Victor Benjamin Neuburg - The Vine Press

The Vine Press

From 1916 to 1919 Neuburg served in the army in World War I, and then lived in Steyning, Sussex, where he ran a small press, the Vine Press. In 1920 he published a collection of ballads and other verse under the title Lillygay. Many of these were actually from earlier ballad collections, though it seems Neuburg was unaware of this. Some of the poems were his own. In 1923 Peter Warlock set five of these verses to music, with the same title, Lillygay.

In 1933 Neuburg edited a section called The Poet's Corner in the British newspaper the Sunday Referee. This encouraged new talent by awarding weekly prizes. A group of talented young writers and poets grew up around Neuburg. He gave an award to a then-unknown poet named Dylan Thomas. As a result of Neuburg's enthusiasm, the publisher of the Sunday Referee sponsored the first book of poems by Dylan Thomas, titled 18 Poems. The first publication is now a prized collector's item.