JUDGE

A pair of teenage siblings have been named in a list of the world’s 100 most promising young poets, beating thousands of other entrants to the accolade.

Magnus and Ailsa Dixon, from Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire, were both named on the long list of the annual Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, which was announced yesterday.

Organised by the Poetry Society and now in its 19th year, the award is one of the largest literary competitions in the world and attracted more than 6,000 entrants submitting 11,000 poems.

It is the fifth time that Magnus, 17, has been given a place in the top 100, but this year he was joined by his 14-year-old sister Ailsa for the first time after encouraging her to enter.

The teenager says he took up writing “by fluke”, writing his first serious poetry at the age of 12 as part of a school project. It immediately won him a place on the Foyle shortlist that year.

That entry was about Peterhead harbour and this year his subject was Crovie, a small fishing village on the Moray Firth where he and his family

“I was struck by the number of poems that reflected on the complexitiesoflivingat this particular moment in time rather than taking their cue from the past”

KAYO CHINGONYI