The Moth Poetry Prize
Deadline: 31 Dec 2020The Moth Poetry Prize is one of the biggest prizes in the world for a single unpublished poem. The prize is open to anyone, as long as the poem is previously unpublished, and each year it attracts thousands of entries from new and established poets from over 50 countries worldwide.
This year the format is changed slightly, so that a further eight poets will receive monetary awards.
The prize is judged anonymously by a single poet. The judge only learns who the shortlisted poets are following the selection of the winning poems. Past judges include Claudia Rankine, Marie Howe, Deborah Landau, Daljit Nagra, Leontia Flynn and Billy Collins.
Past winners include Natalya Anderson, Paul McMahon, 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 2019 was the Australian poet Damen O’Brien. You can read more about Damen and his poem ‘The Nave’ in the Irish Times. All four shortlisted poems appeared in the spring 2020 issue of The Moth.
‘The great thing about winning with this poem is that I have actually submitted it to several journals and 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