Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scottish writers given chance to escape to the highlands

One of the cottages that are part of the writer's retreat. Photograph by Ivan Bunner.
One of the cottages that are part of the writer's retreat. Photograph by Ivan Bunner.

A Highland writer’s retreat has announced a lucrative new prize for aspiring authors.

The Moniack Mhor centre, nestled in a glen north of Drumnadrochit, gives writers and poets from across Scotland a chance to practise their craft without any of the distractions of busy city life.

It is now offering one lucky unpublished writer a chance to make a significant breakthrough in their novel.

The winner will receive a tailor-made package of tuition and mentoring, as well as time at the retreat in the shadow of the mountain ranges of Ben Wyvis and Strathfarrar.

The award is open to any unpublished writers living and working in Scotland who have short stories or novels in development.

Rachel Humphires is director of the Moniack Mhor centre, which is funded by a number of Scottish authors and poets, as well as development body Creative Scotland.

She said: “Winning the award will allow one Scottish writer the chance to raise their profile in the world of writing, but events like this raise the profile of creative writing for Scotland in general.

“The award is open to any prose writer in Scotland who has yet to publish a major body of work, so we’re really wanting young writers to take the jump and let us hopefully help them make a significant start to their writing lives and foster their creativity.

“They will be able to learn from two established professionals who know the industry inside out, and of course being up here in the beautiful Highlands will ensure that they’re not distracted by emails, Facebook or Twitter, they can just work with their mind uncluttered.

“Of course I’m completely biased, but our centre has a panoramic view of the most beautiful countryside in the world, which gives our writers plenty of place to walk and let their thoughts flow.”

More than 20 and 30 writers have already submitted entries. The closing date is tomorrow.

For more information go to www.moniackmhor.org.uk.