‘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, 2019 winner
ABOUT THE PRIZE
The 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Poetry Prize is one of the biggest prizes in the world for a single unpublished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unpublished, and each year it attracts thousands of entries from new and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.
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, Billy Collins, Nick Laird and Warsan Shire.
Past
winners include 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 2021 was British poet Aniqah Choudhri.
You can watch her read her winning poem ‘The Unloving Ground’ here.
