Entries Open for the 2026 Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Competition.
Limerick Writers’ Centre is proud to announce the 2026 Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Competition.
CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES IS MIDNIGHT SAT 7th MARCH 2026
The Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Competition was inaugurated in 2012 by the late Barney Sheehan – poetry impresario of the White House Poetry Revival, in honour of the late Limerick poet Desmond O’Grady, who died in 2014. The Limerick Writers’ Centre now runs the competition as part of April is Poetry Month in Limerick festival. The prize winner of this year’s competition will be announced during April 2026 and will be invited to give a reading of his/her work during the 2027 festival.
The judge for this year’s competition is poet Sean Lysaght.
Seán Lysaght is the author of several volumes of poems, including Scarecrow (1998), The Mouth of a River (2007) and Carnival Masks (2014) from Gallery Press, and a biography of the naturalist Robert Lloyd Praeger (Four Courts Press, 1998). He has also written prose about wildlife and landscape: Eagle Country (2018), Wild Nephin (2020) and Unveiling the Sun (2025). His latest collection, New Leaf, was published by Gallery in 2022. He lives in Westport, County Mayo. Sean grew up in Limerick, in Thomondgate, just by the River Shannon and has written a sequence of poems entitled , ‘Limerick’, in is collection ERRIS (Gallery, 2002). He is a former winner of the O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry.
About Desmond O’Grady.
Desmond O’Grady (1935 – 2014) was born in Limerick, Ireland. Poet, professor, Harvard teaching fellow, editor, translator, Aosdana member. Widely travelled, O’Grady left his Limerick home in the 1950’s to teach in Paris, Rome and America. Reputed not only for his seventeen collections of poetry and his linguistic prowess, O’Grady was a founding member of the European Community of Writers.
Entry is by email to limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com or post to The Limerick Writers’ Centre, c/o The Umbrella Project, 78 O’Connell St., Limerick.
Rules and further info from their website www.limerickwriterscentre.com or Email: limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com
The Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Competition 2026
Rules.
1. Poems, in English only, can be on any subject and presented in any form or style. NOTE: we run a separate competition for poems in Irish.
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 All poems must be the unpublished work of the person entering them into the competition.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 can be entered by email to limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com putting “Desmond O’Grady Competition 2026” in the subject box and paying the appropriate fee through PAY PAL in Euros.
Enter by post to Limerick Writers’ Centre, c/o The Umbrella Project, 78 O’Connell Street, Limerick, Ireland with appropriate fee in Euros only (cheques/PO made out to Limerick Writers’ Centre). Your poems will not be returned, so do keep a copy.
9. Please attach all entered poems in one attachment using a standard Word file
10. All entries will be acknowledged by email only.
11. Closing Date for all entries is midnight on Saturday 7th March 2026.
12. We cannot accept alterations to the poem(s) once it has been submitted.
13. Poems can be withdrawn from the judging process once entered but no fee refunds are allowed.
14. Although copyright will remain with the poet, we reserve the right to publish the winning poem on our website or print books for one year from date of announcement of winning poem.
15. The organisers reserve the right to withhold prizes if such an action is justified.
16. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
HOW TO ENTER (Email);
1. Pay the appropriate fee to PayPal account address is: limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com and obtain the PayPal transaction code. https://www.paypal.com/ie/home
2. Send your entry via email to limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com
In the subject line please state “Desmond O’Grady Competition 2026”
In the body of the email please state;
Your Name
Your address
Your email address
Poem title(s)
PayPal transaction code
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)
HOW TO ENTER (Post);
Post to Limerick Writers’ Centre, c/o The Umbrella Project, 78 O’Connell Street, Limerick, Ireland with appropriate fee in Euros only (cheques/PO made out to Limerick Writers’ Centre). Your poems will not be returned, so do keep a copy.
ALL POEMS MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE MIDNIGHT SATURDAY 7th MARCH 2026
https://www.limerickwriterscentre.com