£1,000 top prize in Blackness on Sea poetry competition

The Blackness on Sea Poetry is a quest to find a poem of 'genuine literary merit' to become a lasting legacy for The Lobster Pot Pub and the village of Blackness on Sea, on the Firth of Forth.

History of the village

Blackness on Sea lies 15 miles from Edinburgh, and has been famed since Roman times for its oysters. It has long been associated with literary figures Robert Louis Stephenson and Robert Burns, the latter of whom local lore has it holed up in the village after famously upsetting the people of adjacent Bo'ness with disparaging remarks about their town.

A popular seaside resort since Victorian times, the village with its beaches, promenade, pier, castle and annual oyster festival, Blackness On Sea has a population just below 100, while a similar number inhabit the surrounding hinterland known as the Holdings, some of whose ancestors are said to have taken refuge during the Jacobite risings.  

Competition details

Entries are now being accepted and you can enter more than one poem if you wish, using a pen name if desired.

First prize is £1,000 and a trophy shield, with a runner up prize of £200. You can see all entries to date on the competition website. The winner and runner up will be the poems judged to be of most literary merit containing a reference, not necessarily complimentary, to "The Lobster Pot" and  "Blackness on Sea".

Find out more and submit your entry here. Closing date 7 September 2022.