Prize-Giving

"Prize-Giving"
by Gwen Harwood
First published in	Meanjin, vol. 18 no. 4 December 1959
Country	Australia
Language	English
Series	Professor Eisenbart
Published in English	1959

"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]

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 ^[18]

See also

• 1959 in Australian literature

References

1. "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. ""Panther and Peacock" by Gwen Harwood". Bridgings : Readings in Australian Women's Poetry, pp34-35. Retrieved 8 February 2026.