POETRY: 2025 Yeats Poetry Prizes Announced

The WB Yeats Society of NY has announced six recipients of its 2025 Yeats Poetry Prize, the 28th year of the international competition, open to poets of all ages from anywhere in the world. Founded in 1990, the society is dedicated to the legacy of the world-famous Irish poet and Nobel Laureate.

First Prize:

 “Looming Light” by Elly Katz, New York City

Second Prize:

“The Elephants” by Leonardo Chung, Ottawa, IL.

Honorable Mentions:
“Persephone at Nine Weeks” by Chelsea Woodard, Exeter, NH.
“Song for a Spotted Flycatcher” by Harry Man, Stockton-on-Tees, England.
“Madame President” by William O’Neal II, Brooklyn, NY.
“Song for Bloody Memory” by Elana Churchill, Murfreesboro, TN.

Poet and professor January O’Neil, 2025 judge, praised the quality of the winning poems from among the hundreds submitted. “Once again,” she said, “we see the enduring power of poetry. Poems reveal the heart’s core. They are a healing force.”

First prize was $1,000, second prize $500. The winning poems are published in the Judge’s Report, which will appear on the society’s website later this spring. Each recipient also receives a plaque, a two-year society membership, and is invited to a free-admission public awards ceremony and reading of their poems in New York City, Thursday, April 24, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble flagship Union Square, 33 East 17 Street, NYC. The poets will also be honored at a private dinner at the National Arts Club.

Previous judges of the Yeats Poetry Prize include poets L.S. Asekoff, Billy Collins, Alfred Corn, Alan Feldman, Jessica Greenbaum, Eamon Grennan, Ann Kjellberg, Campbell McGrath, Leslie McGrath, Samuel Menashe, Paul Muldoon, Marie Ponsot, Alice Quinn, Spencer Reese, Grace Schulman, Harvey Shapiro, and Bill Zavatsky.

For more information on the prize and the WB Yeats Society of NY, visit www.yeatssociety.nyc. The 2026 competition will accept poems from September 1st to February 1, 2026.