The Winners of the Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature Robert Burns Poetry competitions

The winners of the 2021 competitions were announced on Tuesday 25th January- Robert Burns' birthday.

This year's theme of "New Scotland" has brought out some inspired and intriguing ideas of migration, longing, and even porridge! We are proud to celebrate our winners by publishing their poems here. Click on the respective links to enjoy this year's outstanding winning poems.

With thanks to our judges Professor Liam McIlvanney, University of Otago Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies; 2021 University of Otago Robert Burns Fellow, writer Becky Manawatu; poet Jilly O'Brien and the Donna Young Writers' Group, who generously took on judging duties in light of Donna's sudden death. 

Thanks to our generous sponsors who fund the prize money for the first place winners: Dunedin-Edinburgh Sister City Society, Royden and Lee Somerville and the Otago Scottish Heritage Society, and the Dunedin Public Libraries Association (Friends of the Library).

We also thank our partners Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature, Dunedin Burns Club, the World Burns Federation, Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago, and the Otago Daily Times.

Rap Like Robbie Competition
for high-school aged young people
1st place: William Ashton - "Different"

2nd place: Oshadha Perera - "From Edinburgh to Dunedin"

3rd place: Daniel Tui Stephenson - "Two Worlds Collide"

Highly Commended: Alex Barkman - "Gilded Locket"

Highly Commended: Skylar Peters - "Memory of Scotland"

Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature Robert Burns Poetry Competition
for published and unpublished adults

Unpublished Poets
1st place: Tessa Crack - "Glimmerings, 1856-1920"

2nd place: Rosie Hoyt - “Threads”

3rd place: Heather Murphy - "Break the chains fae the unicorn"

Published Poets
1st place: Kerry Lane - "Uisge"

2nd place: Jilly O'Brien - "Catchin' a Fairy (tae Rakiura)"

3rd place: Sophia Wilson - "A Family History in Porridge"

Congratulations to all our winners and thank you to all those who entered the competition. The 2022 competition will begin September 1st.