Heard of the
Oxford University? Sure! Recently the University selected their candidate as its next professor of poetry. And this ceremony was not a smooth one. Just like President Obama brought in a wave of change along with him to the White house, a female professor of poetry is the first for Oxford.
Apparently, the elected Ruth Padel, the new Poetry Professor now was appointed after a controversial campaign where a leading competitor had to withdraw as there was a campaign against him. He became a victim of the smear campaign. All the British Newspapers which included the Guardian, The Times etc, reported that Ms. Padel is the first woman appointed for the post of the Professor of Poetry. This post was created in 1708. She is also the great-great-granddaughter of Evolutionary Charles Darwin.
The candidate who withdrew after many Oxford academics was provided with a dossier containing details of a sexual harassment claim made against him by a student in Harvard in the year 1982. This candidate was Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. After he withdrew, they were left with two candidates, of which Ms. Padel was one and the other was Indian poet and critic, Arvind Mehrotra. She won by 168 votes. She stated that she would have wanted Prof. Walcott to carry on and not quit at the last stages and that she had great respect for him.
After she was appointed, she stated that she had been humbled by this choice and was glad to be a part of the fellowship which was held by greats like Seamus Heaney, Mathew Arnold and W. H Auden earlier. She wants to bridge the gap between poetry and science.
Hope she holds true to her words and her name goes down in history just like her preceedures.