Deadline: September 30, 2023
Entry fee: €15
About the competition
The Moth Nature Writing Prize aims to encourage and celebrate the art of nature writing. It is awarded annually to an unpublished piece of prose or poetry which best combines exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writer’s relationship with the natural world.
The prize is open to anyone over the age of sixteen, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished.
Each year a single judge is asked to choose winners from entries worldwide. The 1st prizewinner receives €1,000 and a week at Circle of Misse in France. This year we have added a 2nd prize of €500 and a 3rd prize of €250.
‘If you are engaged with being alive on this planet just now … and you are not terrified about the future half the time, you are not paying attention.’ Max Porter (2022 judge)
‘I wish that we would not fight for landscapes that remind us of who we think we are. I wish we would fight, instead, for landscapes buzzing and glowing with life in all its variousness.’ Helen Macdonald (2021 judge)
‘The answer to the still present threat of a silent spring is for us to sing against the storm.’ Richard Mabey (2020 judge)
‘What a great competition to be running.’ Robert Macfarlane
‘It gives me so much confidence and it is wonderful to have my writing out there and enjoyed by others.’ Sammy Weaver (2020 winner)
‘I am eternally grateful, however much of eternity I have left in me.’ Arne Weingart (2021 winner)
Competition guideline
- Closing date for receipt of entries is 30 September 2023.
- The name of the author must not appear on the same page as the entry.
- It’s not a requirement, but we strongly advise you to purchase a copy of The Moth.
- Postal entries must be in English, typed, with each entry on a new sheet.
- No name or address should appear on the same page as the entry.
- Entries will not be returned, so make sure you keep a copy.
- No corrections can be made after receipt, or fees refunded.
- Read the whole guideline and submit an entry here.
