This Just In: Simon Armitage Joins Contenders for Oxford Professorship

Wow! As we mentioned recently, the finalists for Oxford Professor of Poetry are slowly coming together. At the end of last week, we shared The Guardian's news that Wole Soyinka was among the top candidates for the position. Now, The Guardian reports Simon Armitage has joined the ranks of the finalists but it's unclear, as of yet, how close he will get to Soyinka's lead. From The Guardian:

Simon Armitage has thrown his hat into the ring to be the next professor of poetry at Oxford University, a prestigious position that was first established in the early 18th century and whose previous incumbents include Robert Graves and WH Auden.

The bestselling poet will be up against Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka for the five-year role, which is voted for by Oxford graduates and seen as the UK’s second most important poetry position, behind that of poet laureate. Three more candidates are also in the running, with poet AE Stallings entering the race late last week alongside the poet, novelist and critic Ian Gregson, who is currently professor of creative writing at Bangor University, and the poet, publisher and psychotherapist Seán Haldane.

In a statement, Armitage said that “if Oxford saw fit to appoint a self-schooled poet who views poetry from a hill above a Yorkshire village, then I would be greatly excited and deeply honoured to take on the challenge”.

“After so many years in the field, I feel I have plenty to say on the subject and a desire to talk and write about it. It’s for that reason and at this time that I have put myself forward for the position of professor of poetry,” said the poet and translator of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, who has been professor of poetry at Sheffield University since 2011.

Continue reading at The Guardian.