The 2025 Wigtown International Poetry Prize was last night awarded to Thai English teacher Molly Thapviwat – who travelled from her home in Bangkok to be in Scotland’s National Book Town for the ceremony.
Thapviwat’s winning entry for the £1,500 prize is What We Did With The Miner’s Jacket, which reflects on family memory and the legacy of industrial struggle.
The 33-year-old’s work has been published in journals including Trampset, Candlestick Press, and Welsh Poetry, but poetry is far from her only interest as she also has a life on stage as a female Elvis tribute artist.
Hugh McMillan, who judged this year’s award, said: “The International Prize produced the usual stunning range of work, pouring into the Machars from all parts of the world.
“It was so difficult to compile a shortlist, and then to produce from a wonderful shortlist the winner and runner up was almost impossible. However, I’m confident that the quality is as high or higher than ever.”
Molly is an emerging poet and is also working on her first novel and a debut poetry collection.
In addition to working as a teacher and writing poetry while caring for elderly parents she also appears on stage doing an Elvis tribute act under the name of Elvis’ Little Sister.
Her Elvis act started when she was six and she became a child TV star, continuing to perform professionally today and running her own YouTube channel.
The prize-winning poem, however, reflects on a family’s memories of a Scottish miner and recollections of the strike.
She said: “It’s been a long journey for me. I have travelled all the way from Bangkok, about 6,000 miles to get to here and every bit of it has been just fantastic and wonderful.”
The Wigtown Poetry Prizes are Scotland’s international awards, celebrating work in English, Scots and Gaelic. They include prizes for the best collection and for the best emerging poet from Dumfries and Galloway.
The prizes are awarded as part of the annual Wigtown Book Festival.
This year’s Alastair Reid Pamphlet Prize, for a collection of poems, went to another musician – Roger West, a poet, songwriter and performer who divides his time between Glasgow and France. The former punk singer (who also sang in a variety of pre and post punk bands) nowadays concentrates on poetry, electronic soundscapes and live music which he performs at festivals around the world.
The winner has their poems published in a pamphlet set by Gerry Cambridge.
Roger’s collection, Be That As It May, was praised by Hugh McMillan: “The pamphlet competition was very popular this year and no wonder, the prize being such an exquisitely designed product. The subject matter was wide-ranging: some collections were themed, some not, all shared the same quality of being beautifully crafted, vibrant and contemporary. In such a gifted field it was hugely difficult to find a winner.
Roger spoke briefly about the importance of poetry and praised the work of Wigtown saying: “This festival keeps poetry and literature generally going throughout the year – onwards and onwards.”
Mairi Macleod from Carbost, Skye, won the Gaelic Prize for Cuairt Sgudail. The runner up was 2024 winner, Rody Gorman, also from Skye for Glìtheag nam Faoileag air Alman.
Judge Elissa Hunter-Dorans said: “Bha e na urram dhomh a bhith nam bhritheamh aig Farpais Bàrdachd Wigtown, agus tha na dàin a fhuair sinn a’ taisbeanadh cho ioma-nàdarrach agus cho dathail ’s a tha saoghal nan Gàidheal an-diugh. Chunnaic mi dealbhan beòthail de na h-Eileanan agus de na cathair-bhailtean cuideachd – le seallaidhean pearsanta bhon latha an-diugh agus on àm a dh’fhalbh. Tha e deatamach gum bi guthan na Gàidhlig air an taisbeanadh à diofar àrainneachdan, bailteil agus dùthchail.
“Bha dlùth-aithne nan dàin mar gum biodh na sgrìobhadairean ag innse dhomh fhèin mu chiad ghaol aig cèilidhean, cuimhneachain mu bhàtaichean agus mu mhuir, agus beachdan air taibhsichean, deoch làidir agus call – ‘s iad uile ann an Ghlaschu gu Inbhir Nis gu Leòdhas… Bha feadhainn eile a’ rannsachadh nam pàirtean uaigneach dhen chultar againn tro na mòintean, eòin is clann, inbhean bòidhchead is crìonadh, agus eadhon eagal, trauma agus Dante fhèin. Abair bliadhna, mealaibh ur naidheachd uile!”
Judge Elissa Hunter-Dorans said: “It was an honour for me to be a judge at the Wigtown Poetry Competition this, and the poems we received did well to display the colour and variety of the Gaelic world today. I saw strong images of the Islands and of the cities too – with personal glimpses from both the present and the past. It is crucial that Gaelic voices be represented from different environments, both urban and rural.
“The intimacy of the poems felt as if the writers were telling me personally of first love at cèilidhs, the reality of the Gaelic link between memory and the sea, and reflections on ghosts, alcohol and loss – all taking place between Glasgow, Inverness, Lewis… Others explored the elusive parts of our culture through the peatlands, birds and children, beauty standards and decay, and even fear, trauma and Dante himself. What a year, mealaibh ur naidheachd uile!”
The Gaelic Prize is supported by The Gaelic Books Council whose Director, Alison Lang, said: “The Comhairle nan Leabhraichean toilichte taic a chumail ris an fharpais chliùitich seo a-rithist, agus tha sinn air air brosnachadh leis na dàin a chaidh a chur a-steach agus gu bheil ùidh mhòr aig sgrìobhadairean san fharpais. Meal-a-naidheachd do Mhàiri Nic Leòid, a bhuannaich na duais Gàidhlig am-bliadhna, agus gu Rody Gorman agus na bàird eile air a’ gheàrr-liosta.”
The Gaelic Prize is supported by The Gaelic Books Council whose Director, Alison Lang, said: “The Gaelic Books Council is delighted to support this prestigious prize once again, and we are greatly encouraged by the poems that were submitted and by the level of interest writers have shown in the competition. Our congratulations go to Mairi Macleod, the winner of this year’s Gaelic prize, and to Rody Gorman and the other shortlisted poets.”
New Zealander Jilly O’Brien took the Scots Language Prize with The Scaum o Sky an Sowl and the runner up was Glasgow’s Keeks Mc for Wisp.
Scots Language Prize judge, Lesley Benzie said: “The Scots language is the living embodiment of a centuries-long journey and all the migratory influences that have come to make up the range of Scots we speak. Writing in Scots therefore brings greater depth, a distinctive musicality and often a profound emotional resonance to a piece of writing or poetry.
“It was wonderful to read through the range of well utilised Scots represented in the poems submitted for the Scots language prize. It was a real challenge to whittle them down to a shortlist, let alone to settle on a winner and a runner up.
“My shortlist reflects that wide range of beautifully used Scots and a breadth of subject matter with deftly used poetic techniques. One is a touching poem that asks us to celebrate the courage it takes for a person to declare themselves transgender; another is a tongue in cheek critique of the ‘poet’s ego’; a couple of poems reflect on nature and how integral it is to us with the hope and nurturing it can bring; and one encompasses the complexity and profound sense of loss born of a fading relationship.
“Huge congratulations to the very worthy winner, Jilly O’Brien from Dunedin in New Zealand, with her poem: The Scaum o Sky an Sowl; and runner-up, Keeks Mc with her poem, Wisp.”
Author Mairi Kidd, CEO of sponsors the Saltire Society, added: “This year’s shortlist showed the strength of Scots poetry in different dialects and modes with a worthy winner in The Scaum o Sky an Sowl reassuring us of the vitality of the form. We were delighted to support and congratulate all the winners, runners-up and shortlistees.”
The Dumfries & Galloway Fresh Voice Award, which is designed to nurture talent from within the region was awarded to Carey Coombs from near Holywood, Dumfries, for Taskscapes.
Judge, the renowned poet Tom Pow, said: “The shortlisted poets in the Fresh Voice Award all submitted accomplished and engaging work. The poems drew on the history and folklore of the region: there was a strong sense of a storytelling tradition behind several poems. The poems were also quiveringly alert both to the natural heritage of rural Scotland and to what threatens it. Taken together, the poems represent a rich cross section of lives lived in the present and in the past and of what poetry, uniquely, can make of them.”
- See Molly’s poem on separate document.
- The winning poems and the full shortlist can be seen on the website at https://www.wigtownpoetryprize.com
-Ends-
Notes to editors
About Mairi Macleod: Mairi is a Gaelic writer, born and raised in Glasgow, who has a deep pride in her Hebridean heritage and the Gaelic language. Her creative work echoes her academic interests and draws inspiration from folklore, her love of animals, and the everyday mundane; she writes in both Gaelic and English. As a young woman writing in a minority language, she wants to contribute not just to the survival of her language, but to its blossoming and evolution.
About Jilly O’Brien: Jilly, originally from Yorkshire, is an award-winning poet and educationalist who has had poems published in journals and anthologies worldwide, and has had her poetry displayed on the ice in Antarctica, on park benches in Dunedin and on the back of parking tickets.
About Hugh McMillan: Hugh’s work has been published widely in Scotland and beyond, and he has won various prizes, most recently the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award in 2017 for Sheep Penned, published by Roncadora. He has featured in many anthologies, and three times in the Scottish Poetry Library’s online selection Best Scottish Poems of the year. His poems have also been chosen three times to feature on National Poetry Day postcards. In 2017 he was writer in residence at the Harvard Summer School. In 2020 he was chosen as one of four ‘Poetry Champions’ for Scotland by the Scottish Poetry Library. In 2021 he was given the role as editor of ‘Best Scottish Poems’. Most recently he became chair of the Saltire Poetry Award.
About Lesley Benzie: Many of Lesley Benzie’s poems are fiercely political, rich in social commentary and written in Scots. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, three collaborative collections, and two poetry collections: Sewn Up and Fessen/Reared. She has been shortlisted for writer of the year in The Scots Language Awards, has been a runner-up for the McCash Prize, and in 2022 she was short-listed for two of the Wigtown Poetry Prizes, Scots Language and International. She won the Wigtown Scots Language prize in 2024 and makes a welcome return as judge for the Scots prize in 2025.
About Elissa Hunter-Dorans: ‘S e sgrìobhadair Gàidhlig agus Beurla às a’ Ghàidhealtachd a th’ ann an Elissa Hunter-Dorans, a’ leughadh Eachdraidh de Ealain aig Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann. B’ i a’ chiad Next Generation Young Makar airson bàrdachd Ghàidhlig aig Leabharlann Bàrdachd na h-Alba, agus tha i an-dràsta na dheasaiche Bàrdachd Ghàidhlig airson The Poets’ Republic le Drunk Muse Press. Tha i air leughadh aig Fèis Dandelion, StAnza, agus The Edinburgh Fringe.
Elissa Hunter-Dorans is a Gaelic and English writer from the Highlands, and is currently studying History of Art at the University of Edinburgh. She was the Scottish Poetry Library’s first Next Generation Young Makar for Gaelic poetry, and is currently the Gaelic Poetry editor for The Poets’ Republic by Drunk Muse Press. She has performed at the Dandelion Festival, StAnza, and The Edinburgh Fringe.
About Tom Pow: Tom was born in Edinburgh in 1950. He has written picture books, young adult novels, travel books and radio plays, but is primarily a poet. He has published many collections, including In The Becoming, New and Selected Poems (Polygon, 2009). Dear Alice – Narratives of Madness (Salt) won the 2009 Scottish Poetry Book of the Year award. His latest publications are the collection Naranjas (Galileo, 2021), the pamphlet Svetlana’s Dance (Mariscat, 2022) and the collection Ghosts at Play (with translations by Nao Miyouchi) (Giovanni Publishing, Japan, 2024).
The 2025 awards
Wigtown International Prize: Winner: £1,500. Runner-up: £200
Wigtown Scots Prize: Winner: £500: Runner-up: £200. Supported by Saltire Society
Wigtown Scottish Gaelic Prize: Winner: £500: Runner-up: £200. Supported by The Gaelic Books Council
Dumfries & Galloway Fresh Voice Award: Professional support including mentoring by Wigtown Festival Company and a retreat at Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre.
Alastair Reid Pamphlet Prize: Winner: Publication of a pamphlet set by Gerry Cambridge.
About the Wigtown Poetry Prizes: Founded in 2005 and refreshed and rebranded in 2019, Wigtown Poetry Prizes welcomes entries from poets writing in English wherever they may live. Separate categories celebrate the best of Scottish Gaelic and Scots language poetry, a special category acknowledges a rising talent in Dumfries & Galloway, and a pamphlet prize is named in memory of Alastair Reid – local poet and one of Scotland’s foremost literary figures.
- Website: www.wigtownpoetryprize.com Email: mail@wigtownbookfestival.com
The competition takes place in association with:
- The Gaelic Books Council https://www.gaelicbooks.org
- Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre https://www.moniackmhor.org.uk
- Saltire Society https://www.saltiresociety.org.uk
- Scottish Poetry Library https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk
About The Gaelic Books Council: Comhairle nan Leabhraichean (The Gaelic Books Council) is the lead organisation with responsibility for supporting Scottish Gaelic authors and publishers, and for raising the profile and reach of Scottish Gaelic books in Scotland and internationally. Established in 1968, Comhairle nan Leabhraichean is a registered charity and receives support from Creative Scotland and from Bòrd na Gàidhlig.
About The Saltire Society: The Saltire Society seeks to encourage everything that might improve the quality of life in Scotland. It works to preserve all that is best in Scottish traditions and to encourage new developments which can strengthen and enrich the country’s cultural life. It acts as a catalyst, celebrant and commentator through an annual programme of awards, lectures, debates and projects. Founded in 1936 is a non-political independent charity with membership branches throughout Scotland.
For media information and interview requests contact Matthew Shelley on 07786 704299 or Matthew@ScottishFestivalsPR.Org