Prof. Wole Soyinka
All eyes are on the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who is leading other ‘contestants’ for the post of the professor of poetry at the Oxford University, AKEEM LASISI reports Another top-flying poet, Simon Armitage, has joined the race for the next professor of poetry at the Oxford University, thus pitting him against the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and three other acclaimed poets.
Bestselling Armitage is a professor of poetry at the Sheffield University.
The race for the job, which The Guardian of UK describes as a prestigious position that was first established in the early 18th century and whose previous incumbents include Robert Graves and WH Auden, is generating excitement.
The Guardian adds that the five-year role 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.”
Although Soyinka, who, interestingly, returned to the stage recently when he directed his play, The Beautification of Area Boys, in Lagos, has not made a statement on the contest, Armitage has.
He is quoted as saying “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.”
While Armitage was nominated by 54 Oxford graduates, however, Soyinka was nominated by over 90.
The Guardian adds, “The Nigerian Nobel laureate, whose supporters include Melvyn Bragg and Robert Macfarlane, has yet to provide a statement about his plans for the professorship.
“Alicia Stallings, an American poet who studied classics at Oxford and the University of Georgia, and who has published three collections of poetry, is the only female nominee. The role was briefly held by Ruth Padel in 2009, but after it emerged that she had informed journalists about past allegations of sexual harassment made against her rival Derek Walcott, she resigned after less than two weeks.”
Although Soyinka is most famous for his exploits in drama, he is also a respected poet, producing collections that includeIdanre and other Poemsas well asSamarkand and other Markets I have Known.
Some of his most popular poems are “Abiku” and “Telephone Conversation”, which have been studied in schools for decades.
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