering any of the competitions, no cover page is necessary, as the form you submit will already contain all the relevant details for our Competition Secretary.
- Pseudonyms: When submitting entries, please place a one-word pseudonym at the top of the first page of each entry. The title and page number should appear on every page. Please use a unique pseudonym for each entry to maintain anonymity during the judging process. Pseudonyms should be A SINGLE UNIQUE WORD and must not identify you personally. Entries such as “Red1”, “Red2”, “Red3” are discouraged, as they are identifiable to the adjudicator as the same author and do not adhere to our policy of anonymity for judging purposes.
- Document Naming: Please ensure that the document you attach is named exactly the same as the title of your submitted entry. For example, if your poem is titled Summer Night, the file name for your document should also be Summer Night (without any additional words or numbers).
- Before sending, check that your entry has no details that would identify you (name, address, phone number, etc.) Any entries with identifying information will be disqualified.
- Separate Entries: If you are submitting multiple entries, each entry must have its own separate document, named appropriately. Doubling up multiple entries on a single document could risk your entries being disqualified or overlooked.
- All fees to be paid online via stripe payment gateway. All competitions £10 per entry.
- Submit as many entries as you wish with appropriate fee for each entry.
- Competitions open to anyone over 16 years.
- Entries must be an original work of the entrant, not previously published, self-published or placed on any website and nor currently entered for any other competition. No Artificial Intelligence (AI) submissions will be accepted.
- Entries will not be returned.
- A team of experienced readers may create a shortlist for the adjudicator.
- Adjudicator’s decision is final, no individual correspondence will be entered into.
- Copyright for each entry remains with the author.
- No adjudicator is eligible to enter.
- The award trophy will be sent to the winner provided they are resident in Scotland.