Mountain writing competition is open for entries

WRITERS with a feeling for mountains and mountaineers are being sought by Mountaineering Scotland for its annual literary competition.

Mountains like Ben Nevis could provide inspiration for writers. Picture: Ian Rutherford/TSPL

The Mountaineering Scotland Writing Competition 2017 is looking for the best in new mountain writing, whether fact or fiction, prose or poetry.

And, with more and more people taking art in outdoor activities, there should be no shortage of climbers and walkers ready to put their experiences into words and share what makes mountains, or the act of walking or climbing so special to them.

Entries should have some connection with mountains and mountaineering, rock or ice climbing, walking or ski-mountaineering, and winners will receive a cash prize and the chance to see their entries in print in the Scottish Mountaineer, the quarterly Mountaineering Scotland magazine which goes out to its more than 14,000 members. The first placed winners in prose and poetry categories will also receive a free weekend pass (worth about £100) to the 2016 Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival.

Winning entries are also published on the Mountaineering Scotland website.

Run since 1987, the competition is open to members and non-members alike and regularly attracts entries from all over the UK.

Prose entries should be a maximum of 2,000 words long. Poetry entries can be of any length. The competition is open to anyone resident in the UK, whether members of Mountaineering Scotland or not.

Deadline for this year’s competition is 30th September.

Entries should be sent to the MWC Coordinator, Tommy McManmon, preferably by email to [email protected] or by hard copy to Mountaineering Scotland, ‘MWC2017’, The Granary, West Mill Street, Perth PH1 5QP.

⦁Mountaineering Scotland is a membership organisation with over 14,000 members representing hill walkers, climbers and mountaineers, funded through a combination of membership subscriptions, non-governmental grants and investment from sportscotland, which supports public initiatives and services in mountain safety, mountain training and the development and promotion of mountaineering activities.