Prof. Wole Soyinka has lost the race to be Oxford’s Professor of
poetry to British poet, Simon Armitage. Armitage, the popular poet and
broadcaster, secured 1,221 votes – 301 more than his closest rival, Wole
Soyinka.
Wole Soyinka
Armitage was backed by more names, including John Carey and Melvyn
Bragg. Bragg had previously supported Soyinka, but later publicly
switched his allegiance to Armitage.
Simon Armitage
He said Soyinka, a US-based Nigerian who turns 81 next month, “has
not written much poetry recently and I now wonder how often he would
bother to come to Oxford. Soyinka is a grand man and would regard it as a
grand post. I also query his age.”
Soyinka, the first African writer to win the Nobel Prize for
Literature and a respected playwright and political activist, was an
early favourite for the post after garnering by far the highest number
of nominations.
But Lord Bragg threw a spanner in the works last month when he
publicly withdrew his support for Soyinka and switched allegiance to
Armitage, claiming Soyinka was too old and insufficiently committed to
the job.
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