The Moth International Nature Writing Competition in Ireland 2026 with Prizes of up to €1,000
Applicant criteria
- 16 - 60
- Both
Opportunity criteria
Opportunity description
The Moth has opened submissions for the The Moth Nature Writing Prize 2026, one of the international literary competitions and awards open to writers and creative individuals from around the world. The prize aims to encourage creative writing inspired by nature and the relationship between people and the natural world, while giving participants the opportunity to compete for cash prizes, publication opportunities, and international literary recognition.
The competition accepts entries from writers worldwide. Applicants may submit either one poem or one piece of prose, which may be fiction or non-fiction, provided that the work is original and has not been previously published. Entries are judged anonymously, with the writer’s name withheld from the judging panel, ensuring that evaluation is based solely on the quality of the literary work.
The competition is part of a broader range of international awards and competitions that support literary talent and provide writers with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences. Entries may explore a variety of themes related to nature or express an appreciation of and engagement with the natural world, making the prize suitable for writers of poetry, short stories, literary essays, and creative environmental or nature writing.
Entry Categories
Applicants may choose one of the following formats:
Poetry
- Submit one poem.
- The poem may be of any length.
- Collections of poems are not accepted as a single entry.
Prose
- Submit one piece of prose.
- It may be fiction or non-fiction.
- The maximum length is 4,000 words.
Benefits
The competition offers three main prizes:
- First Prize: €1,000, plus a one-week stay at The Moth Retreat in rural Ireland.
- Second Prize: €500.
- Third Prize: €250.
- The winning entries will be published in The Irish Times Online.
Eligibility criteria
Applicants from any country in the world may enter the competition, provided they meet the following requirements:
- Applicants must be over 16 years old at the time of submission.
- The competition is open to participants from all countries worldwide, with no nationality restrictions.
- The submitted work must be entirely the applicant’s own original creation.
- The work must not have been previously published in print, online, through self-publishing, or broadcast.
- Entries must be submitted in English.
- An English translation of a work originally written in another language is allowed, provided the original author has given permission. If the entry wins, the prize money will be shared between the author and the translator.
- AI-generated work is not permitted.
- Simultaneous submissions of the same work to other publishers or competitions are allowed.
- Applicants may submit more than one entry, with a separate entry fee required for each submission.
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