The Global Influence of Robert Burns will be the theme for the 2025 Robert Burns Poetry Competition, being presented by a newly formed steering group.
Competition organisers said, in a statement, entrants would be asked to focus on Burns as a "voice for humanity".
Entries for the 2025 Robert Burns Poetry Competition will open on September 1 and close on St Andrew’s Day, November 30, the winners to be publicly announced on January 24, 2026 — the same day as the annual Burns Supper.
When Dunedin City Council decided to end its relationship with the poetry competition, a new steering group was formed.
The group comprises the Otago Scottish Heritage Council, the Dunedin Burns Club, the Dunedin Unesco City of Literature, the Dunedin-Edinburgh Sister City Society, the Friends of the Library, the Combined Clans and Societies Group Otago and the Southern Heritage Trust.
President of both the Otago Scottish Heritage Council and the Dunedin Burns Club Dr Royden Somerville KC is convener of the competition, while Dunedin-Edinburgh Sister City Society chairwoman Sarah Davis is the facilitator.
Each of the supporting organisations has its own role, such as the heritage council providing the judges and the upgraded website (www.otagoscottishheritagecouncil.org).
The Burns Club will continue to provide trophies and medals.
The committee has set a target of 60 entries for 2025 across the published, unpublished and the Rap like Robbie (18 years and under) junior competitions.
The committee will be contacting past entrants to encourage them to enter again, as well as local secondary schools and the Edinburgh Department of Education in the hope students from Dunedin’s sister city will enter.
In another move to encourage entrants, prize money has been extended this year. — Allied Media
