The Results - 2026 Poetry Pamphlet Competition

We are delighted to announce the results of the Three Pillars Press 2026 Poetry Pamphlet competition. Our judge Eleanor Hooker wrote:

It was a joy and an honour to read the entries for the inaugural Three Pillars Press Pamphlet Competition. The standard of writing was exceptionally high, and I was impressed by the deft control and command of language, line and subject matter shown by each poet. I admired the ways in which the poems surprised and moved me, making and remaking the world, and challenging what I thought I knew about it.

WINNER

The Outside World by Niamh Twomey, Belfast.

RUNNER-UP

M(other)ing by Elaine Westnott-O'Brien, Waterford.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

THE GIRL WHO FELL IN LOVE WITH THE BUFFALO HERDER by Kara Joy Barlow, Belfast.

SWEENEY'S LEGEND by Doreena Jennings, Carlow.

Rattled Heart by Peggy McCarthy, Waterford.

Scarlett in the Hatchet Field by E.M. Morrow, Scotland.

COMMENDED

SMALL CATASTROPHE by Bernadette McCarthy, Cork.

HOW COLD THE EMPTY SKY by Sacha Hutchinson, Galway.

Divest by Derval Tubridy, Dublin.

Avagab by Jason Lovell, Derry.

WINNER BIO:

Niamh Twomey is a poet from Co. Clare, currently living in Belfast, where she is completing a PhD at the Seamus Heaney Centre. Her work has been published in Poetry London, The London Magazine, Southword and Banshee, among others. In 2025 she won the Maria Edgeworth Poetry Prize, was shortlisted for the Mairtín Crawford Awards and was Poet In Residence at the 2025 Belfast Book Festival. In previous years she has won the Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition and the Trim Poetry Competition.

RUNNER-UP BIO:

Elaine Westnott-O’Brien has had work published in The Storms Journal, The Waxed Lemon, Wexford Bohemian, and upcoming in Southword. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and was awarded a poetry mentorship with the Munster Literature Centre. She is currently working on a poetry project exploring the connection between the folklore of Ireland and Denmark, which is funded by the Waterford Arts Office. She lives in Tramore with her wife and two children.  

A HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED AND SUPPORTED THE COMPETITION.