Deadline:
June 30, 2025
Location(s)
Online
Overview
The Moth Short Story Prize is an international prize, open to anyone from anywhere in the world, as long as their story is original and previously unpublished. The winners are chosen by a single judge each year, who reads the stories anonymously.
Previous judges include Ottessa Moshfegh, Kevin Barry, Mark Haddon, Ali Smith and Sarah Hall.
Details
THE 2025 JUDGE
Evie Wyld is the award-winning author of four novels and one graphic novel. She has won the Betty Trask Prize, Miles Franklin Literary Award, John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the European Union Prize for Literature. In 2013 she was named as one of Granta‘s Best of Young British Novelists. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and runs Review, an independent bookshop in Peckham, south London.
‘One of our most gifted young writers.’ Observer.
HOW TO ENTER
The Prize is open to anyone over 16, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished.
There is a word limit of 3,000.
The entry fee is €15 per story. You can enter online or send your story along with a cheque or postal order made payable to ‘The Moth Magazine Ltd.’ with an entry form or a cover letter with your name and contact details and the title of your story (or stories) attached to: The Moth, Ardan Grange, Milltown, Belturbet, Co. Cavan, Ireland H14 K768.
Please note: If you are at all concerned about the formatting of your story online, please send a copy of the story (or stories) in a word doc to enquiries@themothmagazine.com, along with your entry number. Please stipulate if you have not used the online system and send payment directly via PayPal to enquiries@themothmagazine.com.
ABOUT US
Founded in June 2010, The Moth is a quarterly printed arts & literature magazine featuring poetry, short fiction and art by established and up-and-coming writers and artists. Each issue also features two interviews – with the likes of Sally Rooney, Simon Armitage, Evie Wyld, Kamila Shamsie, Gary Shteyngart, Helen Oyeyemi, Colm Toibin, Lionel Shriver, Tom McCarthy and Eimear McBride.
We are very proud to publish the work of new and up-and-coming writers alongside that of more established names. We publish fiction by the likes of Max Porter, Claire-Louise Bennett, Mike McCormack, Joshua Cohen, Suzanne Joinson, Rob Doyle, Thomas Morris, Sara Baume, Lee Rourke, Thomas Maloney, June Caldwell, Robert McLiam Wilson, Nicholas Hogg, John Boyne, Nuala Ni Conchúir, Hilary Fannin and Stephen May.
We publish poetry by the likes of Sinead Morrissey, Les Murray, Annie Freud, Billy Collins, Selima Hill, Sjon, Dermot Healy, Clare Pollard, Leanne O'Sullivan, Vona Groarke, Colette Bryce, Andrew Jamison, Jacob Polley, Alan McMonagle, Maitreyabandhu, Paul Durcan, Tishani Doshi, Ciarán O’Rourke, Jack Underwood, Dan O’Brien, Josephine Dickinson, John Montague, Pascale Petit, Matthew Sweeney, Yusef Komunyakaa, John McAuliffe and Richard W. Halperin.
The art in The Moth deserves as much attention as the writing. Artists whose works has featured include Michael Carson, Wen Wu, Elizabeth Peyton, Hope Gangloff, Edgar Mendoza, Mary Sauer, Bradley Wood, Tran Nguyen, Robert C. Jackson, Lu Cong, Cesar Santos, David Piddock, Isobel Brigham, J. P. Donleavy, Mamma Andersson, David Paul Costello, Kenne Gregoire, Jasper Joffe, Gabhann Dunne, Billy Childish, Victor Man and Chantal Joffe.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
- The Prize is open to anyone (over 16).
- Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and must never have been published, self-published, published online or broadcast.
- You can enter as as many stories as you like.
- There is a word limit of 5,000.
Dates
Deadline: June 30, 2025
Cost/funding for participants
THE PRIZES
- 1st prize €3,000
- 2nd prize a week at Circle of Misse plus open travel stipend
- 3rd prize €1,000
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
