Professor of Poetry

The Professor of Poetry is an academic appointment at the University of Oxford. The chair was created in 1708 by an endowment from the estate of Henry Birkhead. The professorship carries an obligation to deliver an inaugural lecture; give one public lecture each term on a suitable literary subject; offer one additional event each term (which may include poetry readings, workshops, hosted events, etc.); deliver the Creweian Oration at Encaenia every other year; each year, to be one of the judges for the Newdigate Prize, the Jon Stallworthy Prize, the Lord Alfred Douglas Prize and the Chancellor's English Essay Prize; every third year, to help judge the English poem on a sacred subject prize; and generally to encourage the art of poetry in the University.

The professor is appointed to a single four-year term. The Professor of Poetry Committee produces a shortlist of applicants to stand for election by members of the University of Oxford's Convocation. Convocation consists of members of the faculty (Congregation) both current and retired, and former student members of the university who have been admitted to a degree (other than an honorary degree). In 2010, on-line voting was allowed for the first time. The Professor of Poetry receives a stipend (£25,000 per annum as of 2023) which is increased in line with the annual cost-of-living increases for academic and related staff, plus £40 for each Creweian Oration.

Since 1708, 47 persons have been elected to the position including many prominent poets and academics. Alice Oswald, who was Professor of Poetry from 2019 to 2023, was the first woman to hold this post, although not the first woman elected to it, which was Ruth Padel, who resigned after nine days without fulfilling the obligations of the post. She was succeeded in 2023 by A. E. Stallings.

The elections typically attract media attention and involve campaigning by proponents of quite diverse candidates. In the past, both practising poets and academic critics have been chosen.

2009 election

On 16 May 2009, Ruth Padel defeated the Indian poet Arvind Mehrotra to become the first woman elected to the post since its inception in 1708. The Nobel Prize-winning candidate Derek Walcott had withdrawn his candidacy, following what he called a "low and degrading" campaign against him, after The Sunday Times and Cherwell revealed that around 100 Oxford academics had been sent, anonymously, photocopied pages from The Lecherous Professor, a University of Illinois publication on the prevalence of sexual harassment in American universities, describing two such accusations made against Walcott at Harvard University and Boston University. Padel criticised the anonymous missives and denied any knowledge of them, though many in the media continued to insinuate her involvement. After her election, two journalists who had previously requested information from Padel regarding voters' opinions revealed that she had cited to them the source of some people's unease about the suitability for appointment of someone with such a university record. Padel stated, "I wish he had not pulled out", and resigned on 25 May only nine days after her election.

Letters to British newspapers criticised media handling of the election. An open letter to the Times Literary Supplement complained of unfair media pursuit of Walcott's past, a letter in The Guardian complained of unjust denigration of Padel, claiming she was "justly held in high regard" for her poetry and teaching, and a letter to The Times claimed that "Oxford has missed out for the worst of reasons". "One can only speculate why so many male voices were loud in condemning Padel but silent with respect to Walcott. I attended a course taught by Ruth Padel: she was inspirational, involved, enthusiastic and interested in her students. Perhaps it was unwise of her to email journalists but if Walcott's past is 'irrelevant to his suitability to fill the post of Professor of Poetry', so is Padel's 'unwisdom'. That Walcott removed the decision from the electorate was his own choice. Padel should not have been made to pay for his decision to confront neither his accusers nor his past." American commentators attributed the series of events to an assumption on the part of academics and writers that a gender war was behind it all, perceiving a "split across the Atlantic - with the Americans, the ones after all working with Walcott over the decades, taking those claims much more seriously"

Some commentators in Britain supported Padel, attributing the smear campaign in the media to misogyny On Newsnight Review the poet Simon Armitage and poetry writer Josephine Hart expressed regret about Padel's resignation. "Ruth's a good person," Armitage said. "She dipped a toe in the media whirlpool and it dragged her down. I don't think she should have resigned; she would have been good." The election was for a post beginning the first day of Michaelmas Term 2009, hence Padel did not take up office. In the 2010 election she supported Geoffrey Hill.

2010 election

On 7 May 2010, the university, having changed its system of voting to embrace online voters, confirmed that Paula Claire, Geoffrey Hill, Michael Horovitz, Steve Larkin, Chris Mann and seven others had been nominated as candidates for the position.

Paula Claire, the only woman standing, announced her withdrawal on 7 June 2010, citing concerns about the fairness of the election, which were dismissed by the university authorities.

On 18 June, Geoffrey Hill was declared elected. He received 1,156 votes; the next highest number, 353, went to Michael Horovitz.

2015 election

On 19 June 2015, Simon Armitage was elected as Geoffrey Hill's successor.

Persons elected to the position (1708–present)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!scope=col width=30|#

!scope=col width=100|Portrait

!scope=col width=225|Professor of Poetry

!scope=col width=100|Took office

!scope=col width=100|Left office

!scope=col width=400|Career

!scope=col width=75|Notes

| 1 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Joseph Trapp (1679–1747) || 1708 || 1718

English High Church Anglican clergyman, academic, poet (occasional verse), dramatist, and pamphleteer, described as "fond of reciting the works of Shakespeare in Latin"

| 2 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || Thomas Warton the Elder (c. 1688–1745) || 1718 || 1726

English clergyman and later schoolmaster of the Winchester School; poet of occasional verse, appointed owing to his Jacobite sympathies

| 3 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Joseph Spence (1699–1768) || 1728 || 1738

English historian, literary scholar, anecdotist, and travelling companion; fellow at New College, Oxford, Regius Professor of Modern History, prebendary of Durham Cathedral

| 4 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || John Whitfield || 1738 || 1741

Anglican clergyman, tutor of Christ Church, Oxford

| 5 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Robert Lowth (1710–1787) || 1741 || 1751

Author of an influential textbook on English grammar, poet, and Anglican clergyman; appointed Bishop of Oxford and Bishop of London, dean of the chapel royal and privy counsellor; declined to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1783 owing to failing health

| 6 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || William Hawkins (1722–1801) || 1751 || 1756

English clergyman, author of sermons, poet and dramatist

| 7 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Thomas Warton the Younger (1728–1790) || 1757 || 1766

English literary historian, critic, and poet; Camden Professor of Ancient History at the University of Oxford and Poet Laureate of England (1785–1790); wrote three-volume history of English poetry (1774, 1778, 1781), interested in primitivism and in the ballad revival; his well-known poem The Pleasures of Melancholy is a representative work of the Graveyard poets

| 17 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Thomas Legh Claughton (1808–1892) || 1852 || 1857

British academic, poet and Anglican clergyman; recipient of the Newdigate Prize (1829); Bishop of Rochester (1867–1877) and the first Bishop of St Albans (1877–1890)

| 18 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) || 1857 || 1867

British poet, school inspector, educator and cultural critic; recipient of Newdigate Prize (1843) for poem Cromwell; Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford; godson of John Keble

| 19 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Francis Hastings Doyle (1810–1888) || 1867 || 1877

British poet, attorney, and civil servant

| 20 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || John Campbell Shairp (1819–1885)|| 1877 || 1885

Scottish critic and scholar; master at Rugby School, humanities professor at University of St Andrews, principal of United College, St Andrews

| 21 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Francis Turner Palgrave (1824–1897) || 1885 || 1895

British critic and poet.

| 22 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || William Courthope (1824–1917) || 1895 || 1901

English writer and historian of poetry; recipient of the Newdigate Prize (1864) and Chancellors English essay prize (1868)

| 23 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || A. C. Bradley (1851–1935) || 1901 || 1906

English literary scholar, fellow at Balliol College, Oxford, professor at University of Liverpool and University of Glasgow, known for his Shakespearean scholarship, especially Shakespearean Tragedy (1904)

| 24 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || John William Mackail (1859–1945) || 1906 || 1911

Scottish literary scholar, biographer, historian poet, known for scholarship and translations of Virgil; civil servant with Ministry of Education (1884–1919); President of the British Academy (1932–1936)

| 25 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Thomas Herbert Warren (1853–1930) || 1911 || 1916

English academic and college administrator; fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1885–1928), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1906–1910)

| — || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || Vacant || 1916 || 1920 || — || —

| 26 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || William Paton Ker (1855–1923) || 1920 || 1923

Scottish literary scholar and essayist; fellow, All Souls College, Oxford; English literature and history professor, University College of South Wales, Cardiff; Quain Professor, University College London

| 27 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || Heathcote William Garrod (1878-1960) || 1923 || 1928

British classical scholar and literary scholar; fellow of Merton College, Oxford, Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University (1929–1930)

| 28 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || Ernest de Sélincourt (1870–1943) || 1928 || 1933

British literary scholar and critic; fellow of University College, Oxford, professor at University of Birmingham; editor of works of William Wordsworth and Dorothy Wordsworth

| 29 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || George Stuart Gordon (1881–1942) || 1933 || 1938

British literary scholar, English literature professor at University of Leeds, and Oxford, President of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Vice-Chancellor

| 30 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || Adam Fox (1883–1977) || 1938 || 1943

English poet and canon, author of long poem Old King Coel, one of the first members of the "Inklings", Dean of Divinity at Magdalen College, Oxford, Warden of Radley College, Canon of Westminster Abbey

| — || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || Vacant || 1944 || 1946 || — || —

| 31 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || Maurice Bowra (1898–1971) || 1946 || 1951

English classical scholar and academic, Warden of Wadham College, Oxford (1938–1970), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford (1951–1954)

| 32 || bgcolor="darkblue"| || Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–1972) || 1951 || 1956

Anglo-Irish poet and mystery writer, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom (1968–1972)

| 33 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || W. H. Auden (1907–1973) || 1956 || 1961

prolific Anglo-American poet and essayist, regarded by many critics as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century

| 34 || bgcolor="darkblue"| 90px || Robert Graves (1895–1985) || 1961 || 1966

English poet, novelist, classical scholar and translator; author of over 140 works

| 35 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Edmund Blunden (1896–1974) || 1966 || 1968

English poet, author and critic

| 36 || bgcolor="darkblue"|-|| Roy Fuller (1912–1991) || 1968 || 1973

English poet and novelist

| 37 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || John Wain (1925–1994) || 1973 || 1978

English poet, novelist, critic, freelance newspaper and radio journalist; associated with the literary group "The Movement"; taught at University of Reading, Gresham College, London, and Brasenose College, Oxford

| 38 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || John Jones (1924–2016) || 1978 || 1983

Fellow at Merton College, Oxford, later emeritus; written books on diverse literary topics including Greek tragedy, Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Keats, and one novel

| 39 || bgcolor="darkblue"|-|| Peter Levi (1931–2000) || 1984 || 1989

English-born poet, archaeologist, Jesuit priest, travel writer, biographer, academic and prolific reviewer and critic

| 40 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) || 1989 || 1994

Irish poet, playwright, translator and lecturer at Queen's University Belfast and Harvard University, recipient of Nobel Prize in Literature (1995) and many other honours

| 41 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || James Fenton (born 1949) || 1994 || 1999

English poet, journalist and literary critic, recipient of Newdigate Prize for sonnet sequence Our Western Furniture

| 42 || bgcolor="darkblue"| 90px || Paul Muldoon (born 1951) || 1999 || 2004

Irish poet, author of over 30 collections of poetry, professor at Princeton University, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (2003) and the T. S. Eliot Prize (1994)

| 43 || bgcolor="darkblue"|— || Christopher Ricks (born 1933) || 2004 || 2009

British literary critic and scholar, professor at Boston University, co-director of the university's Editorial Institute

| — || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Ruth Padel (born 1946) || — || —

British poet and non-fiction writer; taught Greek at Wadham College, Oxford, Birkbeck, University of London and Princeton University; elected to the chair in May 2009, she would have been the first female poet appointed. Padel resigned nine days after the election, without filling the position, owing to allegations of her role in the scandal surrounding poet Derek Walcott who earlier withdrew from the election.

| 44 || bgcolor="darkblue"|-|| Geoffrey Hill (1932–2016) || 2010 || 2015

English poet, English literature and religion professor at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and Boston University, co-founder of BU's Editorial Institute

| 45 || bgcolor="darkblue"|90px || Simon Armitage (born 1963) || 2015 || 2019

English poet, playwright and novelist. Professor of poetry at the University of Sheffield, and the University of Leeds. Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 2019-

| 46 || bgcolor="darkblue"| 90px || Alice Oswald (born 1966) || 2019 || 2023

Won the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2012 and the 2017 Griffin Poetry Prize. First female appointee.

| 47 || bgcolor="darkblue"|-|| A. E. Stallings (born 1968) || 2023 || -

American poet, translator, and essayist. Won Guggenheim Fellowship and MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize.

References

External links

Oxford Professor of Poetry
English Faculty site for Prof of Poetry