2026 Yeats Poetry Prize

Dear Poet and Writer,

Thanks for your interest in the annual Yeats Poetry Prize. The all-volunteer, nonprofit WB Yeats Society of NY has conducted this annual competition since 1997. Submissions for the 2026 award are accepted from September 1st of this year to February 1, 2026. To enter, click the SUBMIT button below. Our 2026 Judge is NAME TO COME. The 2025 judge's report and winning poems can be found on our website's Awards Page at www.yeatssociety.nyc.

Eligibility and Fees

• Poets of any age from anywhere in the world may enter. 
• There is no limit on entries.  They can be on any topic, but must be unpublished, in English, and no more      than 60 lines in length. 
• The first prize is $1,000, the second prize is $500, and there are honorable mentions. 
• Winners also receive a commemorative wall plaque, a two-year membership in the WB Yeats Society of NY, and their winning poem is published in the judge’s report, which is posted on the society’s website (www.yeatssociety.nyc) along with the reports from prior years.
• The entry fees, which help to underwrite the competition, are $15 for the first poem and $12 for each additional poem. The total cost is calculated in the submission form, and your payment is processed through Submittable. 
• Winners are announced in March and awards are presented in New York City in April (National Poetry Month in the United States). 

Submissions via Submittable

• Submit entries and payment via this Submittable site. 
• Once entries have been submitted, no additions, deletions, or substitutions are permitted. However, you may withdraw a poem before the submission deadline and resubmit an edited version as a new entry with a new fee (you will forfeit the fee for the previous entry). 
• All inquiries regarding the prize should be sent through the Submittable email form. You may also use our website’s contact page at www.YeatsSociety.nyc if that’s more convenient.
• News of last year’s recipients are on our website’s Awards page along with the judge’s report, which includes their winning poems. 

Submissions by Postal Mail

• We also welcome mail-in entries.
• Each mail-in poem must be typed on a separate sheet of A4 paper (8.5x11in/0.21 x 0.297m) with an attached 3x5-in index card that includes your name, address, phone number, and email address. This information must not appear in the poems themselves. 
• Send them to the WB Yeats Society of NY, c/o The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003. 
• Make your submission check payable to the Society's full name. 
• To receive a printed copy of the judge’s report, enclose a self-addressed, U.S.-stamped envelope (SASE). 

Anonymity

• This is a blind competition. All entrants remain anonymous, and no awards are announced until the judging has been completed and the winners have been notified. 
• The judge reads each poem at least once, often several times, as part of the decision process. There are no other readers or editorial filters. 
• To help ensure the competition's anonymity, you must observe the following rules:
  • Do not identify the filename for any entry with your name. Use the poem’s title only.
  • Do not include acknowledgments, explanatory statements, reviews, resumes, autobiographical statements, photographs, illustrations, artwork, or lists of your earlier publications and/or mentions in online or print media. 
  • If you win an award, we will contact you via email and/or phone for further information.

Provisos

• Any poem that fails to meet the rules and criteria for submission will be disqualified, and the entry fee will be forfeited. 
• Evidence that an entry was composed, in whole or part, with AI technology will also disqualify it unless the reason is explained in the poem’s submission form and meets with the judge’s approval. The judge’s decision is final and irrevocable. The entry fee for the poem will not be refunded.

Publication Requests

• If any of your submissions is chosen for publication before March 1st, 2026, you must inform us immediately, along with the details. 
• You may choose to publish the poem, but it will not be considered for a Yeats Poetry Prize, and the submission fee will be forfeited. 
• You should withdraw the poem directly from the Submittable site.

Our Namesake's Advice

• Should you require more incentive to write poetry or enter poetry or writing competitions, remember what W.B. Yeats is alleged to have said: "Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking." 
• The world needs poetry and poets. 

Sincerely,

Andrew J. McGowan, President

WB Yeats Society, c/o National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003. www.YeatsSociety.nyc

Previous Yeats Poetry Prize Judges

• A-Z: L.S. Asekoff, Billy Collins, Alfred Corn, Alan Feldman, Jessica Greenbaum, Eamon Grennan, Ann Kjellberg, Campbell McGrath, Leslie McGrath, Samuel Menashe, January O'Neil, Paul Muldoon, Marie Ponsot, Alice Quinn, Spencer Reese, Grace Schulman, Harvey Shapiro, and Bill Zavatsky.