20 Jul 2011 01:38:28
Geoffrey Hill, the poet who won the title of professor of poetry at Oxford University after scandal forced his predecessor out of the post, is now locked in competition again, shortlisted for the prestigious £10,000 Forward prize for poetry against former winners David Harsent and Sean O'Brien, the only poet who has won the prize three times, as well as the 2006 prize for the best single poem.
Hill, considered one of the finest living writers both as poet and critic, became Oxford's 44th poetry professor in 2010, an honour marred by the extraordinary circumstances of his election, after almost a year in which the post had been left vacant. His inaugural lecture, in December 2010, was entitled "How ill white hairs become a fool and jester".
His predecessor, Ruth Padel, the first woman to be elected, had to resign after just nine days in the job when it emerged that she had been the source of allegations that her rival Derek Walcott had sexually harassed students years earlier. Walcott, a Nobel laureate tipped as the strongest candidate, dropped out of the election when the allegations were widely publicised.
Hill's collection, Clavics, has made the shortlist, along with Sean O'Brien's November, and David Harsent's Night. John Burnside, for Black Cat Bone, Michael Longley for A Hundred Doors, and D Nurkse for Voices Over Water, complete the list.
Former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion, chair of the judges, said: "The Forward prizes, in their 20th year, have once again been able to provide an account of the last year's poetry publishing, which is both confirming and liberating. We're very proud of the three shortlists, which contain some well-known names and also names which will be new to most readers. Clever, moving, of the moment and also taking the long view, they combine all the paradoxes good poetry should contain. Read them all!"
Six young poets have also been shortlisted for the £5,000 Felix Dennis prize for the best first collection of poetry: Rachael Boast, for Sidereal; Judy Brown, for Loudness; Nancy Gaffield, for Tokaido Road; Ahren Warner for Confer; John Whale, for Waterloo Teeth; and Nerys Williams for Sound Archive.
Four poets, including RF Langley, who died earlier this year, have been nominated for the best single poem: Langley for To a Nightingale; Alan Jenkins for Southern Rail (The Four Students); and Sharon Olds for Song the Breasts Sing to the Late-in-Life Boyfriend: and Jo Shapcott, shortlisted for the best collection last year, for I Tell the Bees.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony on the eve of National Poetry Day in October in London, and a special anthology is being published to mark the 20th anniversary of the prize.
