Newdigate Prize Totally Explained

Everything about Newdigate Prize totally explained

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 isn't to exceed 300 lines. The metre isn't restricted to heroic couplets, but dramatic form of composition isn't 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.

Past titles and winners

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

Notable 19th Century winners

1829. Robert Stephen Hawker
1839. John Ruskin
1843. Cromwell. Matthew Arnold
1860. The Escorial. John Addington Symonds
1878. Ravenna. Oscar Wilde
1888. Arthur Waugh
1898. John Buchan
1890. Persephone. Laurence Binyon

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.

21st Century

2005. Lyons. Arina Patrikova

2006. Bee-poems. Paul T. Abbott

2007. Meirion JordanFurther Information

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