A short story competition will be launched today (Monday, December 8) to commemorate the work of one of the North-east’s finest exponents of written Doric.
John Reid (1913-1998) was an Aberdeenshire farm labourer, who spent most of his life working long hours for very small rewards. In odd moments he jotted down short stories, character studies, and bothy tales.
Eventually, as David Toulmin, he had a few articles printed in local newspapers. The first of his ten books was published when he was 59-years-old. They consist mostly of short stories and reminiscences, with his one novel, Blown Seed, painting a harsh picture of farm life.
Now a short story competition, with a prize of £500 to the winner, will be launched for the second time to recognise Reid's contribution to written Doric.
"We're proud to be able to honour John and his work in this way," said Dr Ian Russell, Director of the Elphinstone Institute at the University of Aberdeen, which is running the competition in conjunction with the 2009 WORD Festival. "His writing is powerful, evocative and witty, and he is one of the finest exponents of writing in the Doric.
"We had a terrific response to the 2008 competition when it was launched at the beginning of the year and we now want to give people with a tale to tell every chance to pick up their pen and stretch their imagination before the deadline for 2009 entries."
The competition is open to all amateur writers* over the age of 16. The story should be concerned with some aspect of life in North-east Scotland and may be written in Scots, including Doric, or English or a mixture of the two.
The award for the best entry will be made at the 2009 WORD Festival weekend (May 13-17) at the University of Aberdeen, when the winning story will be read out by a well-known writer. The story will also be published in Leopard Magazine.
A short story of up to 4,000 words in length should be submitted by 31 March, 2009 to Dr Ian Russell, Director, The Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, MacRobert Building, King's College, Aberdeen AB24 5UA.
Hard copy, size A4, should be sent in addition to an electronic submission in MS Word. For more information contact the Elphinstone Institute 01224-272996 or at href="mailto:elphinstone@abdn.ac.uk">elphinstone@abdn.ac.uk</a></p>
*Note that for the purposes of this competition, a professional writer is considered to be one who has had a solo work published with a recognised UK publisher.