New Writer 2026: David Ross Linklater

David Ross Linklater is a poet from Balintore, Easter Ross. He is the author of five pamphlets, most recently Affection is the Broadcast (Pinhole Poetry Press, 2025). He was the winner of the 10th Ó Bhéal International Writing Competition in 2023, joint-winner of the 2022 Neil Gunn Writing Competition and received a Dewar Arts Award in 2015.

He has been shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Award and holds a Master's in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. His work has appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, The Dark Horse, Butcher’s Dog and bath magg, amongst others. Find out more on his website(this link will open in a new window).

Writing sample

The Work 

See as the droplet finally

lets go of the branch

and the thing falls with all the forest in it,

a whole cosmos

that doesn’t disappear 

but finds new beginnings 

amongst the manic networks,

and it lands upon a frog in a puddle

that gets a start,

and its legs flick a bit, sending the watery verb 

out towards the edge of knowing—see that, 

that’s what some call God

and God, that’s what Granda 

calls the work.

David says:

'Getting the call about this was such a surreal experience. Coming into the new year with a feeling of momentum, I'm excited to really focus and dig into my writing. I can't thank Scottish Book Trust enough for this amazing opportunity.'