*The award ceremony for the 2025/26 competition took place on 18 June in Dingwall Town Hall. To see the results and to read the winning entries in all sections – primary school, secondary school, adult short story and adult poetry – along with the judges’ comments, please go to: http://www.highlifehighland.com/neilgunn*
From left to right: Jon Miller, chief poetry judge; Julie Corcoran, High Life Highland Head of Library Service; Charlotte Macarthur, The Neil Gunn Trust; Shona MacLean, lead judge. At the Neil Gunn Monument, Sept 25.
Sponsors of the 2025/26 competition:
The Neil Gunn Trust and High Life Highland gratefully acknowledge the financial support given to the 2025/26 competition by the following organisations:-
The Highland Council Ward 8; The David Summers Trust; The H R Creswick Charitable Trust; The W.M.Mann Foundation; The JTH Charitable Trust; The Lydia Michael Trust
General information
Prizes
Adult sections: First Prize £500. Second prize £300. Third prize £200.
Secondary school section: First prize £100. Second prize £60. Third prize £40. High Life Highland prize for the school with the best overall entries £100.
Primary school section: First prize £50. Second prize £30. Third prize £20. Lydia Michael Award for the primary school with the best entries overall £100.
For all sections of the competition the judges also award Highly Commended and Commended certificates at their discretion.
Judging and Award Ceremony
The lead judge for the adult sections is always a prominent Scottish literary figure. He/she is assisted by a panel of judges and shortlisting judges for each section. The judges have no information whatsoever about the entrants until the judging process is finished. Judging commences as soon as possible after the competition closes for entries in March and results are normally available by May. Successful entrants are invited to attend the award ceremony in June, which is normally held in the Dingwall area. The judges attend the award ceremony, following which the judges’ comments together with the prizewinning entries in all sections are published on the High Life Highland website http://www.highlifhighland.com/neilgunn.
The lead judges for the last 9 competitions were as follows:
2025/26: Shona MacLean
2023/24: Merryn Glover
2021/22: James Robertson
2018/19: Ruth Wishart
2016/17: Michel Faber
2014/15: Rosemary Goring
2012/13: Jackie Kay
2010/11: Andrew Greig
2008/09: James Robertson
Sponsorship
The organisers are entirely reliant on sponsorship and the entry fees paid by adult entrants to cover the costs of the competition. Without the generous support of past and present sponsors, the competition could not survive. Any individual, business or organisation wishing to provide financial assistance to the competition, for instance by sponsoring a prize, is asked to contact the Neil Gunn Trust in the first instance.
Neil Gunn Trust 