To read the winning poems in this years competition, click here: https://limerickwriterscentre.com/2019/04/20/winning-poems-the-desmond-ogrady-international-poetry-competition-2019/

The Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Competition was inaugurated in in 2012 by Barney Sheehan, poetry impresario of the White House Poetry Revival, in hnour of Limerick poet Desmond O’Grady.  It was last held in 2014. The Limerick Writers’ Centre are now reviving the competition as part of our April is Poetry Month in Limerick festival. The prizewinner of this year’s competition will be announced during April and will be invited to give a reading of his/her work during the 2020 festival.

First Prize 200.00 Euro
Runner-Up Prize 50.00 Euro
ENTER ONLINE

Entry is by email to limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com  after an appropriate fee is paid by Pay Pal to the account of taylordj@eircom.net

All entries must be received before midnight Saturday 16th March 2019

Entries received after this time will be discarded. All entries are judged anonymously so please do not put any identifying features on the poems.

Entry fees are as follows;

1 poem     3.50  Euro
3 Poems   5.50 Euro

Competition Judge;  JOHN W. SEXTON

John W. Sexton is the author of six poetry collections, the three most recent of which are Petit Mal (Revival Press 2009), The Offspring of the Moon (Salmon Poetry 2013) and Futures Pass (Salmon Poetry 2018). Under the ironic pseudonym of Sex W. Johnston he has recorded an album with legendary Stranglers frontman, Hugh Cornwell, entitled Sons of Shiva, which has been released on Track Records. He is a past nominee for The Hennessy Literary Award and his poem The Green Owl won the Listowel Poetry Prize 2007. In 2007 he was awarded a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship in Poetry. His poem “In and Out of Their Heads”, from The Offspring of the Moon, was selected for The Forward Book of Poetry 2014. He is also Ireland’s most widely published science fiction poet and his poetry in this genre has appeared in most of the leading publications including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Abyss & Apex, Dreams & Nightmares, Faerie Magazine, Grievous Angel, Liminality, Mirror Dance, Mithila Review, Silver Blade, Star*Line and Strange Horizons.

RULES

1. Poems, can be in either Irish or English, can be on any subject and presented in any form or style.
2. There are no restrictions on content.
3. International entries are welcome.
4. All poems must be the unpublished work of the person entering them into the competition. They must not have been published, self-published or accepted for publication in print or online, broadcast, or have won another competition at any time.
5. All entries will be considered anonymously by the judge so poems should not have any indication within them to allow for the identification of the poet.
6. Should the named judge be unable to proceed, we aim to substitute an alternative judge of equivalent standing as a poet.
7. There is a recommended length of not more than 40 lines but we are open to receiving longer poems if the subject matter justifies it
8. Poems must be entered by email only to limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com putting “Desmond O’Grady Competition” in the subject box and paying the appropriate fee through PAY PAL in Euros.
9. Please attach all entered poems in one attachment using a standard Word file
10.All entries will be acknowledged by email only.
11.losing Date for all entries is midnight on Saturday 16th March 2019
12.Enter by post to Limerick Writers’ Centre, 12 Barrington St., Limerick, Ireland with appropriate fee in Euros only (cheques/PO made out to Limerick Writers’ Centre).
13.We cannot accept alterations to the poem once it has been submitted.
14.Poems cannot be withdrawn from the judging process once they have been entered.
15.Although copyright will remain with the poet, we reserve the right to publish any shortlisted poem on our website or print books.
16.The organisers reserves the right to withhold prizes if such an action is justified.
17.The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

 

HOW TO ENTER;

1 HOW TO ENTER (Email);

1 Pay the appropriate fee to PayPal account address is taylordj@eircom.net and obtain the PayPal transaction code.
2 Send your entry via email to limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com

In the body of the email please state;

Your Name

Your address

Your email address

Poem title(s)

PayPal transaction code

HOW TO ENTER (Post);

Post to Limerick Writers’ Centre, 12 Barrington St., Limerick, Ireland with appropriate fee in Euros only (cheques/PO made out to Limerick Writers’ Centre).

Please attach your poem or poems in a single WORD or TEXT file, there should be no identifying features on the file other than the poem titles,

no other file types will be opened.  (No PDFs)

ALL POEMS MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE MIDNIGHT SATURDAY 16th MARCH 2019