Local poet wins award named after ‘wonderful’ late Huntly talent

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A CONTEST celebrating the legacy of a “wonderful” late Huntly Writers member has been won by a local poet.

Dawn McLachlan, also part of Huntly Writers, won the Brian Nisbet Award for 2023 for her poem The Child’s Hand.

Judges said the poem expressed itself "simply but powerfully”, singling out its use of repetition that emphasised “the starkness of its message".

Ms McLachlan said the inspiration for the poem came from hearing that murals at a children’s detention centre in Kent had been painted over for being “too welcoming”.

Also included in the contest was a Doric category, which was won by Caroline Fowler for her poem Hame.

Judges said the winning Doric poem had a "wry humour, almost a Tam O'Shanter feel to it, lifting it above the ordinary".

The 2023 award was the eighth to have been awarded since 2016, and entries were based on the theme of “Refuge".

The award is named in honour of inspirational poet Brian Nisbet, who was a member of the Huntly Writers Group.

He died in 2015, aged 56, from neurological disorder multiple system atrophy (MSA).

Before his tragic death, he published a “wonderful” collection of his poems titled Now You Know, which Lynn Rutter, secretary of the Brian Nisbet Award, said “showed his extraordinary spirit”.

Also recognised in the English category was Emily White, the late Mr Nisbet’s wife, for her poem No Magic Hill in North Korea.

Richard Hammock won the third place honour, for his take on Refuge.

While Huntly local Theresa Lee received a Highly Commended honour in the Doric category for her own touching Doric interpretation of the theme.

Ahead of the 2024 contest, secretary Ms Rutter said she was working to build up the Doric categories.

The theme for this year is set to be announced soon.

And, also in the works, is a series of Poetry Café events in Huntly to spread the word about the joy of poetry.

First Prize 2023: Dawn McLachlan

This child’s hand rested in the hand of a mother

and felt the warmth of safety and comfort

This child’s hand reached for a grandparent

as they walked in summer fields under wide blue skies

This child’s hand traced the words of a teacher

and learned of a world huge with hope and adventure

This child’s hand gripped tight the hand of a mother

and felt it tremble with urgency and fear as they hid

This child’s hand tightened on the hand of a sibling

and felt their deep cold and the tight bones of hunger

This child’s hand stretched out into dark night

and felt there the icy pain of salt water and terror

This child’s hand slipped from hand of another

and held only the icy embrace of the open ocean

This child’s hand reached desperately for strangers

and felt there a pull into a world of chaos and confusion

This child’s hand stretched up and traced the outline of an erased flower on a wall

and the over-painted ghosts of once cheery animals

the edges of their hidden images still raised under new white paint

and this child felt small

and alone

and helpless

and afraid

This child’s hand is empty

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