The Moth Poetry Prize is a prize given for single unpublished poems. Founded in 2011 by Irish magazine The Moth, it offers a prize fund of €11,000.
Judging and eligibility The competition is open to any candidate, as long as their poems are previously unpublished. Each year the prize attracts thousands of entries from new and established poets from over 50 countries.
The prize is judged anonymously by a single poet.
Past judges include Hannah Sullivan (2024), Nobel Laureate Louise Glück (2023), Warsan Shire (2022), Jacob Polley (2019), Claudia Rankine, Marie Howe, Deborah Landau, Daljit Nagra, Leontia Flynn, Billy Collins, and Nick Laird.
The competition closes annually on 31 December. A shortlist of four candidates is announced in the spring, alongside eight commended poems. The shortlisted poems are published in The Irish Times online. The overall winner (€6,000) is announced at a special, online, award ceremony.
Winners +Award recipients Year Poet Work Result 2011Bourdon1st placeI Crept Out2nd place3rd place20121st placeOranges2nd placeFathom3rd place2013My Blue Hen1st placeElegy2nd placeRations3rd place2014Eidolon1st placeDisco Jesus and the Wavering Virgins in Berlin, 2011ShortlistFantasia on a Theme by ElvisShortlistSaratoga Passage, August 2014Shortlist2015Arterial1st placeTom Crean Sings Sean-nos at the Tiller on the Southern OceanShortlistPhoebe and the TroopshipShortlistDance TherapyShortlist2016Letter to Al1st placeOn the Sprocket Side of the Hay RakeShortlistMarriageShortlistYou’re in my Blood like Holy WineShortlist20171st placeFortune Reshuffled, ReshuffledShortlistShirtlessShortlistIn what way are forest black or white. We saw them blue. With forget-me-nots.Shortlist2018Dead Drift1st placeOctonautShortlistSestinaShortlistChristmas Work Detail, SamosShortlist20191st placeI do not appear in photosShortlistShortlistGenetic MemoryShortlist2020Chaos Soliloquy1st placeIn the dream of the cold restaurantShortlistShortlistFor the Poet Who Writes to Me While Standing in Line at CVS, Waiting for his Mothers PrescriptionShortlist20211st placeChase StreetShortlistHotel PetroleumShortlistSmall Moon CurveShortlist2022Parkland Walk1st placeLast Year in BaltimoreShortlistWorkers Leaving the Lumière FactoryShortlistTravel AdvisoryShortlist2023Things I'm Against1st placePencilling the DatesShortlistExtinction PicnicShortlistAnd Other MiragesShortlist
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