Alliterative Poet Nominated for a Rhysling Award
Exciting news from the world of the Modern Alliterative Revival!
So, the poetry of Pat Masson, who died in 1994, was re-discovered by Paul Deane, who subsequently published all her alliterative poetry -- much of it for the first time -- in his online journal Forgotten Ground Regained. He only discovered her because of something he'd seen in Withywinde, a journal for the Old English Companions. Then after scouring the internet (one of Paul's specialties), he eventually dug up a scan of a booklet her mother had put together for her funeral containing all poetry and short stories on ancestry.com, where one of Masson's relatives posted it. Most had never before been published.
So, the poetry of Pat Masson, who died in 1994, was re-discovered by Paul Deane, who subsequently published all her alliterative poetry -- much of it for the first time -- in his online journal Forgotten Ground Regained. He only discovered her because of something he'd seen in Withywinde, a journal for the Old English Companions. Then after scouring the internet (one of Paul's specialties), he eventually dug up a scan of a booklet her mother had put together for her funeral containing all poetry and short stories on ancestry.com, where one of Masson's relatives posted it. Most had never before been published.
The only other comparable story is Ron Snow, a SCA poet who passed away in 1997. He never had any of his alliterative poems published during his lifetime, but I'd tracked down his widow, who gave me his unpublished collected poetry, including his long drapa "Blardrengir Saga", which ended up being the most exciting battle poem in Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival.
Anyway!
Anyway!
Today, it was announced that Masson's poem "The Last Valkyrie" is a finalist for a Rhysling Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) ... 31 years after Masson first wrote it.
An amazing story, and an even more amazing poem in old Norse dróttkvætt!
An amazing story, and an even more amazing poem in old Norse dróttkvætt!
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