Prize-Giving

"Prize-Giving"
by Gwen Harwood
First published inMeanjin, vol. 18 no. 4 December 1959
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
SeriesProfessor Eisenbart
Published in English1959

"Prize-Giving" is a 1959 poem by Australian author Gwen Harwood.[1]

It was first published in Meanjin, vol. 18 no. 4 December 1959, and was subsequently reprinted in the author's collections and other poetry anthologies.[1]

The poem forms part of the author's "Professor Eisenbart" series of poems. This professor "has been interpreted as a 'mask' though which the poet expresses certain anarchic or anti-Establishment views and as a persona which allows her to reflect ironically on the human condition."[2]

Synopsis

The poem is set at a prize-giving ceremony at a prestigious girls' school. A number of dignitaries have been invited to present the awards and make speeches; Professor Eisenbart among them.

Critical reception

In his book Reading Australian Poetry Andrew Taylor noted that this poem, like others in the Eisenbart sequence, is largely, a poem of "reversal". Here the "'honoured guest' who has come 'to lend distinction' to a school prizegiving recognizes himself in the poem's final stanza as 'a sage fool'. Age, scholarly excellence, science, maleness — all qualities in Eisenbart's world and, it appears, in the girls' school too, are held to be preeminient – are subverted by youth, intuitive brilliance, art, that is, music, femaleness."[3]

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication in Meanjin[1] it was reprinted as follows:

  • Verse in Australia Vol 3, edited by Robert Clark, Geoffrey Dutton and Max Harris, 1960[1]
  • Australian Poetry 1960 edited by A. D. Hope, Angus and Robertson, 1960[4]
  • Poems by Gwen Harwood, Angus and Robertson, 1963[5]
  • Modern Australian Verse edited by Douglas Stewart, Angus and Robertson, 1964[6]
  • Australian Writing Today edited by Charles Higham, Penguin, 1968[7]
  • A Book of Australian Verse edited by Judith Wright, Oxford University Press, 1968[8]
  • Australian Voices : A Collection of Poetry and Pictures edited by Edward Kynaston, Penguin, 1974[9]
  • Selected Poems by Gwen Harwood, Angus and Robertson, 1975[10]
  • The Collins Book of Australian Poetry edited by Rodney Hall, Collins, 1981[11]
  • The Faber Book of Modern Australian Verse edited by Vincent Buckley, Faber, 1991[12]
  • The Sting in the Wattle : Australian Satirical Verse edited by Philip Neilsen, University of Queensland Press, 1993[13]
  • Bridgings : Readings in Australian Women's Poetry edited by Rose Lucas and Lyn McCredden, Oxford University Press, 1996[14]
  • 50 Years of Queensland Poetry : 1940s to 1990s edited by Philip Neilsen and Helen Horton, Central Queensland University Press, 1998[15]
  • Selected Poems : A New Edition by Gwen Harwood, Angus and Robertson, 2001[16]
  • Mappings of the Plane : New Selected Poems by Gwen Harwood, edited by Gregory Kratzmann and Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Fyfield Books, 2009[17]
  • The Best 100 Poems of Gwen Harwood, Black Inc., 2014[18]

Notes

  • You can read the full text of the poem in Bridgings : Readings in Australian Women's Poetry edited by Rose Lucas and Lyn McCredden, Oxford University Press, 1996, on the Internet Archive[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Austlit — "Prize-Giving" by Gwen Harwood". Austlit. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  2. ^ The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature edited by Wilde, Hooton and Andrews, 2nd edition, 1986, p232. Accessed: 8 February 2026
  3. ^ Reading Australian Poetry by Andrew Taylor, University of NSW Press, 1987, p116. Accessed: 8 February 2026.
  4. ^ "Australian Poetry 1960 edited by A. D. hope". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  5. ^ "Poems by Gwen Harwood". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  6. ^ "Modern Australian Verse edited by Douglas Stewart". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  7. ^ "Australian Writing Today edited by Charles Higham". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  8. ^ "A Book of Australian Verse edited by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  9. ^ "Australian Voices : A Collection of Poetry and Pictures edited by Edward Kynaston". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  10. ^ "Selected Poems by Gwen Harwood (1975)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  11. ^ "The Collins Book of Australian Poetry edited by Rodney Hall". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  12. ^ "The Faber Book of Modern Australian Verse edited by Vincent Buckley". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  13. ^ "The Sting in the Wattle : Australian Satirical Verse by". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  14. ^ "Bridgings : Readings in Australian Women's Poetry edited by edited by Rose Lucas and Lyn McCredden". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  15. ^ "50 Years of Queensland Poetry : 1940s to 1990s edited by Philip Neilsen and Helen Horton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  16. ^ "Selected Poems : A New Edition by Gwen Harwood (2001)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  17. ^ "Mappings of the Plane : New Selected Poems edited by Gregory Kratzmann and Chris Wallace-Crabbe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  18. ^ "The Best 100 Poems of Gwen Harwood by Gwen Harwood". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  19. ^ ""Panther and Peacock" by Gwen Harwood". Bridgings : Readings in Australian Women's Poetry, pp34-35. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
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