After winning the Newdigate Prize for Ravenna, Oscar Wilde was invited to perform at the Sheldonian Theatre, where his poem was printed and handed out to those who attended. In 1878, the Sheldonian was a lecture theatre, and the building is still in use as a play theatre. He dedicated his work to his American author friend, Julia Constance Fletcher's pen name, appending his poem: "To My Friend George Fleming, Author of 'The Nile Novel' and 'Mirage.'" His mother and brother were both ecstatic with the news that their Oscar had won such a prestigious award for his literature.

Image credit: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons