26 May 09

Plans to refill the Professorship of Poetry will be considered in due course, following the decision of Ruth Padel not to take up the post in October 2009.

Ruth Padel was elected to the position earlier this month by graduates and academic staff of the University in succession to Professor Christopher Ricks, but withdrew amid controversy concerning the conduct of the election campaign.

The position of Professor of Poetry, which is held for five years, dates back to the early eighteenth-century.

It is expected that a fresh election will take place during the course of 2009-10.