The Judges have now produced the shortlist of the 12 poems going forward to the final announcement of the winners at the presentation on Friday 4th November at the Lobster Pot.
People are expected to gather around 8 pm. but we have no experience of how many people to expect, not having done this before.
There will be a poetry reading as you would expect from the entries received.
The highly respected judges Dr Joy Hendry and Kevin Cadwallader both highly respected figures on the Scottish Poetry scene, have suggested that many of the poems received would warrant inclusion in an Anthology based on the entries. This is now under discussion.
The Poems entered will also be immortalised in a time capsule encased in concrete in the Lobster Pot Garden to be opened in one hundred years' time.
The Shortlist is of the following poems which can be viewed on this website!
N0. 19 The Lobster Pot.
No 102 Nobody's Oyster
No 134 The Blackness Retreat
No 137 I Dream the Moving Sea
No 162 Come Away In
No 188 The Ballad of Bo'ness Betty
No 201 Black River
No 221 You Are Here
No 223 The Lobster Pot
No 226 Sea Larking
No 237 Shore Leave
No 239 A Ghost Story
Thank you very much to all who entered their poems.
Joy Hendry and Kevin Cadwallander
Joy is re-emerging after a lifetime editing Chapman magazine, which was devoted to publishing
new writing, and providing a forum to help bring about much-needed cultural change. Through the
magazine, and other ploys she involved herself in, she was constantly working to move Scotland
from the appalling neglect it suffered in the 1970s, to the vibrant melting-pot it is now.
She is now focussing on her own work, especially poetry and her potential, just as a person, enjoys
‘giein it ladly’ in public, reading and lecturing, and causing good mischief when she can. In 2019,
she and Katy Ewing shared a pamphlet, published by The Poets’ Republic Press.
She was given an Honorary Doctorate from Edinburgh University (2005), joined the ranks of
Saltire Society’s Outstanding Women (2019) and the Scottish Poetry Library gave her its
inaugural Outstanding Services to Poetry in Scotland Award, 2020. An incurable ‘stirrer’, she still
does everything she can to enhance the Scotland she loves.
In 2022, still reeling from losing both husband and dog, she has been delighted to be asked to
judge The Lobster Pot Poetry Competition and discover the pleasures of Blackness and the
Lobster Pot Pub – all proof that life goes on …
Kevin Cadwallender is a poet and writer who lives in Dunfermline. He has published over 30 books and chapbooks of his own poetry and is a former Scottish Poetry Slam Champion. As editor under the nom de guerre ‘Jack Caradoc’ he runs Dreich Magazine & Press (a not for profit organisation) and has published over 150 books and chapbooks since 2020 and organised the ‘Summer Anywhere Free Festival’ in Edinburgh with over 100 poets and singers performing.