The Lyric - Announcement of Prizes - Poem and Prize Announcements

Sep 21, 2026

THE LYRIC Memorial Prize and related awards are announced, listing prize tiers and the selection window for annual and quarterly winners. The issue also presents multiple poems spanning vivid, color-driven imagery, satirical verse in the voice of Mister Punch, and brief mention of longing and separation. In memoriam pieces and rejoinder commentary explore light, music, words, grief, and enduring creative legacy through reflective, lyrical forms.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages32

Reading Time49 min

AccessFree to download

Announcement of Prizes

Festival of Colour

Mister Punch

Brief Mention

The Last of Light in Memoriam: Joseph Auslander

Rejoinder

Mother

FALL,1965 SARA VAN ALSTYNE ALLENLoUIS GINSBERGELIZABETH ANTONOVAKATHERINE GORMANETHAN AYERAMANDA BENJAMIN HALLJOHN Z.BENNETTPAULINE HAVARDALICE BRILEYBERT HENDERSONMAUREEN CANNONMARGARET HILLERT C.STERLING CLIFTONEVELYN ToOLEY HUNTVIRGINIA MORAN EVANSLARRY J.HUTCHINSONRUBY FOGELGEOFFREY JoHNSONEDSEL FORDHANNAH KAHNWALDEN GARRATTMARION SHERWOOD KINGSTON IRENE KANE LATTABONNIE MAY MALODYSILVIA MARGOLISJANE MERCHANT JOSEPH FRANCIS MURPHYNoRMAN NATHANJENNIE M.PALEN ELIZABETH RANDALL-MILLSHORTENSE ROBERTA ROBERTSGEORGE BRANDON SAULKATHARYN WoLCOTT BECAUS5C4-C个,P○三P 二 # The Lyric Editors RUBY ALTIZER ROBERTSJoHN NIXON,JR. THE LYRIC does not assume responsibility for viewsexpressed by contributors or for lost or damaged manu-script.A report will be made if a stamped,self-addressedenvelope is included with the poems.A carbon copy shouldbe retained.Poems must be original and unpublished. No payment is made but prizes are offered,an an-nouncement of which is carried in each issue. Advisory EditorsGERTRUDE CLAYTORLESLIE MELLICHAMP Address all correspondence toTHE LYRICBremo BluffVirginia 23022 # ANNOUNCEMENT OF PRIZES THE LYRIC MEMORIAL PRIZE of $100 offered in memory ofVirginia Kent Cummins. THE REYNOLDS LYRIC PRIZE of $100. THE LEITCH MEMORIAL PRIZE of $50. THE GERTRUDE HARRIS BOATWRIGHT PRIZE of $50. THE VIRGINIA PRIZE of $50. THE NEW ENGLAND PRIZE of $50. THE PHYLLIDA PRIZE of $25. $100 YEARLY IN QUARTERLY AWARDS OF $25 EACH. Following our custom,winners of the annual awardswill be chosen from the issues of the magazine fromSpring,1965,to Winter,1966,inclusive,and will be an-nounced in the Spring,1966,issue Winner of the Quarterly Award of $25 from theSummer issue was Robert J.Richardson for"Time ofGentle Weather.”The judge was Leslie Mellichamp. # FESTIVAL OF COLOUR Dark minarets of fir that fret the sky,Cloud cupolas of purest alabaster, Pale domes and mosques of beech and sycamoreShimmer with oriental opulence. And as in temple gardens heightened byThe sumptuousness of their circumference,Michaelmas daisies fountain purpler mistOn peacock butterfly and emperor,Zinnia tiaras blaze with jewel-splinter, Marigolds make drunk with dew each airy strummer,And the wind-wavering light turns every asterTo a sari blowing in an Indian summer...· But this is England and the month September,The time of heart-break when world-wars begin .... Too well I know them,and too well rememberWhat direful straits mankind again is in;But O,my spirit is grown so grey with dolour,So tired of rhetoric and the shaken fist,I cannot have,this hour,too much of colour. GEOFFREY JOHNSON (79) # MISTER PUNCH Portly Mister Punch,Is there any sense In belabouring your wifeFor your own offence?Lambasting the world,In the dog-days too, When you might have a strokeFrom your hullabaloo ?Have you never thoughtHow your rants and ragesMake you the laughing-stockOf the seas and the ages?Roaring Mister Punch,Is it any good Having a heart of fire,If your head is of wood? # BRIEF MENTION I thought her beautiful,wonderful,even more soWhen she went for months of travel over the water,Waving her love and kissing the flowers I bought her.My heart was full as only a fool's can be. I knew she was hard and cold,but what is a goddess forIf not to take what worship a mortal can give her?I turned and wandered lost by the darkening river:Her absence was almost a sentence for life to me. I wrote to her daily,I dreamed of her hourly,I wore the calender out with hopes of meeting. I heard from her once:a five-word card of greetingAt the cheapest possible rate.So moved was she. GEOFFREY JOHNSON # THE LAST OF LIGHTIn ·Memoriam:Joseph Auslander I Reserve for this dark wind the last of light:you riding windward on your wingéd horse.Whatever's out to-night might well be lost; but never you,my friend— but never you: jasper your gate to-night and pearled with dew. What is life mostly but the mystic touch

FAQs

What prizes does THE LYRIC announce in this issue?

The issue lists several memorial and named prizes, including the Lyric Memorial Prize, Reynolds Lyric Prize, Leitch Memorial Prize, and additional smaller prizes, as well as yearly quarterly awards.

How are annual and quarterly award winners selected?

Annual awards are chosen from issues spanning Spring, 1965 to Winter, 1966 inclusive, with announcements in the Spring, 1966 issue. Quarterly awards are drawn from the relevant Summer issue, with the judge identified.

What themes appear across the poems in this issue?

The poems move through celebration and intense visual imagery, satire and admonition, personal longing and loss, and in memoriam reflections that contrast light, words, and music as lasting forces.

Sep 21, 2026

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