Join poet and writer Jo Gilbert for this creative writing workshop to help you to prepare your entries for the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival’s 2025 writing competition.

In a welcoming and supportive space, we’ll delve into the theme of the festival ‘Comfort & Disturb’ and look at ways we might approach each section of the competition – fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction.

About Jo Gilbert

Jo Gilbert is a spoken word artist and writer from Aberdeen, writing in Doric, Scots and English. Their work has been widely published in journals, magazines and anthologies and was featured on BBC Radio 4. Past projects and commissions include StAnza Poetry Festival, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, Look Again Festival, the National Theatre of Scotland, Aberdeen Performing Arts. Jo’s poem ‘Speirin’ was commissioned as one of the Scottish Poetry Library’s Burns Night Skies feature in 2025 and they are currently working on their second collection ‘The Department of Stuff and Things’ due out with Seahorse Publications late 2025.

About the Writing Competition

This year’s writing competition is open for entries. We’re seeking new writing inspired by mental health and our theme of ‘Comfort & Disturb’. For this year’s competition, there are three categories:

• FICTION: Short fiction pieces, including short stories, between 500 and 2000 words.
• POETRY: Poems, up to 40 lines.
• CREATIVE NONFICTION: Creative writing with a factual basis, between 500 and 2000 words. Examples can include letters, diary entries, autobiographical writing, personal essays, and creative journalism.

This year’s writing programme in held in partnership with WayWORD at the University of Aberdeen. The winning and shortlisted entries from the competition will be showcased as part of our writing programme at Cowdray Hall, Aberdeen on Wednesday 29 October and published in an illustrated book.

The closing date for entries is 11.59pm on Monday 4 August.