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Nominations for next Professor of Poetry open

18 February 2010

"Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry"
Charles Baudelaire

Poetry is back in the public eye with Christopher Reid becoming the first poet in a decade to win the prestigious Costa Prize and Carol Ann Duffy, the first female Poet Laureate, holding a successful 'Live-Aid' poetry event for Haiti with the nation's top poets.
And now nominations are open for a successor to Sir Christopher Ricks as the new Oxford University Professor of Poetry. This year, for the first time in the history of the post, those eligible to vote will be able to do so online.

The nomination period for candidates opened today (18 February) and closes on 5 May at 4pm BST. During that time, poets and academics can be considered for the Professor of Poetry role once they have been nominated in writing by at least 12 members of Convocation (all matriculated Oxford University students who have had a degree formally conferred, as well as current and retired members of the University's 'parliament', Congregation). The successful candidate is scheduled to be in post for the new academic year in autumn 2010. An election to the Professorship of Poetry was held in summer 2009 but the winning candidate, Ruth Padel, decided not to take up the post.

In the event of a contested election, voting is by members of Convocation who must register to vote between 12 April and 4 June (at midday BST) and voting will start on 21 May and close on 16 June (at midday BST).  In the past, voting has only been possible in person in Oxford on a single day but for the forthcoming election, the voting system has been updated.  As well as the new online voting system, voting by ballot box will be available over a period of time, rather than on one day. 

Dr Seamus Perry, Deputy Chair of the English Faculty Board, which hosts the chair, said: 'It is good news that the election will be so much more accessible to the large community of graduates of the University that have the chance to vote for Oxford's Professor of Poetry. We hope that they will want to elect a Professor who sees poetry as a vital part of what the Humanities contribute to modern society.

'Over the last three centuries the Professorship has been held by some of the most eminent poets and scholars in the English-speaking world, and we look forward to an appointment that will continue this unique and illustrious line. Sir Christopher Ricks, not only gave a series of brilliant public lectures but worked energetically to promote the art of poetry both within the University and more widely. We await with great excitement the emergence of his successor, the heir to Matthew Arnold, W.H. Auden, Robert Graves, and Seamus Heaney, among many others.'

In the case of a contested election, the new Professor of Poetry will be announced once voting is completed and the votes are counted, on Friday 18 June 2010.

The duties of the Professor of Poetry include giving a public lecture each term and the Creweian Oration at the University's honorary degree ceremony every other year. The elected professor is one of the judges for the Newdigate Prize, the Chancellor's English Essay Prize, and the prize for an English poem on a sacred subject, and generally encourages the art of poetry in the University.

Professor of Poetry lectures were conceived in 1708 by Berkshire landowner Henry Birkhead and began after he bequeathed some money so it could be a valuable supplement to the curriculum. He believed 'the reading of the ancient poets gave keenness and polish to the minds of young men as well as to the advancement of more serious literature both sacred and human'.

The first poetry professor was Joseph Trapp who was in post from 1707 to 1718. Some of the subsequent distinguished Professors of Poetry include John Keble, Matthew Arnold, WH Auden and Seamus Heaney.

For more information about the post contact the University of Oxford Press Office on 01865 280528 or press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

Notes to Editors:

  • Candidates for election have to be nominated by at least 12 members of Convocation and to accept their nomination in writing. Nominations by twelve members of Convocation other than the candidate (who need not be a member of Convocation) will be received by the Elections Office at the University Offices, Wellington Square up to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 May 2010.
  • Copies of the nomination form may be downloaded from the Council Secretariat website (www.admin.ox.ac.uk/councilsec/poetry) or obtained from the Elections Office (poetry.election@admin.ox.ac.uk).
  • In the event of a contested election, members of Convocation must register their intention to vote on http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/councilsec/poetry.  If you are unable to register on-line, please call +44 (0)1865 (2)70236
  • The changes to the voting process have been agreed by the University's Council and were published in the University Gazette on January 14. The ballot servicing arm of the Electoral Reform Society will provide the voter registration and balloting services for the election.
  • The Professor is elected for a period of five years, and is not eligible for re-election. The Professor receives a small stipend (currently £7,000), plus £40 for each Creweian Oration, plus travel expenses for the Oration.
  •  According to the University Statutes, membership of Convocation is defined as 'all the former student members of the University who have been admitted to a degree (other than an honorary degree) of the University, and any other persons who are members of Congregation or who have retired having been members of Congregation on the date of their retirement'. It is estimated that Convocation has about 300,000 members in total. Congregation consists of about 4,000 academics and senior administrators of the University.
  • The first Professor was the long-forgotten Joseph Trapp; but the Chair was subsequently held by many distinguished men of letters in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, including two Thomas Wartons - father and son - and the poet and religious leader John Keble. It was Keble's godson, the great Victorian poet and critic Matthew Arnold, elected twice to the Professorship (in 1857 and 1862), who created the Professorship in its modern form: Arnold spoke about literary matters of contemporary concern, and was the first Professor to deliver his lectures in English (as opposed to Latin). Sir Christopher Ricks was not the first Professor of Poetry to have been a scholar rather than a poet - for example, the famous Shakespearean scholar A.C. Bradley was Professor from 1901-6. But many of the most celebrated holders of the Chair have been eminent poets, including W.H. Auden (1956-61) and Robert Graves (1961-6). More recent illustrious incumbents have included the poets Roy Fuller (1968-73), John Wain (1973-78), Peter Levi (1984-9), Seamus Heaney (1989-94), James Fenton (1994-9), and Paul Muldoon (1999-2004).  There is also a distinguished tradition of unsuccessful candidates, including C.S. Lewis, F.R. Leavis, Robert Lowell, and Stephen Spender.
  • Details of the candidates will be published in the University Gazette, and on the web at www.admin.ox.ac.uk/councilsec/poetry