Poetry Prize
Billy Collins,
Judge for 2025
Summary:
Open
Judge: Billy Collins
Word Limit: 60 lines
Closes: 31 March '25
Results: 15 May '25
Anthology Published: July 2025
Entry Fees: €16 / €11 subsequent entries. (Optional Critique €43)
Prizes:
Top 10 poems will be published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2025.
1st prize: €1,000
2nd: Fish Writing Course + €300.
3rd: €300
The Fish Poetry Prize
Prizes – Rules – Entry Fees – How to Enter
The Fish Poetry Prize was established in 2006. Previous judges include Billy Collins, Brian Turner, Leanne O’Sullivan, Michael McCarthy, Peter Fallon, Matthew Sweeney, Paul Durcan, Ruth Padel, Nick Laird and Jo Shapcott.
We are delighted that Billy Collins will again be judging. Billy will select the 10 poems to be published in the Fish Anthology 2025.
The Fish Anthology 2024 will be launched during the West Cork Literary Festival (July 2025).
You can read poems published in previous Fish Anthologies.
Critique Service is for poets who require an appraisal of their work prior to entering a writing contest, or at any time.
(Online Poetry Writing Course with one-to-one tutoring.)
Prizes: Poetry prize
Ten poems will be published in the Fish Anthology 2025 (first, second, third and seven honourable mentions).
First – €1,000
Second – Fish Writing Course + €300.
Third – €300
The ten published authors will each receive five copies of the Anthology and will be invited to read at the launch during the West Cork Literary Festival in July ’25.
Rules: Poetry Prize
- No entry form is needed.
- Entry is online, or by post if required.
- You may enter as many times as you wish.
- The poetry competition is open to poets of any nationality writing in English.
- There is no restriction on theme or style.
- Poem length is restricted to 60 lines. The title is not included in the word limit.
- The winning poems must be available for the Fish Anthology and, therefore, must not have been published previously.
- Fish holds publishing rights for work published in the Fish Anthology for one year after publication, after which rights revert to the author. (Please acknowledge Fish in any subsequent publications.)
- Notification of receipt of entry will normally be by email.
- The judges’ verdict is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
- Poems cannot be altered or substituted once they have been entered.
- Judging is anonymous. Name and contact details must not apear on the poem, (in the box provided if entering online, on separate sheet if entering by post).
- In order to give opportunities to emerging writers: (a) Writers who have had two poems published in Fish Anthologies may not enter for three years after their second publication. They may enter other Fish competitions. (b) Previous first prize winners may enter again, but will not be eligible for the first prize.
- Entry fees will not be returned if poems are withdrawn after entering.
- Entry is taken to be acceptance of these rules.
Fees: Poetry Prize
The cost of an Online entry is fixed in Euro and the conversion into your local currency will be done automatically by your credit card company according to the current exchange rate.
| First Entry € |
Subsequent € |
|
| ONLINE | 16.00 | 11.00 |
| Critique (Optional) | 43.00 | 42.00 |
| Entry & Critique | 59.00 | |
| POST | 19.00 | 11.00 |
| Critique (Optional) | 49.00 | 49.00 |
How to Enter: Poetry Prize
You can enter online or by post. The cheaper option is to enter online.
– How to Enter Online
To enter online, click the green button and follow the instructions.
MAKE SURE YOUR NAME AND CONTACT DETAILS ARE NOT ON THE POEM (Judging is done anonymously.) Your poem and name are linked automatically when you enter.
– How to Enter by Post
Post to: Fish Poetry Prize, Collingwood, Coomkeen, Durrus, Bantry, Co. Cork, P75 H704, Ireland.
Please use normal postal service (not couriers as this service is unreliable in our rural area).
Best not to use registered post as this slows receipt. (We will email you to confirm that your entry has arrived.)
Make cheques payable to Fish Publishing, using your country’s currency.
Do not sent postal orders (outside Ireland).
Print on one side of the page only in reasonable sized type.
The Poetry Prize is judged anonymously, so please do not put your name or contact details on any of the poetry pages.
Include all contact details on a separate sheet.
Receipt of entry will be by email.
Poems will not be returned.
About Billy Collins
Billy Collins is the author of twelve collections of poetry, including The Rain in Portugal, Aimless Love, Horoscopes for the Dead, Ballistics, The Trouble with Poetry, Nine Horses, Sailing Alone Around the Room, Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, and Picnic, Lightning. He is also the editor of Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry, 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, and Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds. A Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York and Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Winter Park Institute of Rollins College, he was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003 and New York State Poet from 2004 to 2006. In 2016 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
