Pushkin Prizes: Exchange programme uniting Russian and Scottish writers a diplomatic 'bridge', says Putin representative to UK

The Pushkin Prizes give ten Scottish schoolchildren and two of their Russian peers the chance to spend a week at a creative writing centre near Inverness

Prize poet: Alexander Pushkin (Getty)

An exchange programme which unites the most promising young Scottish and Russian writers has the potential to act as a diplomatic “bridge across the water”, one of Vladimir Putin’s most senior UK representatives has said.

Andrey Pritsepov, the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Edinburgh, said the Pushkin Prizes were an example of good diplomacy between the UK and Russia. The creative writing competition is open to 12 to 14-year-olds in Scotland and St Petersburg.

“From the point of view of diplomacy – this is diplomacy working. This is the bridge across the water,” he said. Adding that he had been “amazed by the quality” of the winning entries, Mr Pritsepov said the Scottish winner of the competition would later be hosted by Russia in St Petersburg.

The Pushkin Prizes give ten Scottish schoolchildren and two of their Russian peers the chance to spend a week at Moniack Mhor, a creative writing centre near Inverness. The competition was founded in 1988 by Lady Butter, the great-great-great granddaughter of Russian author Alexander Pushkin.

The pupils often discuss politics while they are on their writing retreat, where there is no internet access or televisions. Mr Pritsepov’s sentiments were echoed by Natalya Ushmanova, director of the Pushkin Prizes in St Petersburg.

“While politicians strive to divide countries, it’s poetry and culture that unite all of us,” she said. “Living together at Moniack Mhor they communicate all the time and speak a lot with each other. It’s very important for them. Maybe they will tell stories about this week to their peers and they will start to realise that we’re all in one boat. Why should we be enemies?”

Mr Pritsepov has previously voiced his anger at the suspension of cultural links between the two countries, hitting out at “overzealous politicians and bureaucrats” when both governments withdrew from UK-Russia Year of Culture celebrations following the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The overall winner of the competition was Jennifer Mitchell, from Forres Academy in Moray, who collected her prize at a ceremony in Edinburgh yesterday before she and the other winners set off for their week of intensive writing.

The 14-year-old, who said she was inspired by the work of Harry Potter author JK Rowling, earned praise from the judges for her innovative “A Circle Story”, in which the reader is invited to create their own beginning and end by starting at any paragraph.