''The Mays Literary Anthology'' (or just ''The Mays'') is an annual anthology of new writing by students from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

History

Anthologies of poetry by undergraduates from the

and the

were first published in 1913, with ''Cambridge Poets: 1910–1913'' and ''Oxford Poetry: 1910–1913'' being produced respectively by

Arthur Quiller-Couch Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a Cornish people, British writer who published using the pen name, pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication ''The Oxfor ...

and

Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greec ...

. Many years later in 1992, Peter Ho Davies, Adrian Woolfson, and Ron Dimant, who met while working together at the Cambridge University Student Newspaper, Varsity, independently established a totally new publication concept known as ''The May Anthology of Poetry'' and ''The May Anthology of Short Stories'', originally published as two separate anthologies: one devoted to poetry and the other to prose. The idea came about when the three friends were standing outside Queens College one evening, and realized that they all aspired to publishing books. Once they had resolved to set up the anthologies, Adrian Woolfson pulled in Ian Critchley - who was at the time a student editor on the Oxford University Student Newspaper, Cherwell - as his Oxford co-editor. The nucleus of the Cambridge team, who led the project, was Woolfson's attic room at 5 Harvey Road, where the editorial team would meet weekly to review the submitted materials. In 2003 ''The May Anthologies'' became a single publication. Each year, the ''Mays'' receives hundreds of submissions from students at Oxford and Cambridge. The Editorial Committee (composed of students from both universities) review the submissions. Zadie Smith NBCC 2011 Shankbone

''The Mays'' is often noted for launching the career of novelist

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She became a tenured professor in the ...

. Her work appears in two of the short story editions (1996 and 1997). Literary agencies first took notice of Smith after seeing her story "Mrs. Begum's Son and the Private Tutor" in the 1997 collection. Smith guest edited the ''Mays'' in 2001. Her quip "maybe in a few years this lot will have me out of a job" has become a catch phrase for the publication. ''The Mays'' is broader in scope than most university literary projects: it is sold in bookstores and by delivery nationwide; it is distributed to every major literary agent; and each year a guest editor — usually a prominent author, poet, or artist — writes an introduction to the anthology. Previous guest editors include:

Margaret Drabble Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, (born 5 June 1939) is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer. Drabble's books include '' The Millstone'' (1965), which won the following year's John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, and '' Je ...

and Jon Stallworthy (1992),

Michael Dibdin Michael Dibdin (21 March 1947 – 30 March 2007) was a British crime fiction writer, best known for inventing Aurelio Zen, the principal character in 11 crime novels set in Italy. Early life Dibdin was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (now ...

and

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...

(1993),

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

(1994),

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

(1995),

Penelope Fitzgerald Penelope Mary Fitzgerald (17 December 1916 – 28 April 2000) was a Booker Prize-winning novelist, poet, essayist and biographer from Lincoln, England. In 2008 ''The Times'' listed her among "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". ''The Ob ...

(1996), Christopher Reid and

Jill Paton Walsh Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated ...

(1997),

Sebastian Faulks Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – '' The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', ''Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pu ...

and

J.H. Prynne Jeremy Halvard Prynne (born 24 June 1936) is a British poetry, British poet closely associated with the British Poetry Revival. Prynne grew up in Kent and was educated at St Dunstan's College, Catford, and Jesus College, Cambridge. He is a Fellow ...

(1998),

Penelope Lively Dame Penelope Margaret Lively (née Low; born 17 March 1933) is a British writer of fiction for both children and adults. Lively has won both the Booker Prize (''Moon Tiger'', 1987) and the Carnegie Medal (literary award), Carnegie Medal for ...

and John Kinsella (1999),

Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he has been both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University Professor in the Humani ...

and

Lawrence Norfolk Lawrence Norfolk (born 1963) is a British novelist known for historical works with complex plots and intricate detail. Biography Though born in London, Norfolk lived in Iraq until 1967 and then in the West Country of England. He read English ...

(2000),

and

Michael Donaghy Michael Donaghy (May 24, 1954 – September 16, 2004) was a New York City poet and musician, who lived in London from 1985. Life and career Donaghy was born into an Irish family and grew up with his sister Patricia in the Bronx, New York, lo ...

(2001),

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Peter Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and a ...

and

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

(2002),

Ali Smith Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 A ...

(2003),

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. He is best known for the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials''. The first volume, ''Northern Lights'' (1995), won the Carnegie Medal

(2004), Robert Macfarlane (2005),

Don Paterson Donald Paterson (born 1963 in Dundee) is a Scottish poet, writer and musician. His work has won several awards, including the Forward Poetry Prize, the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was recipient of the Queen' ...

and

Jeanette Winterson Jeanette Winterson (born 27 August 1959) is an English author. Her first book, '' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', was a semi-autobiographical novel about a lesbian growing up in an English Pentecostal community. Other novels explore gender ...

(2006),

Colm Toibin Colm (; ) is a masculine given name of Irish origin. It is not an Irish version of ''Colin'', but like '' Callum'' and ''Malcolm'' derives from a Gaelic variation on ''columba'', the Latin word for "dove". The reason for the name's use for ov ...

(2007), Ian Patterson (2008),

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

(2009),

Amit Chaudhuri Amit Chaudhuri (born 15 May 1962) is a novelist, poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, singer, and music composer from India. He is currently a professor of creative writing at Ashoka University. He was previously professor of contemporary ...

Tom Raworth Thomas Moore Raworth (19 July 1938 – 8 February 2017) was an English-Irish poet, publisher, editor, and teacher who published over 40 books of poetry and prose during his life. His work has been translated and published in many countries. Rawor ...

(2010), ,

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...

(2011),

John Darnielle John Darnielle (; born March 16, 1967) is an American musician and novelist best known as the primary, and originally sole, member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. H ...

Tao Lin Tao Lin (; born July 2, 1983) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. He has published four novels, a novella, two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a memoir, as well as an extensive assortment o ...

Toby Litt Toby Litt (born 1968) is an English writer and academic based at the University of Southampton. Life Litt was born in Ampthill, England, in 1968. He was educated at Bedford Modern School, read English at Worcester College, Oxford and studied C ...

(2012),

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen (play), Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy (play), Democracy''. Frayn's novel ...

David Harsent David Harsent (born in Devon in 1942) is an English poet who for some time earned his living as a TV scriptwriter and crime novelist. Background During his early career he was part of a circle of poets centred on Ian Hamilton and forming somet ...

, Tom Phillips (2013), John Fuller, Paul Farley,

Ben Okri Sir Ben Golden Emuobowho Okri (born 15 March 1959) is a Nigerian-born British poet and novelist.Ben Okri" ...

, Prajwal Parajuly,

Emma Chichester Clark Emma Chichester Clark (born 15 October 1955) is a British children's book illustrator and author. She has published over 60 books and is best known for her series of picture books about a child's toy called Blue Kangaroo.Joanna CareyCroc on ice ...

and

Alexander Gilkes Alexander Mark Heming Gilkes (born July 1979) is a British businessman. He is the co-founder of venture studio Squared Circles, which launched in 2020. He was previously the co-founder and president of online auction house Paddle8 from 2011 to ...

(2014),

Roger Mcgough Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one ...

and

Rupi Kaur Rupi Kaur (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ਰੂਪੀ ਕੌਰ; born 4 October 1992) is an Indian people, Indian poet, illustrator, photographer, and author. Born in Punjab, India, Punjab, India, Kaur immigrated to Canada at a young age with her f ...

(2016). ''The Mays'' is associated with Varsity Publications Ltd, which publishes '' Varsity''. The cost of publication is funded in part by donations from various Oxford and Cambridge colleges.

Student editors

* Adrian Woolfson and Ian Critchley (1992) * Rebecca James (1993) * Dorothea Gartland and Jason Thompson (1994) *

Ruth Scurr Ruth Scurr, aka Lady Stothard, is a British writer, historian and literary critic. She is a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Education Scurr was educated at St Bernard's Convent, Slough; Oxford University, Cambridge Univers ...

and Chris Tayler (1995) * Nick Laird (1996) * Martha Kelly (1997) * Adam Whitefield, Aleksander Keenan, Turin Munthe and Jonty Claypole (1998) * Benjamin Yeoh, Sophie Craig, Matt Edwards and Chris Tryhorn (1999) * Sophy Levy, Tom Rob Smith, Catherine Shoard, and Peter Robons (2000) * Tom Hill and Benjamin Hewitt (2001) * Tom Hill, Benjamin Hewitt, Rachel Aspden and Tim Martin (2002) * Jodie Greenwood and Rachael Marsh (2003) * Mark Richards and James Purdon (2004) * Jonathan Beckman and Arthur House (2005) * Torsten Henricson-Bell, Juliet Lapidos, Imogen Walford (2006) * Catherine Duric, Iain Mobbs and Ryan Roark (2007) * Erica Mena and Deborah Smith (2008) * Peter Morelli and Decca Muldowney (2009) * Lizzie Alice Robinson and Elliot Ross (2010) * Catriona Gray and Philip Maughan (2011) * Andrew Griffin (2012) * Chloe Stopa-Hunt and Hugo Havranek (2013) * Camille Ralphs and Andrew Wynn Owen (2014) * Emily Fitzell (2015) * Rebekah Miron Clayton (2016) * Sabhbh Curran (2017) * Elizabeth Huang and Eimear Ní Chathail (2018) * Zoe Matt-Williams (2019) * Ceci Browning (2020) * Isabel Marisol Sebode and Nick Bartlett (2022)

References

External links

''The Mays'': a literary anthology
* Past guest-editors
''The Mays'': Guest Editors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, The Publications established in 1993 Publications associated with the University of Oxford Publications associated with the University of Cambridge Fiction anthologies Poetry anthologies Anthology series