The UNESCO City of Literature Robert Burns Poetry Competitions are annual international competitions run by Dunedin Public Libraries in partnership with the Dunedin Burns Club and the Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature, with the aim of encouraging people to celebrate Scottish heritage and the enduring memory of Robert Burns.
From September 15th to November 19th, High School poets are invited to ‘Rap Like Robbie,’ writing in English or Scots - inspired by the life or works of Robert Burns. The theme for this year’s competition is ‘New Scotland’, and you are invited to write poems in response to the questions:
- How has Scottish culture evolved at home and abroad?
- Do the Scots become more Scottish the further they travel from the homeland?
- What happens when cultures blend or collide, with travel and migration?
The competition will be judged by writers Jilly O’Brien and Donna Rutherford. Prizes will be awarded at a public prize-giving event on Robert Burns’ birthday Tuesday 25th January 2022.
Thanks to generous sponsorship by the Otago Scottish Heritage Council, Royden and Lee Sommerville, The Dunedin Public Libraries Association, and the Dunedin-Edinburgh Sister City Society, the cash prize for the best ‘Young Poet’ is $500.
Winners will also be invited to attend and read their poems, as special guests of the annual Burns Supper in Dunedin at the Toitū Otago Settlers Museum on 25th January, and winning poems will be published in the Otago Daily Times. Winners of the Rap Like Robbie competition are published in the digital edition of the ODT.
For more information, go to https://www.dunedinlibraries.govt.nz/whats-on/competitions , see the attached PDFs, or talk to Mr. Hayden.