Lillian Mayfield Wright

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Lillian Mayfield Wright
A young white woman with curly dark hair, wearing a dress with a round lace-trimmed collar
Lillian Mayfield, from the 1915 yearbook of West Virginia Wesleyan College
BornOctober 24, 1894
Conaway, West Virginia
DiedFebruary 26, 1986 (aged 91)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Other namesLillian Mayfield Roberts
OccupationPoet

Lillian Perry Mayfield Roberts Wright (October 24, 1894 – February 26, 1986) was an American poet.

Early life and education[edit]

Lillian Perry Mayfield was born in Conaway, West Virginia,[1][2] the daughter of Joshua Grant Mayfield and Florence May Carter Mayfield. She attended West Virginia Wesleyan College[3] and New York University, and studied with poet Joyce Kilmer.[1]

Publications[edit]

Many of her poems and stories were published in national magazines under the name Lillian Mayfield Roberts.[4] "The best of these mountain poets is Lillian Mayfield Roberts," commented H. L. Mencken in The American Mercury in 1926.[5][6] One of her poems, "Hill Hunger", was included in the anthology Modern American Lyrics (1924).[7] Her short story "The Fly on the Window" won $1000 from the West Virginia Review.[8]

  • "The Prayer" (1918)[9]
  • "Clarksburg Season Opens" (1919)[10]
  • "The Professor's Wife" (1921)[11]
  • "Skies are so High" (1921)[12]
  • "Tomorrow" (1921)[13]
  • "Requiem for Dead Hopes" (1921)[14]
  • "Retrospect" (1922)[15]
  • "If (for the Wife)" (1922)[16]
  • "In the Market" (1923)[17]
  • "Home" (1925)[18]
  • "Zinnias" (1927)[19]
  • "Mountain Medicine" (1964)[20]

Personal life and legacy[edit]

Lillian Mayfield married twice. Her first husband was George Paul Roberts; they married in 1916, and divorced in 1928.[21] Her second husband, John J. Wright, was a public health professor at the University of North Carolina; they married in 1930. She died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1986, aged 91 years.[22][23] West Virginia University holds a collection of Wright's notebooks, including the manuscript of an unpublished novel at the West Virginia & Regional History Center.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Johnson, Maria C. (July 24, 1995). "Author Unknown; Charmed by a Poet's Words, a Liberty Woman Undertook a Search for the Author". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  2. ^ Brenni, Vito Joseph (1957). West Virginia Authors. West Virginia Library Association. p. 56.
  3. ^ West Virginia Wesleyan College, Murmurmontis (1915 yearbook): 47. via Internet Archive
  4. ^ Upshur County. Arcadia Publishing. 2001. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-7385-1352-2.
  5. ^ "The Library". The American Mercury. 8: 254. June 1926 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ "Mercury Falls on Miss Turner". The Shepherd College Picket. 31: 2. July 27, 1926 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ Modern American Lyrics: An Anthology. Minton, Balch. 1924. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-8274-2745-7.
  8. ^ Wood, Warren (1926). Representative Authors of West Virginia. Worth-while book Company. p. 317.
  9. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfield (1918-04-19). "The Prayer". The Enid Daily Eagle. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-05-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfield (November 15, 1919). "Clarksburg Season Opens". Musical America. 31: 105.
  11. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfield (November 1921). "The Professor's Wife". Scribner's Magazine. 70 (1): 548.
  12. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfleld (August 1921). "Skies are so High". McCall's. 48: 18 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Roberts, Lillian Wright (December 1921). "Tomorrow". Sunset. 47: 76.
  14. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfield (March 1921). "Requiem for Dead Hopes". The Medical Pickwick. 7: 105.
  15. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfield (September 1922). "Retrospect". House Beautiful. 52: 272.
  16. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfield (September 1922). "If (for the Wife)". The Ladies' Home Journal – via 106.
  17. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfield (August 1923). "In the Market". Sunset Magazine. 51: 32 – via Internet Archive.
  18. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfield (December 1925). "Home". House Beautiful. 58: 680 – via Internet Archive.
  19. ^ Roberts, Lillian Mayfield (February 1927). "Zinnias". Scribner's Magazine. 81: 193–195 – via Internet Archive.
  20. ^ Wright, Lillian Mayfield (July 1964). "Mountain Medicine". North Carolina Folklore Journal. 12: 7–12.
  21. ^ "Suits Filed". Reno Gazette-Journal. 1928-08-02. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-05-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Mrs. Lillian Wright". The Herald-Sun. 1986-02-27. p. 24. Retrieved 2022-05-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Lillian P. M. Wright". The News and Observer. 1986-02-27. p. 42. Retrieved 2022-05-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Collection: Lillian Mayfield Wright, Poet, Notebooks". West Virginia University Archivesspace. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
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