Submit your words to the Moth Poetry Prize

Moth by Judy Darley

The Moth Magazine invites you to enter the Moth Poetry Prize. The deadline for entries is 31st December 2024.

It’s one of the biggest prizes in the world for a single previously unpublished poem on any subject and is open to anyone over 16.
The prize is judged anonymously by a single poet, and this year that poet is Fiona Benson.
Fiona Benson is the author of four poetry collections: Bright Travellers, Vertigo & GhostEphemeron and Midden Witch (forthcoming). All three of her published collections have been shortlisted for the T S Eliot prize, and her books have won the Forward Prize, the Seamus Heaney Prize, the Roehampton Poetry Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize.
In 2024 Fiona received a Cholmondley Award from the Society of Authors. She lives in mid-Devon with her husband and their two daughters.
The Prize is open to anyone (over 16) from anywhere in the world, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished.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 shortlist will be announced in March 2025 and the four shortlisted poems will appear in the Irish Times online.
Prizes
  • The winner will receive €6,000
  • There are three runner-up prizes of €1,000. Eight commended entries will win prizes of  €250
  • The entry fee is €15 per poem.

The winner of The Moth Poetry Prize 2023 was American poet Lance Larsen with his poem ‘Things I’m Against.’

The winner of The Moth Poetry Prize 2022 was British poet Laurie Bolger with her poem ‘Parkland Walk’ chosen by Louise Glück.

Visit www.themothmagazine.com for full details.

Enter Mslexia’s poetry competitions

Button on Kilve Beach cr Judy DarleyMslexia’s Women’s Poetry Competition and Pamphlet Competition are open for entries of poetry pamphlets and individual poems.

Both competitions have a closing date of 4th December 2023.

Mslexia Poetry Competition

You are invited to submit poems of any length, on any subject. Your £10 entry fee allows you to submit up to three poems.

The judge is Fiona Benson.

The winner of the single poem category will receive £2,000.

The second prize-winner gets £500 and the third prize-winner gets £250.

There’s also a special  Unpublished Poet Prize of £250, which will be awarded to the best poem by an unpublished poet.

The four winners, plus 16 additional finalists, will be published in Mslexia.

The winner and finalists will be announced on 1 March 2024.

Mslexia Pamphlet Competition

You’re invited to submit a collection of up to 20 poems, of up to 24 pages. To be eligible, you must never have had a full-length collection published previously.

The winner of the pamphlet category will receive prize £250, plus publication of the winning pamphlet by Bloodaxe Books. A selected poem from the winning pamphlet will be published in Mslexia.

The judge is Imtiaz Dharker.

The entry fee is £20.

The winner will be announced on 1 September 2024.

You can find full details of how to enter at www.mslexia.co.uk.

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.