A POET has been crowned 'Writer of the Year' at county-wide awards.

Ruth Gilchrist won the Tyne and Esk Writer of the Year Award with her poem, The Rift, which is set in a Kenyan tea plantation.

The winner, who was brought up in Kenya as part of a missionary family at the time of the country's transition to independence, knew from an early age that she loved poetry.

In 2013, married with a family and living in Bilsdean, near Dunbar, Ruth joined the Dunbar group of Tyne and Esk Writers.

She added: “I only really woke up to poetry writing after I joined.

“Tea unites everyone in the Commonwealth.”

In The Rift, Ruth uses the physical description of a tea estate and the relationships of its residents, as a metaphor for the complex relationships between a colony and its colonial power.

However, Ruth also mingles the preparation of tea as a drink throughout her verses which are set against the backdrop of the loud song of the cicadas, an insect that amplifies its song according to humidity.

“In all my poems I want to make a connection with the reader and strike an emotional chord,” she told the Courier.

Drew Campbell had the difficult job of judging the poetry section while Kate Hendy was tasked with picking a winner for prose.

Drew, who was a founding father of Tyne and Esk Writers, is a novelist, scriptwriter and a poet who had four poems carved into paving stones in Musselburgh.

Meanwhile, Kate is a writer, editor and tutor, who is widely published as well as being a creative and innovative teachers.

George Cunningham, Tyne and Esk Convener, thanked all those that took part in the competition.

He said: “I never fail to be impressed by the high standards of creativity and originality from writers entering this competition.

“I get the same pleasure from listening to amateur writers in our various groups across the counties reading their work at local meetings.

“Tyne and Esk Writers' groups offer a great starting point for anyone with a love of words who wants to expand their experience and hone their ambition to become a writer – no matter whether they have experience or not.”

RESULTS:

Prose – Winner: Rob Ritchie (North Berwick) – Things Nae Said; Runner-up: Andrew Broadfoot (Dunbar) – A Judgement Against Decrepitude; Highly Commended: Michael Moncrieff (Haddington) – Did He See Me?

Poetry – Winner: Ruth Gilchrist (Dunbar) – The Rift; Runner-up: Judith Stewart (poetry group) – Aphrodite’s Rock; Highly Commended: Lesleymay Miller (Dunbar) – Musquem – People of thee River Grass.