The Scottish Wildlife Trust's writing competition is back for 2025!

This year’s theme — From source to sea — invites you to explore the powerful journeys of rivers, burns, lochs and coastlines through creative writing.

Deadline: 12th July 2025

Submission Guidelines

• Accepting poems, journalistic articles, essays, letters, song lyrics or a short story. 
• Entries can be fiction or non-fiction (i.e. imagined or real). Not accepting fantasy writing or writing about domesticated or farm animals. Entries must be connected to the native wildlife of Scotland’s waters.
• Submissions should be up to 1,000 words and must be an original, unpublished piece of work and not have been entered into other competitions.
• Entries are limited to one per person.

Judges: Craig Aitchison, Susi Briggs, Seonaidh Charity, Anne Frater, Eve McIntosh, Len Pennie, Polly Pullar, Dr Kenny Taylor.

Entry fee: Free to enter

Prizes:

• A pair of Badger binoculars from Viking Optical
• A £100 NHBS wildlife equipment voucher
• A selection of 5x nature books from Canongate
• A copy of Snorkelling Britain from Wild Things Publishing
• A 1-year subscription to British Wildlife magazine
• A bottle of the Trust’s 60th anniversary Connell’s Wild Scotland gin from Selkirk Distillers
• A year’s membership to the Trust or one of our wildlife adoptions

Winners will be announced at a special event as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in October.

Enter and find full details here: https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/wordsofthewild/competition/