Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award facts for kids

The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award is a special prize given in Ireland to poets who haven't published a full collection of their poems before. It's for poets who were born in Ireland, have Irish nationality, or have lived in Ireland for a long time. Each year, poets can enter their work into a competition, and the winner gets this award.

What is the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award?

This award was started in 1971 by the Patrick Kavanagh Society. They created it to remember and honor the famous Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh.

The competition happens every year, and poets submit their work by July. Many well-known poets have been judges for the award, including Brendan Kennelly, John Montague, and Paula Meehan. Since 2009, the main judge has been Brian Lynch, who is a poet, novelist, and screenwriter. The award is now run by the society along with the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Inniskeen.

Since 2011, the award is given out at the end of September during the yearly Kavanagh Weekend at the Patrick Kavanagh Centre.

Who Has Won the Award?

Many talented poets have won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award over the years. Here are some of the winners:

1971–1979

• 1971: Sean Clarkin from Wexford. His book is Without Frenzy (1974).
• 1973: Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin from Dublin. She is a poet and critic. Some of her poetry books include Acts and Monuments (1973) and The Second Voyage (1977).
• 1974: Paul Durcan from Dublin. He has written many poetry books, such as O Westport in the Light of Asia Minor (1975) and The Berlin Wall Café (1985).
• 1975: John Ennis from Waterford. His books include Night on Hibernia (1976) and Dolmen Hill (1977).
• 1976: Aidan Carl Matthews from Dublin. He is a poet, author, and playwright. His poetry books include Windfalls (1977).
• 1977: Thomas McCarthy from Cork. His poetry works include The First Convention (1978) and The Sorrow Garden (1981).
• 1978: Rory Brennan from Dublin. His works include The Sea on Fire (1978).
• 1979: Michael Coady from Carrick-on-Suir. His books include Two for a Woman, Three for a Man (1980).

1980–1989

• 1980: Nuala Archer from Cleveland. Her books include Whale on the Line (1981).
• 1981: Harry Clifton from Dublin. He is a poet and novelist. His poetry books include The Walls of Carthage (1977).
• 1982: Peter Sirr from Dublin. His books include Marginal Zones (1984) and Talk, Talk (1987).
• 1983: Greg Delanty from Vermont. His books include Cast in the Fire (1986).
• 1984: Tom O'Malley from Navan. His poetry book is Journey Backward (1988).
• 1985: Roz Cowman from Cork. Her collection is The Goose Herd (1989).
• 1986: Padraig Rooney's poetry books are In the Bonsai Garden (1988).
• 1987: Anthony Glavin (died 2006). His poetry book is The Wrong Side of the Alps (1989).
• 1988: Angela Greene (deceased). Her poetry book was Silence and the Blue Night (1993).
• 1989: Pat Boran from Dublin. His poetry books include The Unwound Clock (1990) and Familiar Things (1993).

1990–1999

• 1990: Sinéad Morrissey from Belfast. Her books include There Was Fire in Vancouver (1996).
• 1991: Sheila O'Hagan from Dublin. Her works include Peacock's Eye (1992).
• 1992: Aine Millar from Dublin. Her collection is Goldfish in a Baby Bath (1994).
• 1993: Conor O'Callaghan from Manchester. His poetry books include The History of Rain (1993).
• 1994: Celia de Fréine from Dublin. She writes poetry and plays, mostly in the Irish language. Her English poetry book is Scarecrows at Newtownards (2005).
• 1995: William Wall from Cork. His poetry books are Mathematics and Other Poems (1997).
• 1996: Bill Tinley from Maynooth. His book is Grace (2001).
• 1997: Fr. Michael McCarthy from Durham. His collections are Birds' Nests and Other Poems (2003).
• 1998: Carmel Fitzsimons from London.
• 1999: Eibhlin nic Eochaidh from Leitrim.

2000–2009

• 2000: Joseph Woods from Dublin. His books are Sailing to Hokkaido (2001).
• 2001: Ann Leahy from Dublin. Her collection is The Woman who Lived Her Life Backwards (2008).
• 2002: Alice Lyons from Roscommon. Her collection is Staircase Poems (2006).
• 2003: Manus McManus from Dublin. He is a poet and film writer/director.
• 2004: Joseph Horgan from Cork. His poetry collections include Slipping Letters Beneath the Sea (2008).
• 2005: Dave Lordan from Greystones. His poetry collections include The Boy in the Ring (2008).
• 2006: Enda Coyle-Greene from Skerries. Her collections are Snow Negatives (2007).
• 2007: Conor Carville from Reading. His first collection is Harms Way (2013).
• 2008: Geraldine Mitchell from County Mayo. Her collections are World Without Maps (2011). She has also written novels for young people.
• 2009: Martin Dyar from Dublin and County Mayo. His first collection is Maiden Names (2012).

2010–2019

• 2010: Connie Roberts, originally from Co. Offaly, moved to the United States in 1983. Her first collection is Little Witness (2015).
• 2011: Helena Nolan was born in Kilkenny and works in Dublin.
• 2012: Caoilinn Hughes was born in Galway and works in the Netherlands. Her first collection, Gathering Evidence (2014), won another award in 2015.
• 2013: Rafiq Kathwari lives in Omeath, Co. Louth. He was born in Kashmir. His collection is In Another Country (2015).
• 2014: John Fitzgerald lives in Co. Cork. He was a librarian at University College Cork. He has published two collections, The Time Being (2021) and Long Distance (2024).
• 2015: John Mee lives in Cork and is a law professor. His first collection The Blue in the Blue Marble was published in 2024.
• 2016: Laurence O'Dwyer, born in Tipperary, has published two collections: Tractography (2018) and Catalan Butterflies (2022).
• 2017: Ruth Timmins was born in Dublin but now lives in Curracloe, Co. Wexford.
• 2018: Conor Cleary was born in Tralee but now lives in Glasgow. His pamphlet, Priced Out, was published in 2019.
• 2019: Scott McKendry is from Belfast. His pamphlet Curfuffle was chosen as a special poetry book in 2019. His first collection Gub was published in 2024.

2020–2021

• 2020: No award was given this year.
• 2021: Jerm Curtin is from Boherbue in north west Cork and now lives in Spain. He won for his collection A Drowned City, which imagines Cork City under water due to climate change.
• 2022: Ben Keatinge was born in Dublin.
• 2023: Lauren O'Donovan is from Cork. She helps run two writing groups.

A Special Collection of Poems

Dancing with Kitty Stobling: Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award Winners, 1971–2003 is a book that collects poems from many of the award winners between 1971 and 2003. It was put together by Antoinette Quinn and published in 2004.