This year marked a fresh chapter for the Mother Tongue Other Tongue (MTOT) multilingual poetry competition as it returned to a renewed focus on the written word after a year’s break. Now over a decade since the original Glasgow pilot in 2014, MTOT continues to celebrate the creativity, linguistic diversity and cultural heritage of young people across Scotland.
We were thrilled to receive over 150 entries, representing 37 different languages - including first ever submissions in Seychellois Creole and Amharic. The range was extraordinary: acrostics, diamantes, raps, humorous pieces, and deeply moving reflections on identity, family, nature and belonging. Additionally, this year’s competition included a special prize category inspired by the National Poetry Day theme of Play. We were delighted by the enthusiastic response, with poets exploring the theme in imaginative and unexpected ways. The richness of voices this year was further uplifted by the support of the new Scots Makar, Peter Mackay, whose encouragement helped inspire learners to share their stories with confidence.
Our online awards ceremony, held on 24 March 2026 to mark International Poetry Day (21 March), brought together pupils, teachers, families and special guests for a joyful celebration of Scotland’s multilingual landscape. Expert judges from the Universities of Strathclyde, Glasgow and Edinburgh - alongside the Development Manager at the Association for Language Learning, the UK's major subject association for those involved in teaching foreign languages - faced an exceptionally difficult task. The standard was so high that, after much deliberation, they not only selected winners in each category but also chose to recognise several additional entries with highly commended awards.
Where permission was granted, the winning and highly commended poems are available to view in the presentation flipbook below.
SCILT is immensely proud of every participant. MTOT continues to show how powerfully young people can express themselves when given the space to explore language, identity and imagination. We look forward to seeing even more languages, more creativity and more courageous voices in the years ahead.