The Mark Ogle Memorial Award

Mark Ogle 1948–1999

Mark Ogle (1948-1999) was one of the earliest members of Shore Poets and one of the first to read at the group’s original venue, the Shore Gallery in Leith.   His untimely death left his considerable poetic talent under-realised.  His family decided to commission an annual award in which a poet responded to one of his poems. The poet was selected from all poets who had read at Shore Poets in the previous season, excluding the organising group.

After twelve successful years, during which some wonderful new poetry has been written, the Mark Ogle Memorial Award (MOMA) was brought to a close with the publication of a pamphlet, Watching Sunlight, celebrating Mark’s contribution to Shore Poets and to poetry more widely, and the generous-hearted responses of the commissioned poets.

Copies of Watching Sunlight: Twelve Years of Mark Ogle Memorial Award can be found at the Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’eslose, Edinburgh EH8 8DT.

You can read more about Mark here.

The Mark Ogle Memorial Award Winners

2008: Aonghas Padraig Caimbeul responded to ‘English Rain’ with his poem ‘Our Rain’
2009: Elizabeth Burns responded to ‘Holy Loch’ with her poem ‘Holy Water’
2010: Frances Leviston responded to ‘Wild Geese Feeding’ with her poem ‘North Pacific’
2011: Anne Frater responded to ‘The Mountain’ with her poem ‘Mòinteach / Moor’
2012: Tom Pow responded to ‘Within a Walk of the Sea’ with his poem ‘Small Gifts’
2013: Anna Crowe responded to ‘Swifts’ with her poem ‘Swallows’
2014: Meg Bateman responded to ‘The Backward Spring’ with her poem ‘Caoineadh / Lament’
2015: Kathleen Jamie responded to ‘Clearing’ with her poem ‘The Sheiling’
2016: Vicki Feaver responded to ‘Deborah’ with her poem ‘Growing a Mother’
2017: Liz Berry responded to ‘The Mountain’ with her poem ‘Sky Birth’
2018: Miriam Gamble responded to ‘Coastal Walk: Islay’ with her poem ‘Feldspar’
2019: Jim McGonigal responded to ‘Setting a Candle’ and ‘Male Surgical Ward 3am’ with his poem ‘Two Brothers’