Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards
Encyclopedia
The Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards was an annual series of poetry anthologies first published in 1949. The poems were selected from those published in a given year in English-language magazines and books; in each volume, individual poems were designated as first, second, or third place in a poetry contest. Additionally, the first ten volumes printed poems that were selected in a competition for undergraduate college students. Twenty-nine volumes were published through 1977.
The founder of the series, and its editor-in-chief for the first ten volumes, was Robert Thomas Moore
. Moore, a businessman and an independent ornithologist, owned a large preserve on Borestone Mountain
, and in 1953 he wrote that the series "was founded on Borestone Mountain, Maine, in 1946 and this location is still its permanent headquarters." Moore had established a charitable foundation that underwrote the expenses of administering the Poetry Awards and publishing the annual anthology. Following Moore's death in 1958, Lionel Stevenson carried on as the chairman of the editorial board until his own death in 1973.
The first four volumes were titled in the style, Poetry Awards - 1949: A Compilation of Original Poetry Published in Magazines of the English-speaking World in 1948. Beginning with the 1953 volume, they were titled in the style Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards 1953: A Compilation ... in order to "prevent confusion with 'awards' by other organizations". The titling was changed for the last time in 1957, reading Best Poems of 1956: Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards 1957: A Compilation ....
The poets and publishers whose poems were selected for the anthologies often note this selection as a distinction, typically as a "Borestone Mountain Poetry Award". The curriculum vitae of Richard Wilbur
, Poet Laureate of the United States in 1987, notes that his poem "Advice to a Prophet" won first place in the 1959 volume. Similarly, Mona Van Duyn
, Poet Laureate in 1992, is noted as having won first prize in the 1968 volume.
The founder of the series, and its editor-in-chief for the first ten volumes, was Robert Thomas Moore
Robert Thomas Moore
Robert Thomas Moore was an American businessman, an independent ornithologist, a philanthropist, and the founder and for some years the editor-in-chief of the Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards...
. Moore, a businessman and an independent ornithologist, owned a large preserve on Borestone Mountain
Borestone Mountain
Borestone Mountain is a mountain in Piscataquis County, Maine. It is a popular hiking spot near the center of the state, with a trailhead located on Mountain Road near Willimantic. The mountain is part of the Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary....
, and in 1953 he wrote that the series "was founded on Borestone Mountain, Maine, in 1946 and this location is still its permanent headquarters." Moore had established a charitable foundation that underwrote the expenses of administering the Poetry Awards and publishing the annual anthology. Following Moore's death in 1958, Lionel Stevenson carried on as the chairman of the editorial board until his own death in 1973.
The first four volumes were titled in the style, Poetry Awards - 1949: A Compilation of Original Poetry Published in Magazines of the English-speaking World in 1948. Beginning with the 1953 volume, they were titled in the style Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards 1953: A Compilation ... in order to "prevent confusion with 'awards' by other organizations". The titling was changed for the last time in 1957, reading Best Poems of 1956: Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards 1957: A Compilation ....
The poets and publishers whose poems were selected for the anthologies often note this selection as a distinction, typically as a "Borestone Mountain Poetry Award". The curriculum vitae of Richard Wilbur
Richard Wilbur
Richard Purdy Wilbur is an American poet and literary translator. He was appointed the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987, and twice received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1957 and again in 1989....
, Poet Laureate of the United States in 1987, notes that his poem "Advice to a Prophet" won first place in the 1959 volume. Similarly, Mona Van Duyn
Mona Van Duyn
Mona Jane Van Duyn was an American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1992.-Early years:Van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa. She grew up in the small town of Eldora Mona Jane Van Duyn (9 May 1921 – 2 December 2004) was an American poet. She was...
, Poet Laureate in 1992, is noted as having won first prize in the 1968 volume.