Southword Journal: Fees-Free Entry for Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Competition

Overview
The Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Competition, administered by the Munster Literature Centre, is a fixture in the international poetry calendar. This year, the Centre has instituted a social justice initiative: one hundred poets who are resident in developing countries—principally Africa, Central and South America, South East Asia, and the Philippines—or who are living in Ireland under the International Protection Accommodation Service, and who lack the financial means to pay the entrance fee, may enter two poems without charge. The gesture is not promotional; it is corrective, an attempt to widen the field of submissions beyond those with the disposable income to compete. The offer is made on a trust basis. The Centre explicitly asks that those who can afford the standard fee refrain from using this facility, as doing so would deprive a poet who genuinely needs it. Only one free entry of two poems per person is permitted; multiple free entries will result in disqualification of all submissions. Entries undergo a preliminary reading process before reaching the final judge, ensuring that the competition's standards are maintained at every stage. Applicants must upload two documents: a cover letter containing the poet's name, the titles of the submitted poems, complete postal address, and email address, along with the poems themselves. The deadline for this fee-free entry is 30 November 2026. The competition is online and remote, with no physical location requirement. This is not a prize for beginners or a vanity exercise; it is a serious literary contest with a jury that expects work of consequence.