The Brian Nisbet Poetry Award

13/02/2026

We had a wonderful afternoon at The Gordon Schools yesterday for the prizegiving for The Brian Nisbet Poetry Award.
Such a high standard of poetry that pupils from the school swept the board in all of their age groups and categories.
We’ll be arranging a prizegiving of the adults very soon. Thank you so much for your patience about the weather delays!

And the winners are….

Huge congratulations to all of the winners of the Brian Nisbet Poetry Award - and the Brian Nisbet Doric Poetry Prize.
The standard of poetry this year was incredibly high. The judges had well over a hundred poems to read. The young poets of Huntly showed such talent and pupils of the Gordon Schools swept the board!
The judging team were so impressed by some wonderful Doric poetry and they wanted to celebrate this by also awarding a Doric Prize in each age category.

All of the winning poems will be shared on these pages over the coming weeks, and in a booklet in the new year.

The formal prizegiving will be held in the New Year.

Congratulations everyone!

10/12/2025

And the winners are….

Huge congratulations to all of the winners of the Brian Nisbet Poetry Award - and the Brian Nisbet Doric Poetry Prize.
The standard of poetry this year was incredibly high. The judges had well over a hundred poems to read. The young poets of Huntly showed such talent and pupils of the Gordon Schools swept the board!
The judging team were so impressed by some wonderful Doric poetry and they wanted to celebrate this by also awarding a Doric Prize in each age category.

All of the winning poems will be shared on these pages over the coming weeks, and in a booklet in the new year.

The formal prizegiving will be held in the New Year.

Congratulations everyone!

08/12/2025

We will be live on Orb's Bookshop page on Weds 10th December to announce the winners of the 2025 Brian Nisbet Poetry Award!
Watch the live stream and find out who has won this year.

On Weds 10th December at 6.30 pm we will have a very special announcement LIVE on our page.
Dawn McLachlan (lead judge of the Brian Nisbet Poetry Award) will be sharing the announcement of the winners of the 2025 Award!
Join us live online for this very special announcement.
There will be a press release the following day - but to find out first follow our page!

05/12/2025

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the 10th annual Brian Nisbet Poetry Award. We were so overwhelmed with the number of entries this year that we’re having to apologise for being a bit late with our winner’s announcement.
The judges wanted to make sure that every poem had the attention it deserved and with almost a hundred poems to read it’s taken us longer than usual.
We’re making the announcement very soon.
Thanks again for your patience!

25/09/2025

The tenth annual Brian Nisbet Poetry Award closes on October 6th. Why not come along to this free event at Huntly Library and get some last minute inspiration for your entry?!
The Wee Gaitherin and The Huntly Writers will be there bringing poems, stories and songs to life in a cosy and friendly atmosphere open to all.
See you there!

14/09/2025

The theme for the Brian Nisbet Poetry Award for 2025 is “Play”.
How will you interpret that?
Lots of ideas and prompts here!
Get your poems to us before the closing date. All details about how to submit your work is in our pinned post.

National Poetry Day Since 1994 National Poetry Day has engaged millions of people with poetry through a range of live events and web-based activities for people throughout the country. Such a variety of poetry is written and read that each year the day is given a new theme, in order to highlight par...

22/08/2025

At the tail end of a long summer filled with play it’s a perfect time to grab those notebooks and write your poem for the 10th annual Brian Nisbet Poetry Award.
The theme this year is “play”. What does that mean to you? Games from childhood? Theatre and drama? The dance of light and shade? Cosy times of family gatherings? How will you interpret the word “play”?

Closing date is Oct 6th.
Free to submit a poem.
All entry details on the poster, please read carefully before sending your poems in.