It is an absolute privilege to judge the Federation’s 2023 Poetry Competition – thank you for sharing your words with me.

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I love getting lost in poetry – each day a poem from poets.org and poetryfoundation.org drops into my mailbox. So, what a thrill to find my mailbox filling with entries to this year’s competition.

What am I looking for in a poem? 
 

The obvious:

• Any form.

• Any subject - luminous as the North Star or dark as the Mariana Trench.

• Concision - make every word earns its place on the page. 

• Music and movement – I want to find myself at the end of the poem without realising I’ve made the journey. I’ll be looking for internal rhymes, half rhymes, assonance, consonance.

• Surprise me with verb choices. Pick a word from a dictionary, a newspaper, or a paint chart and slot it into your poem. Does it bring something unexpected that still works? 

The less obvious:

• Use the white space. Catch my breath with what’s left unsaid.

• Leave me with a question, rather than an answer. 

• A poem that is intimate to the writer and the reader.

• A poem that stays with me long after I have left it.

Being the judge of a writing competition is like being given a bag of surprise presents. You can almost smell the newness of the paper, feel its weave under your fingertips and hear the crispness as you draw out each A4 sheet. All that, before even looking at a word! Imagine, then, the excitement as your eyes are drawn to the first few lines of each story – that excitement of being taken in new directions, of being introduced to new places and characters and encountering the situations that are important to them.

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So, as judge of this year’s FWS short story competition, what am I really looking for?

First – read the FWS competition rules, e.g. about story length. I like stories that pay attention to them!

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Second – be genuine. It’s more important to write sincerely than to set out to shock. By this, I’m thinking of subject matter. I tend to write about contemporary social issues, and you might want to do that to please me, but what will please me most is if you give me a character I can believe in. A character who is facing a challenging situation. It can be a quiet, e.g. domestic, situation, or a world-changing situation, or anything in between. How you portray the character and how you bring them to the brink of change is what counts. That change can be anything from deciding between chips and mashed potatoes for dinner or deciding to run away from home without a penny or a bank card. If you believe in your character, your reader will believe in them.

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Third – imagine your story using all of your senses. Evoking the character and their world through sense of smell, touch, hearing and maybe even taste gives a far more immersive read than relying on sight alone.

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Fourth – keep the number of characters low. Focus on one person and the situation they’re facing. Of course, they’ll probably interact with other characters, e.g. through dialogue, mannerisms, actions, but that one main character will be the conduit for your story.

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Fifth – don’t use bad language. What? I’m joking! Your characters can swear as much as you deem appropriate for them. ‘Bad language’ for me as a writer is tired, clichéd and lazy language. We’ve all done it – gone for the first word or phrase that occurs to us. That’s often how to get the first draft down. But try to leave your story aside for as long as possible before submitting it. Print a copy of your story and read it out loud to an imaginary audience. You’ll soon hear what works and what has you yawning. This is the perfect editing strategy, in my experience. And editing – several times – is a cornerstone of good writing.

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Lastly – enjoy the experience! Enjoy your writing and enjoy taking part in the FWS competition!

I’m looking forward to reading work in any style within the flash fiction form. I’m drawn to tight stories – every word counts, but you don’t have to use all of them! – which have a strong emotional component. I like pieces which ask questions and answer the most important of them – it’s OK to leave some things open.

Tha mi glè thoilichte an cothrom seo fhaighinn air sgrὶobhadh Gàidhlig ùr a leughadh.

Is toil leam bàrdachd a ghlacas mi air a’ chiad leughadh ’s a dhùisgeas faireachdainn annam, ’S dòcha nach tuig mi làn-bhrὶgh an dàin gus an leugh mi grùnn thursan i, ach mar is trice ‘s e deagh chomharradh a th’ anns a’ chὶad bhreab ud.  Feumaidh blas na fὶrinn a bhith air bàrdachd.                                                                                                                      
Is toil leam sgeulachdan goirid a tha tarraingeach on a chὶad sheantas, nach teid air seachran sa mheadhon, ’s a chumas m’ ὶnntinn an sàs gus a ruig mi crὶoch làidir a shàsaicheas;  caractaran tha tighinn beò air an duilleig tro na rudan a chanas agus a nὶ iad fhèin, nas motha na bho thuairisgeul an ùghdair orra.

Ann an grad-fhicsean dh’iarrainn sgeulachdan beaga snasail, a h-uile facal air a thaghadh gu mionaideach.  Tha tòrr an urra ri brὶgh gach fear dhiubh air sgath giorrad na sgeòil.    

San fharsaingeachd tha mi a’ sireadh sgrὶobhadh a chleachdas ὶomhaighean beòthail, macmeanmnach, a sheallas gu bheil meas mòr aig an sgrὶobhadair air facail, is gu bheil i/e sgileil air dòighean ùra a lorg gus rudan a ràdh;  guthan is cainnt sonraichte;  tiotalan clise a chuireas ris an dàn no ris an sgeulachd seach a bhith a-mhàin nan geàrr-chunntasan air an obair.  Sgrὶobhadh a mhaireas treis air m’ aire.

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I like poems that catch me at first reading, make me feel something.  May take a lot more readings to fully understand what a poem is saying but that first kick is always promising.  Poems should ring true, even when they come from the imagination.                                                                                              
I like short stories that engage from the first sentence and keep me interested right through to a strong, satisfying ending; rounded characters who reveal themselves through what they say and do, more than through author description; dialogue that is natural & believable and suits the characters.    

               
In flash fiction I hope for stories skillfully distilled to their essence.  A tiny tale has to carry much that is unsaid so every word should be chosen carefully. 

I look forward to poetry and prose that show their writers have a passion for words and enjoy playing with them to find new ways of saying; distinctive voices and language; fresh & surprising images that shine a new light for the reader; sharp titles that add highlight, angle and meaning rather than abstract ones that just try to sum up. I’m open to any subject or style. Give me serious to witty to whimsical and beyond.  Give me writing that stays with me.

I'm looking for something different, fresh takes and new ideas.

I love writing that takes your heart for a wee dance, writing that takes you by surprise or makes you laugh.

Scots is such a vibrant, expressive language so there's lots of scope to play.