Saolta Arts is seeking entries for its annual poetry competition. The poetry competition is run in conjunction with the Poems for Patience series as part of Cúirt International Festival of Literature, which takes place from April 8th – 13th. The closing date for the competition is Monday, February 24th 2025.
The prize as part of the annual poetry competition includes: the winner will have their poem published and displayed on the Arts Corridor of University Hospital Galway as part of the 2025 Poems for Patience series. Poems for Patience is a long running series which over the past twenty one years has featured poems by leading Irish and international poets such as Seamus Heaney, Philip Schultz, Jane Hirschfield, Michael Longley, Naomi Shihab Nye, Vona Groarke, Tess Gallagher and many more. The poems, after exhibition on the Arts Corridor, are displayed in waiting areas throughout Galway University Hospitals and in 2025 will be distributed to our public hospitals in Ballinasloe, Castlebar, Roscommon, Sligo and Letterkenny.
The winner will also be:
- invited to read his or her winning poem at the launch of the 2025 Poems for Patience at Cúirt International Festival of Literature in April,
- provided with accommodation in Galway if travelling for one night during the festival,
- given a copy of their poem printed and framed as a Poem for Patience poster.
Margaret Flannery Arts Director ‘Poems for Patience competition now in its thirteenth year is a longstanding initiative within the Saolta Arts programme. The poetry competition is an opportunity for poets to gift the hospital community with uplifting poetry to take us away even fleetingly from the troubling reality around us and can offer us comfort.”
Saolta Arts welcomes back competition judge Susan Millar DuMars who will make a shortlist by Monday March 10th and reveal the winning entry on Friday March 14th.
Criteria details include: poems entered in the competition should be no more than 32 lines long. They must be the original work of the entrant. Poems previously published in magazines or poetry collections are eligible. Multiple entries are accepted; poets can enter as many poems as they wish.
Entry fees: to enter one poem the fee is €10. If you enter two or more poems the entry fee is €7.50 per poem i.e. to enter two poems it costs €15, to enter three poems €22.50 and so on. Payment can be made online or alternatively by cheque or postal order payable to Saolta Arts.
Entries should be sent by email to saoltaarts@hse.ie or by post to Saolta Arts, c/o University Hospital Galway, Newcastle Road, Galway.
Please include your contact details – name, address, email address, telephone and title of poem(s) within the body of the email and attach each entry separately. If you are posting your entry do not put your name on the poems; please include your contact details on a cover letter. This is to keep all poets anonymous during the judging process.
The closing date for the competition is Monday, February 24, 2025.
Saolta Arts will announce the short list on Monday March 10th and reveal the winning entry on Friday March 14th.
For any other queries contact Margaret Flannery, Arts Director, Saolta Arts, Galway University Hospitals, Newcastle Road, Galway Tel: +353 (0)87 1478394 Email: saoltaarts@hse.ie
Susan Millar DuMars Biography
Susan Millar DuMars has published five poetry collections with Salmon Poetry. The most recent, Naked: New and Selected Poems, appeared in 2019. She is working on her next collection, due out in 2026. She is also editing a posthumous collection of Kevin’s poems, due out in April 2025. Susan writes fiction as well, and has twice received an Arts Council bursary for her short stories. Susan and Kevin organised the Over the Edge readings series in Galway for twenty years.
Image Credit: Saolta Arts