WB Yeats Society of New York

12/08/2025

Our annual Christmas party will be Wednesday, December 10, at 6:30 PM

We are pleased to announce that we will welcome the holiday season with a party like those we’ve done for years. But this year we celebrate in a new venue, the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue just below 12th Street. Again, entertainment is provided by Gabriel Donohue, with Irish and holiday music, including Yeats poems he’s set to music. Enjoy a mix of classic hors d'oeuvres and light bites as you mingle with friends and colleagues. Your ticket price includes one complimentary glass of wine at the cash bar. The admission fee is $100 and may be paid directly to the Salmagundi Club at https://www.ticketsource.com/booking/t-kdoejrx to secure your reservation. If you can't use this online payment system, send a check to our mailbox at NAC.

09/05/2025

The WB Yeats Society of NY is pleased to offer this annual competition in honor of our namesake, and to recognize the valuable contributions poets and poetry make to human consciousness and enlightenment. Yeats said poetry should be “the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds,” “the criticism of life,” and “the revelation of the soul of the poet.” The prize is open to anyone from anywhere in the world, regardless of age. First prize is $1,000; second prize is $500. There are honorable mentions, as well. Winners are recognized at a public event in New York City in April, which is National Poetry Month in the U.S. One or more poems on any topic up to 60 lines are eligible.

Submissions and payment must be made between September 1st and February 1st at :

https://yeats.submittable.com/submit/325665/2026-yeats-poetry-prize

We also welcome mail-in entries:
WB Yeats Society of NY
National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park South
New York, NY 10003

We are a nonprofit literary group dedicated to promoting the legacy of 1923 Nobel Prize poet WB Yeats. http://www.YeatsSociety.nyc

08/18/2025

The WB Yeats Society of New York announces the 2026 YEATS POETRY PRIZE JUDGE is Joseph Legaspi.

Joseph O. Legaspi, Fulbright scholar and two-time New York State Council on the Arts/New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow, is author of three collections (Amphibian, Threshold, and Imago) and three chapbooks (Postcards; Aviary, Bestiary; and Subways).
Legaspi’s works have appeared in POETRY, American Poetry Review, New England Review, Best of the Net, World Literature Today, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, and the anthologies Language for a New Century (W.W. Norton), Reel Verse, and Buzz Words (both from Everyman’s Library), among others.
He was born in the Philippines, moved with his family to Los Angeles at age twelve. He received a BA from Loyola Marymount University (LA), then an MFA from New York University’s creative writing program.
With the poet Sarah Gambito, he co-founded Kundiman, a national nonprofit serving writers and readers of Asian American literature. He teaches at Fordham University and is assistant to the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes at Columbia University.

05/05/2025

The Yeats Poetry Awards Ceremony and reading of the winning poems was held at the Union Square Barnes & Nobles in New York City followed by a dinner at the National Arts Club. Pictured are poet william o'neal ii ("Madame President" - Honorable Mention), contest judge January Gill O'Neil, poet Charlene Woodard ("Persephone at Nine Weeks" - Honorable Mention), and WB Yeats Society Founder and President Andy McGowan.

04/09/2025

“A Taste of the Yeats Summer School” on Saturday, April 26 from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

All-day program evoking the spirit of the Yeats Summer School in Ireland tales place at NYU Glucksman Ireland House, 1 Washington Mews, on Fifth Avenue, half block south of 8th Street, just above Washington Square. ​

The program includes:

10:15 “Byzantium and Ireland” Prof. Robert Doggett (SUNY Geneseo) postulates that WBY’s “Sailing to Byzantium,” written when he was a senator in the new Irish Free State, aims to create a “unity of culture” for Ireland.

11:30 “Star to Star: a Musical Duet between Poets” In a recording we hear the words of WBY and his friend and fellow Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, accompanied by music and still photos.

12:15 a light lunch.

1:30 “Quotable Yeats–the Foam and the Deep” Joseph Hassett talks about the many Yeats lines that not only capture a thought suitable for a particular life occasion but also open the door to deeper understanding of his poetry.

2:30 “Wandering Stars” A staged reading of a short play by Joseph Hassett that presents a revealing conversation between WBY and James Joyce.

3:30 Social and Summer School reunion, with wine, refreshments and conversation.

Costs:

--All day + lunch & social @ $39_

--Morning only @ $20

--Lunch @ $10

--Afternoon only & social @ $20

Confirm attendance by email to board volunteer, Don Bates -- [email protected]

Include name(s), address, city, state, zip code, phone and E-mail address,

After confirming attendance pay at door or make check payable and mail to:

WB Yeats Society of NY, National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY, 10003

The Annual Yeats Summer School in Sligo Ireland runs from July 23 to August 1. Presenters include: Lucy Collins (UCD) and Robert Doggett (SUNY Geneseo) co-directors; and Eric Falci (University of Califoria, Berkeley), Fran Brearton (Queen’s University Belfast), Peter McDonald (Oxford), Melinda Szuts (Budapest), Tara Stubbs (Oxford) plus Poetry Workshop with Vona Groarke.
Also talks, walks, poetry, drama, music, boat trip to Isle of Innisfree, tour of Sligo, video workshop, and watercolor class. Visit Yeats Society, Sligo at YeatsSociety.com for more information.

04/07/2025

The WB Yeats Society of NY has announced six recipients of its 2025 Yeats Poetry Prize, the 28th year of the international competition, open to poets of all ages from anywhere in the world. Founded in 1990, the society is dedicated to the legacy of the world-famous Irish poet and Nobel Laureate.

First Prize:
"Looming Light" by Elly Katz, New York City
Second Prize:
"The Elephants" by Leonardo Chung, Ottawa, IL.
Honorable Mentions:
"Persephone at Nine Weeks" by Chelsea Woodard, Exeter, NH.
"Song for a Spotted Flycatcher" by Harry Man, Stockton-on-Tees, England.
"Madame President” by William O'Neal II, Brooklyn, NY.
"Song for Bloody Memory" by Elana Churchill, Murfreesboro, TN.

Poet and professor January O’Neil, 2025 judge, praised the quality of the winning poems from among the hundreds submitted. “Once again,” she said, “we see the enduring power of poetry. Poems reveal the heart’s core. They are a healing force.”

First prize was $1,000, second prize $500. The winning poems are published in the Judge’s Report, which will appear on the society’s website later this spring. Each recipient also receives a plaque, a two-year society membership, and is invited to a free-admission public awards ceremony and reading of their poems in New York City, Thursday, April 24, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble flagship Union Square, 33 East 17 Street, NYC. The poets will also be honored at a private dinner at the National Arts Club.

04/04/2025

The Winners of the WB Yeats Poetry Prizes include:

First Prize: "Looming Light" by Elly Katz, New York City

Second Prize: "The Elephants" by Leonardo Chung, Ottawa IL

Honorable mentions:

"Persephone at Nine Months" Chelsea Woodard, NH
"Song for a Spotted Flycatcher" by Harry Man, UK
"Madame President: William O'Neal II, Booklyn NY
"Song for Bloody Memory" by Elana Churchill, Murfeesboro TN

All are invited on Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 PM to readings of the winning poems and presentation of the 2025 Yeats Poetry Prizes by our judge, January Gill O’Neil. The event is at Barnes & Noble Union Square, 33 East 17th Street between Park Avenue South and Fourth Avenue. The event is free.

03/06/2025

03/06/2025

All are welcome at the free Yeats Society talk, “Two Noble New Yorkers", by Andrew McGowan on Thursday, March 20, at 6:00 PM at the American Irish Historical Society, 991 Fifth Avenue, between 80 and 81 Streets.

McGowan will focus on the painter John Butler Yeats' (WB Yeats' father) time in NYC and art collector John Quinn, who took the old man under his wing. Quinn was largely responsible for the historic “Armory Show” of 1913, which introduced European modern art to America.

Reception to follow. Please confirm attendance by email to board volunteer Don Bates: [email protected]

The WB Yeats Society of NY is a nonprofit literary society that focuses onWilliam Butler Yeats, his legacy and literary work, and people, places, events, and ideas that shaped his life and work.

01/23/2025

$1000 FIRST PRIZE
$500 SECOND PRIZE
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Submissions are now open for the 2025 Yeats Poetry Prize.
Judge: January O’Neil
GUIDELINES
Deadline: Extended to February 15, 2025
Unpublished poems in English up to 60 lines on any subject and style. Each poem will be judged separately and read anonymously.
Poems can be submitted electronically at https://yeats.submittable.com/submit or via postal carrier addressed to The Yeats Society of New York, National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003. Both forms of submission will be treated equally except that entries sent via postal carrier must be postmarked by February 2025 but can arrive later.
If submitting by mail, submit poems typed on an 8½ x 11-inch sheet without author’s name; attach 3×5-inch card(s) with name, address, telephone, e-mail. Include a check with the entry fee made out to the Yeats Society of New York. $15 for the first poem and $12 each additional poem. There are no limits on the number of poems that can be submitted. Include SASE to receive a copy of the report, posted on our Web site mid-March.
Additionally, winners and honorable mentions receive 2-year Yeats Society membership and are honored at a ceremony in New York. Authors retain rights, but permit the Society to publish or broadcast winning entries. Awards will be presented at an event in April at the Union Square Barnes & Noble.