We are excited to announce the winner of our poetry competition, ‘A Scot in London’. Standing out among over 150 entries, it was Patsy Collins that best described the theme with her poem entitled ‘Tartan in St Pauls’. Patsy, a short story writer who lives on the south coast of England, said of her winning entry;
“I wanted to show that a Scot, however proud of his heritage, is far more than a collection of clichés. I tried to imagine what it would be like to fit into a new country, yet retain my identity.”
Competition judge, A.L. Kennedy said, "I thoroughly enjoyed reading the submissions for the ScotsCare Poetry Competition and would congratulate all the entrants - I genuinely had a hard time narrowing down those shortlisted to just 4. And I would extend further congratulations to the winner for a lovely piece of work."
We would like to congratulate Patsy, runners up, and all those that entered, making our competition a huge success. To view the winning entries, please scroll down.
There's Tartan in St Paul's
By Patsy Collins
There’s tartan in St Paul’s
It’s not mine.
Take yer wee dram in Bow.
I prefer wine.
I’m a Scot in London
Scots in my heart
But I’m happy walking
Through Hyde Park
England is my home now
Do you ken?
I’m here with my three bairns
And darlin’ hen
Yes, I’ll spell my name out
M small c
G.R.E.G.O.R.
Total cliché
We celebrate Burn’s night,
And Hogmanay,
November thirtieth
(St Andrew’s Day)
I like to eat Mars bars
But not fried.
I cannae play the bagpipes
Though I’ve tried
There’s tartan in St Paul’s.
It’s not mine.
Take yer wee dram in Bow.
I prefer wine.
Download the Winning Entry
There’s Tartan in St Paul's by Patsy Collins
Runners Up
Now That I'm In London by Lesley Jackson
Sharing the Bacon by Nichola May
A Scot in St James by William MacFarlane
A London Scot by Susan Grant
