The John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize 2025 Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize 2025 has been announced today, by the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre. This is the seventh year of the prize, awarded annually for an outstanding debut collection of poetry in the English language. Valued at €10,000, the prize is sponsored by the John Pollard Foundation, and administered by the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin. The patron of the John Pollard Foundation is Stephen Vernon, who named the Foundation in memory of his grandfather, John Pollard. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Trinity in April 2025.

The shortlisted publications are:

Christine Roseeta Walker, Coco Island (Carcanet Press)
Gboyega Odubanjo, Adam (Faber and Faber)
Gustav Parker Hibbett, High Jump as Icarus Story (Banshee Press)
Scott McKendry, Gub (Corsair Poetry)
Erin Marie Lynch, Removal Acts (Graywolf Press)

Announcing the 2025 shortlist, chair of the judging panel, Professor Eoin McNamee, Director of the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre said:

“As always it is a privilege for myself and fellow judges Tom Walker and Una Mannion to read and debate the work of these poets in their first collections. There is a rigour, political alertness and attention to beauty to this year's shortlist, a necessary sense of worlds being made anew. The future isn’t assured but sometimes it is in better hands than we think.”

Previous winners of the prize were Hannah Sullivan (2019); Isabel Galleymore (2020); Diane Louie (2021); Gail McConnell (2022); Victoria Adukwei Bulley (2023); Patrick James Errington (2024)

The John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize 2025

The John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize is for an outstanding debut poetry book collection by a poet, in the English language. The John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize is valued at €10,000 and will be adjudicated by a panel of judges nominated by the John Pollard Foundation, and the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre in the School of English, Trinity College Dublin.

The selection panel will be chaired by the Director of the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre, (or nominee) at Trinity College Dublin. The John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize will be administered by the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre in association with the Trinity School of English.

Criteria

The 2025 prize will be awarded to a first book of poetry published originally in the English language between October 1st 2023 and October 18th 2024.
Only single-authored books are eligible.
A book shall be defined as having at least 48 pages.
A publisher may submit one nomination for the prize.
The winner must be available to accept the prize in person in Trinity College Dublin.

Submission
Submission by the publisher should consist of a PDF copy of the book and a brief author biography (200 words maximum) to: wilde@tcd.ie, (subject line JP Prize Submission). Submission by the publisher will also consist of four copies of the published book for the judging panel, the submission addresses will be provided further to your pdf and author biography submission.

Deadline
The deadline for submissions is October 18th 2024. The winner of the award will be announced in during Trinity Week 2025.