Budding authors of all ages are being encouraged to get their creative juices flowing for the Neil Gunn Writing Competition, which is officially launched today (Monday 15 September). Taking place every two years, the Neil Gunn Writing Competition is organised by the Neil Gunn Trust in partnership with High Life Highland.
The aim of the competition – which is open to people of all ages and abilities – is to encourage writers to follow in the footsteps of Neil Gunn and put pen to paper and share their works with a wider audience. The competition gives writers the opportunity to write on a theme – which is always based on a Neil Gunn quote – and to have their work read and judged by established authors.
Lead judge for the 2026 Neil Gunn Writing Competition is Shona MacLean, historical novelist and author of The Bookseller of Inverness. She was on hand today with poetry judge Jon Miller, Charlotte MacArthur of the Neil Gunn Trust and Head of Libraries at High Life Highland, Julie Corcoran, to reveal the competition’s writing themes:
- For the adult poetry and short story sections (open to writers living anywhere) –
“A landscape that retains the light and is there waiting to receive you on your dark dead days.” Landscape to Light by Neil Gunn
OR
“We are affected strangely by any place from which the tide of life has ebbed.” Landscape to Light by Neil Gunn
- Secondary School Section (open to S3-S6 pupils attending Highland Council schools) –
“On the peoples’ part there was love of the land, love of its visible features as something near and natural to them as their own limbs.” Butcher’s Broom by Neil Gunn
OR
“Through freedom the adventure continues. The way goes into the future and the end of it cannot be known.” The Atom of Delight by Neil Gunn
- Primary School Section (open to P5-P7 pupils attending Highland Council schools) –
“It was the first time he had ever been away from home and he felt excited.” from The Silver Darlings by Neil Gunn
Charlotte Macarthur of the Neil Gunn Trust said: “As one of Scotland’s greatest writers, it is really important to keep the memory of Neil Gunn alive and this competition is a great way of doing this. We always find it very rewarding to be able to work with High Life Highland to deliver the competition and we hope that the themes for this year allow writers the focus, yet the freedom with which to produce wonderful works for the judges to read.”
Commenting on her first time as a judge in the Neil Gunn Writing Competition, Shona MacLean said: “I am absolutely delighted to be invited to be a judge for this prestigious writing competition and I’m really looking forward to seeing how Gunn’s words speak to today’s writers.”
Julie Corcoran, Head of Libraries at High Life Highland said: “High Life Highland is absolutely delighted to be involved in the Neil Gunn Writing Competition. We are very proud of our long association with the event and see it as an ideal way of engaging – particularly young people – in the world of books and stories, inspiring young writers to express their creativity through the written word.”
Full details for all sections of the Neil Gunn Writing Competition, including terms and conditions and how to enter, are available now on the competition website at www.highlifehighland.com/neilgunn. Alternatively, staff in any High Life Highland library will be pleased to assist. Schools will also be contacted directly. The closing date for entries is Friday 6 March 2026.
The Neil Gunn Writing Competition is supported by High Life Highland, The Highland Council, the Neil Gunn Trust, David Summers Trust, H R Creswick Charitable Trust, JTH Charitable Trust, W M Mann Foundation and the The Lydia Michael Trust.
