12/06/2026
We are delighted to be able to share that this year’s winner of The Caterpillar Poetry Prize is British-American writer Anna Llewellyn’s 'The Whistler of Muldoon'.
“There were enough excellent poems among the submissions to fill an entire anthology,” said the esteemed children’s poet, Robert Schechter, who judged this year’s prize, “proving that children’s poetry continues to thrive and that The Caterpillar Poetry Prize remains firmly at the centre.”
New York-based Anna Llewellyn’s art and poetry for children have appeared in Northern Gravy, Dirigible Balloon, The Toy Press, Little Thoughts Press and PaperBound Magazine, and her children’s plays have been produced across New York state. Anna was inspired to start writing as a child by her dad, who tells stories with the proper funny voices, and her mum, the best teacher she ever had.
“It is absolutely thrilling that Robert Schechter, who I consider as wonderful with words as the whistler is with whistles, selected it. I hope young readers enjoy The Whistler of Muldoon just as much!"
“The poem’s charmingly implausible narrative about a man who taught the birds to sing unfolds with a bouncing rhythm and cadence that complement its gently humorous tone," noted Schechter, "Among my favourite lines are, ‘When he readied his lips in the tooting position, / Even the trees would stop swishing to listen.' When parents read The Whistler of Muldoon to their children ‒ which I highly recommend ‒ I suspect the children will listen as attentively as the trees."
Anna will receive €1,000 and spend a week at The Moth Retreat in rural Co Cavan, described in an Irish Times review as ‘Rustic but cosy, pared back but comfortable, and full of eclectic touches, witty and warm.’
The second prize goes to Kao-Cheng Huang’s poem Someone Left a Moon, inspired by memories of his childhood in rural China.
Laura Schulkind’s poem Maybe Call Me Baby bagged third prize.
Kao-Cheng and Laura receive prize money of €500 and €250 respectively. Robert Schechter also commended poems by Matt Abbott, Victoria Gatehouse, Anya Lin Husain, Chris Pearson, Rachel Piercey and Sarah Ziman.
