Professor of Poetry
The Professor of Poetry is an academic appointment at the
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.[2] 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 AE 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,
Letters to British newspapers criticised media handling of the election. An open letter to the
Some commentators in Britain supported Padel, attributing the
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.[22]
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.[23]
On 18 June, Geoffrey Hill was declared elected.[24][25] He received 1,156 votes; the next highest number, 353, went to Michael Horovitz.[26][27]
2015 election
On 19 June 2015, Simon Armitage was elected as Geoffrey Hill's successor.[28]
Persons elected to the position (1708–present)
# | Portrait[29] | Professor of Poetry | Took office | Left office | Career | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Joseph Trapp (1679–1747) |
1708 | 1718 |
|
[30] | |
2 | — | Thomas Warton the Elder (c. 1688–1745) |
1718 | 1726 |
|
[31] |
3 | Joseph Spence (1699–1768) |
1728 | 1738 |
|
||
4 | — | John Whitfield | 1738 | 1741 |
|
|
5 | Robert Lowth (1710–1787) |
1741 | 1751 |
|
||
6 | — | William Hawkins (1722–1801) |
1751 | 1756 |
|
|
7 | Thomas Warton the Younger (1728–1790) |
1757 | 1766 |
|
[31] | |
8 | — | Benjamin Wheeler | 1766 | 1776 |
|
|
9 | John Randolph (1749–1813) |
1776 | 1783 |
|
||
10 | — | Robert Holmes (1748–1805) |
1783 | 1793 |
|
|
11 | James Hurdis (1763–1801) |
1793 | 1801 |
|
||
12 | Edward Copleston (1776–1849) |
1802 | 1812 |
|
||
13 | — | John Josias Conybeare (1779–1824) |
1812 | 1821 |
|
|
14 | Henry Hart Milman (1791–1868) |
1821 | 1831 |
|
||
15 | John Keble (1792–1866) |
1831 | 1841 |
|
||
16 | — | James Garbett (1802–1879) |
1842 | 1852 |
|
[32] |
17 | Thomas Legh Claughton (1808–1892) |
1852 | 1857 |
|
||
18 | Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) |
1857 | 1867 |
|
||
19 | Francis Hastings Doyle (1810–1888) |
1867 | 1877 |
|
||
20 | John Campbell Shairp (1819–1885) |
1877 | 1885 |
|
||
21 | Francis Turner Palgrave (1824–1897) |
1885 | 1895 |
|
||
22 | — | William Courthope (1824–1917) |
1895 | 1901 |
|
|
23 | A. C. Bradley (1851–1935) |
1901 | 1906 |
|
||
24 | John William Mackail (1859–1945) |
1906 | 1911 |
|
||
25 | Thomas Herbert Warren (1853–1930) |
1911 | 1916 |
|
||
— | — | Vacant | 1916 | 1920 | — | — |
26 | William Paton Ker (1855–1923) |
1920 | 1923 |
|
||
27 | — | Heathcote William Garrod (1878-1960) |
1923 | 1928 |
|
|
28 | — | Ernest de Sélincourt (1870–1943) |
1928 | 1933 |
|
|
29 | — | George Stuart Gordon (1881–1942) |
1933 | 1938 |
|
|
30 | — | Adam Fox (1883–1977) |
1938 | 1943 |
|
|
— | — | Vacant | 1944 | 1946 | — | — |
31 | — | Maurice Bowra (1898–1971) |
1946 | 1951 |
|
|
32 | Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–1972) |
1951 | 1956 |
|
||
33 | W. H. Auden (1907–1973) |
1956 | 1961 |
|
||
34 | Robert Graves (1895–1985) |
1961 | 1966 |
|
||
35 | Edmund Blunden (1896–1974) |
1966 | 1968 |
|
||
36 | — | Roy Fuller (1912–1991) |
1968 | 1973 |
|
|
37 | — | John Wain (1925–1994) |
1973 | 1978 |
|
|
38 | — | John Jones (1924–2016) |
1978 | 1983 |
|
|
39 | — | Peter Levi (1931–2000) |
1984 | 1989 |
|
|
40 | Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) |
1989 | 1994 |
|
[33][34] | |
41 | — | James Fenton (born 1949) |
1994 | 1999 |
|
[35] |
42 | — | Paul Muldoon (born 1951) |
1999 | 2004 |
|
|
43 | — | Christopher Ricks (born 1933) |
2004 | 2009 |
|
|
— | Ruth Padel (born 1946) |
— | — |
|
||
44 | - | Geoffrey Hill (1932–2016) |
2010 | 2015 |
|
|
45 | Simon Armitage (born 1963) |
2015 | 2019 |
|
[36] | |
46 | - | Alice Oswald (born 1966) |
2019 | 2023 |
|
|
47 | A. E. Stallings
(born 1968) |
2023 |
|
References
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- ^ Mcgrath, Charles (9 December 2009). "Oxford Institutes a New Election Process for Its Poetry Post". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c "Padel becomes Oxford Professor of Poetry". The Irish Times. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Bittersweet victory for Ruth Padel". The Independent. London. 17 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
- ^ a b Harrison, David (16 May 2009). "Ruth Padel's win 'poisoned' by smear campaign". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
- ^ a b Purves, Libby (18 May 2009). "A familiar reek of misogyny and mistrust". The Times. London.
- ^ Woods, Richard (24 May 2009). "Call for Oxford poet to resign after sex row". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
- Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
- ^ Lovell, Rebecca (26 May 2009). "Hay festival diary: Ruth Padel talks about the poetry professorship scandal". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
- ^ "Oxford professor of poetry resigns". The Guardian. London. 25 May 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
- Times Literary Supplement, 3 June 2009, p. 6.
- ^ [‘Don’t wrong Ruth Padel’, Letters, The Guardian 28 May 2009]
- ^ Higgins, Charlotte (29 May 2009). "Hay cuts". The Guardian. London.
- ^ ["Poetry's Loss," The Times Letters, 29 May 2009, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=letters+poetry&p=tto&pf=all ]
- ^ Halford, Macy (7 January 2009). "The Book Bench: Oxford's Gender Trouble". The New Yorker. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ "Search". The New Yorker.
- ^ Gardner, Suzanne (26 May 2009). "Ruth Padel resigns, but the "gender war" rages on | Quillblog | Quill & Quire". Quillandquire.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ "Ruth Padel resigns, but the "gender war" rages on | Quill & Quire". Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ McCrum, Robert (31 May 2009). "Who dares to follow in Ruth's footsteps?". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Election of Professor of Poetry, Convocation, 16th May 2009". University of Oxford. 26 May 2009. Archived from the original on 10 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
- ^ "Newsnight: From the web team". BBC. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ "List of nominees". Oxford University website. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ Flood, Alison (9 June 2010). "Oxford poetry professor candidate withdraws as controversy erupts again". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Woolcock, Nicola (25 March 2010). "Geoffrey Hill nominated Professor of Poetry at Oxford after scandal". The Times. London.
- ^ Flood, Alison (18 June 2010). "Geoffrey Hill wins Oxford Professor of Poetry election by landslide". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Geoffrey Hill triumphs as Professor of Poetry - University of Oxford". Archived from the original on 27 June 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
- ^ Itzkoff, Dave (18 June 2010). "Geoffrey Hill Is Oxford's Next Professor of Poetry". The New York Times.
- ^ Flood, Alison (19 June 2015). "Simon Armitage wins Oxford professor of poetry election". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ^ University of Oxford, About the University: Past Professors of Poetry Archived 1 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
- ^ "What does Oxford's professor of poetry do?", BBC News Magazine, 26 May 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- ^ a b Newman, Gerald, and Brown, Leslie Ellen (editors), Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837: An Encyclopedia (London: Taylor & Francis, 1997), 745–746.
- ^ Liddon, Henry Parry, Chapter XXVII: Visit to Ireland—The Jerusalem Bishopric—The Poetry Professorship—Friendly Remonstrances. 1841–1842., Life of Edward Bouverie Pusey, Volume 2 (London: Longmans, 1894), quote: "Mr. Garbett's name had not been in the first instance suggested by any purely literary anxiety to provide for the discharge of the duties of the Poetry chair". Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1995. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- ^ Obituary: Heaney ‘the most important Irish poet since Yeats’, Irish Times, 30 August 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- ^ Contemporarywriters.com, Professor James Fenton — British Council Literature. Retrieved 4 February 2014. Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Simon Armitage - Biography Retrieved 1 December 2022.
Further reading
- Ricks, Christopher (2009) "Oxford University Professorship of Poetry": English Faculty news; issue 2, pp. 4-6