The prize is judged anonymously by a single poet each year. Past judges include
Claudia Rankine, Marie Howe, Deborah Landau, Daljit Nagra, Leontia Flynn, Billy
Collins, Nick Laird, Warsan Shire, Hannah Sullivan, Fiona Benson and Nobel
Laureate Louise Glück.
Past winners include Laurie Bolger, Lance Larsen, Aniqah Choudhri, Michael
Lavers, Natalya Anderson, Lee Sharkey, Ann Gray (whose poem was shortlisted for
the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem) and Abigail Parry (who was
shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection).
The winner of The Moth Poetry Prize 2024 was American author Andrew Krivák.
‘Every writer knows what it's like to be working alone in a room
with words. And then you’re on a shortlist with fantastic poets like
Naoise Gale and Anthony Lawrence and Shelley Stenhouse, all of whom know what
that work and that aloneness is like. So, to be part of that, to be
recognized by The Moth, and to be just one of the voices
that make up their larger literary tradition, this all means a great deal
to me.’ Andrew Krivák
THE JUDGE
Ishion Hutchinson, author of three poetry collections, is a recipient of the
National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, the American Academy of Arts and
Letters Award in Literature and the Windham-Campbell Prize for Poetry, among
others. He is Professor in the Humanities at Cornell University in New York and
recently published his essay collection, Fugitive Tilts,
which New York Magazine described as ‘thrilling’.
‘I
wouldn’t say I had or have an affinity for poetry ‒ it confounded me, plagued
me, yet I felt enlarged by it, for it widened the presence of all I knew and
didn’t. It was love, simply, love that you have to approach the same way
Faulkner said you have to approach Joyce’s Ulysses, like the
illiterate Baptist preacher approaches the Old Testament: with faith.’ Ishion
Hutchinson
HOW
TO ENTER
The Prize is open to anyone (over 16) from anywhere in the world, as long as
the work is original and previously unpublished.
There
is no line limit, and the poems can be on any subject.
The
entry fee is €16 per poem. You can
ENTER
ONLINE or send your poem(s) along with a cheque or postal order
made payable to ‘The Moth Magazine Ltd.’ with an
ENTRY
FORM or a cover letter with your name and contact details and the
title of your poem(s) attached to: The Moth, Ardan Grange, Milltown,
Belturbet, Co. Cavan, Ireland H14 K768.
**If you are concerned about formatting online, please go through the online
process and then email your poem as a Word attachment with your entry
number directly to enquiries@themothmagazine.com.**
Please remember to
READ
THE RULES of the competition before you enter.
CLOSING DATE 31 DECEMBER 2025
You will need to
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAILING LIST if you wish to be notified of
the results
The
shortlist will be announced in March 2026 and the four shortlisted poems will
appear in the Irish Times online.
The overall winner of €6,000 will be announced at a special award online
in the spring of 2026.
Call 00 353 (0)87 2657251 or email enquiries@themothmagazine.com for more
details.
TESTIMONIALS
‘Judging
The Moth Poetry Prize was a beautiful experience. I’ve come away changed ‒
inspired and hopeful.’ Warsan Shire
‘The great thing about winning with this poem is that I have actually
submitted it to other competitions without success. Sometimes you have to give
up on your favourites, but sometimes it is worth ignoring the feedback and
sticking with your gut. I am glad I did with this poem.’ Damen O’Brien
‘What
an incredible honour!’ Larsen said of winning The Moth Poetry Prize. ‘I love
Wordsworth’s reminder that “the prison, into which we doom ourselves, no prison
is.” As much as I love the solitude of writing, I also like to poke my head up
once in a while to celebrate the communal dimensions of poetry and see that I
may have a place at the table after all.’ Lance Larsen
