Newdigate Prize

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Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize is awarded to students of the University of Oxford for Best Composition in English verse by an undergraduate who has been admitted to Oxford within the previous four years. It was founded by Sir Roger Newdigate, Bt (1719-1806) in the 18th century. The winning poem is read at Encaenia.

Instructions are published as follows: "The length of the poem is not to exceed 300 lines. The metre is not restricted to heroic couplets, but dramatic form of composition is not allowed."

Notable winners have included Robert Stephen Hawker, John Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, Laurence Binyon, Oscar Wilde, John Buchan, John Addington Symonds, James Fenton and Alan Hollinghurst.

The parallel award given by Cambridge university is the Chancellor's Gold Medal.

Contents

[edit] Past titles and winners

Where known, the title of the winning poem is given, followed by the name of the author:

[edit] Notable 19th Century winners

[edit] 20th Century

  • 1900. Robespierre. Arthur Carré
  • 1901. Galileo. William Garrod
  • 1902. Minos. Ernest Wodehouse
  • 1903. not awarded
  • 1904. Delphi. George Bell
  • 1905. Garibaldi. Arthur E. E. Reade
  • 1906. The Death of Shelley. Geoffrey Scott
  • 1907. Camoens. Robert Cruttwell
  • 1908. Holyrood. Julian Huxley
  • 1909. Michelangelo. Frank Ashton-Gwatkin
  • 1910. Atlantis. Charles Bewley
  • 1911. Achilles. Roger Heath
  • 1912. Richard I Before Jerusalem. William Greene
  • 1913. Oxford. Maurice Roy Ridley
  • 1914. The Burial of Sophocles. Robert Sterling
  • 1915. not awarded
  • 1916. Venice. Russell Green
  • 1917. suspended due to war
  • 1918. suspended due to war
  • 1919. France. P. H. B. Lyon
  • 1920. The Lake of Garda. George Johnstone
  • 1921. Cervantes. James Laver
  • 1922. Mount Everest. James Reid
  • 1923. London. Christopher Scaife
  • 1924. Michelangelo. Franklin McDuffee
  • 1925. Byron. Edgar McInnes
  • 1926. not awarded
  • 1927. Julia, Daughter of Claudius. Gertrude Trevelyan
  • 1928. The Mermaid Tavern. Angela Cave
  • 1929. The Sands of Egypt. Phyllis Hartnoll
  • 1930. Daedalus. Josephine Fielding
  • 1931. Vanity Fair. Michael Balkwill
  • 1932. Sir Walter Scott. Richard Hennings
  • 1933. Ovid among the Goths. Philip Hubbard (See P. M. Hubbard)
  • 1934. Fire. Edward Lowbury
  • 1935. Canterbury. Allan Plowman
  • 1936. Rain. David Winser
  • 1937. The Man in the Moon. Margaret Stanley-Wrench
  • 1938. Milton Blind. Michael Thwaites
  • 1939. Dr Newman Revisits Oxford. Kenneth Kitchin
  • 1940 - 46. suspended due to war
  • 1947. Nemesis. Merton Atkins
  • 1948. Caesarion. Peter Way
  • 1949. The Black Death. Peter Weitzman
  • 1950. Eldorado. John Bayley
  • 1951. The Queen of Sheba. Michael Hornyansky
  • 1952. Exile. Donald Hall (published in OP 1953)
  • 1953. not awarded
  • 1954. not awarded
  • 1955. Elegy for a Dead Clown. Edwin Evans
  • 1956. The Deserted Altar. David Posner
  • 1957. Leviathan. Robert Maxwell
  • 1958. The Earthly Paradise. Jon Stallworthy
  • 1959. not awarded
  • 1960. A Dialogue between Caliban and Ariel. John Fuller
  • 1961. not awarded
  • 1962. May Morning. Stanley Johnson
  • 1963. not awarded
  • 1964. Disease. James Paterson
  • 1965. Fear. Peter Jay
  • 1966. not awarded
  • 1967. not awarded
  • 1968. The Opening of Japan. James Fenton
  • 1969. not awarded
  • 1970. Instructions to a Painter. Charles Radice
  • 1971. not awarded
  • 1972. The Ancestral Face. Neil Rhodes
  • 1973. The Wife's Tale. Christopher Mann
  • 1974. Death of a Poet. Alan Hollinghurst
  • 1975. The Tides. Andrew Motion
  • 1976. Hostages. David Winzar
  • 1977. The Fool. Michael King
  • 1978. not awarded
  • 1979. not awarded
  • 1980. Inflation. Simon Higginson
  • 1981. not awarded
  • 1982. Souvenirs. Gordon Wattles
  • 1983. Triumphs. Peter McDonald (published in OP I.2)
  • 1984. Fear. James Leader
  • 1985. Magic. Robert Twigger
  • 1986. An Epithalamion. William Morris
  • 1987. Memoirs of Tiresias. Bruce Gibson and Michael Suarez (joint winners)
  • 1988. Elegy. Mark Wormald
  • 1989. The House. Jane Griffiths
  • 1990. Mapping. Roderick Clayton
  • 1991. not awarded
  • 1992. Green Thought. Fiona Sampson
  • 1993. The Landing. Caron Röhsler
  • 1994. Making Sense. James Merino
  • 1995. Judith with the Head of Holofernes. Antony Dunn (published in OP IX.1)
  • 1996. not awarded
  • 1997. not awarded
  • 1998. not awarded
  • 1999. not awarded
  • 2000. A Book of Hours.

[edit] 21st Century

  • 2005. Lyons. Arina Patrikova
  • 2006. Bee-poems. Paul T. Abbott
  • 2007. Meirion Jordan
  • 2008. Rachel Piercey

[edit] See also

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