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 Limerick poet Desmond O’Grady who dies in 2014.

The Limerick Writers’ Centre revived the competition as part of our April is Poetry Month in Limerick 2019 festival. The prize winner of this year’s competition will be announced during April 2024 and will be invited to give a reading of his/her work during the 2025 festival.

We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.

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