Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize, more commonly the Newdigate Prize, is awarded by 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 ...

for the Best Composition in

English verse This article focuses on poetry from the United Kingdom written in the English language. The article does not cover poetry from other countries where the English language is spoken, including the Republic of Ireland after December 1922. The earl ...

by an undergraduate student. It was founded in 1806 as a memorial to Sir Roger Newdigate (1719–1806). The winning poem is announced 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 couplet A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic and narrative poetry, and consisting of a rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter. Use of the heroic couplet was pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the '' Legen ...

s, but dramatic form of composition is not allowed."

Overview

The first winner was John Wilson ("Christopher North"). Notable winners have included Robert Stephen Hawker,

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold (academic), Tom Arnold, literary professor, and Willi ...

Laurence Binyon Robert Laurence Binyon, Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (10 August 1869 – 10 March 1943) was an English poet, dramatist and art scholar. Born in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, England, his parents were Frederick Binyon, ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a ...

John Addington Symonds John Addington Symonds Jr. (; 5 October 1840 – 19 April 1893) was an English poet and literary critic. A cultural historian, he was known for his work on the Renaissance, as well as numerous biographies of writers and artists. Although mar ...

, James Laver, Donald Hall,

James Fenton James Martin Fenton (born 25 April 1949) is an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry. Life and career Born in Lincoln, Fenton grew up in Lincolnshire and Staffordshire, the son of Canon Jo ...

, P. M. Hubbard, and Alan Hollinghurst. The parallel award given at the University of Cambridge 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. Each year links to its corresponding "

ear In vertebrates, an ear is the organ that enables hearing and (in mammals) body balance using the vestibular system. In humans, the ear is described as having three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear co ...

in poetry" article:

Notable 19th-century winners

* 1813: Francis Hawkins * 1827: 'Pompeii', Robert Stephen Hawker * 1829: 'Voyages of Discovery to the Polar Regions', Thomas Legh Claughton * 1830: 'The African Desert', George Kettilby Rickards * 1834: 'The Hospice of St. Bernard', Joseph Arnould * 1837: 'The Gypsies', Arthur Penrhyn Stanley * 1838: 'The Exile of St. Helena', Joseph Henry Dart * 1839: 'Salsette and Elephanta',

* 1843: 'Cromwell',

* 1844: 'Battle of the Nile', Joseph Lloyd Brereton * 1845: 'Petra',

John William Burgon John William Burgon (21 August 1813 – 4 August 1888) was an English Anglican divine who became the Dean of Chichester Cathedral in 1876. He was known during his lifetime for his poetry and his defense of the historicity and Mosaic authorshi ...

* 1852: 'The Feast of Belshazzar', Sir Edwin Arnold * 1853: 'The Ruins of Egyptian Thebes', Samuel Harvey Reynolds * 1857: 'The Temple of Janus', Philip Stanhope Worsley * 1860: 'The Escorial',

* 1868: 'The Catacombs', John Alexander Stewart * 1875: 'David Livingstone', George Earle Buckle * 1877: John Brooks * 1878: 'Ravenna',

* 1880: 'Raleigh', Rennell Rodd * 1883: John Bowyer Buchanan Nichols * 1886: 'Savonarola', R. L. Gales * 1887: 'Sakya-Muni: The Story of Buddha', Sidney A. Alexander * 1888: 'Gordon in Africa', Arthur Waugh * 1898: 'The Pilgrim Fathers',

* 1890: 'Persephone',

* 1895: 'Montezuma', J. S. Arkwright * 1900: 'Robespierre', Arthur Carré

20th century

* 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 Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and Internationalism (politics), internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentiet ...

* 1909: 'Michelangelo', Frank Ashton-Gwatkin * 1910: 'Atlantis', Charles Bewley * 1911: 'Achilles', Roger Heath * 1912: 'Richard I Before Jerusalem', William Chase Greene * 1913: 'Oxford', Maurice Roy Ridley * 1914: 'The Burial of Sophocles', Robert William 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 McInnis * 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 Maitland 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 * 1940–1946: 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) Stuart Evans * 1956: 'The Deserted Altar', David Posner * 1957: 'Leviathan', Robert James 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 Hamilton-Paterson * 1965: 'Fear', Peter Jay * 1966: not awarded * 1967: not awarded * 1968: 'The Opening of Japan',

* 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: 'Inland', 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 William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

* 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

21st century

* 2000: 'A Book of Hours'. * 2005: 'Lyons', Arina Patrikova * 2006: 'BEE-POEMS', Paul Thomas Abbott * 2007: Meirion Jordan * 2008: 'Returning, 1945', Rachel Piercey * 2009: 'Allotments', Arabella Currie * 2010: 'The Mapmaker's Daughter', Lavinia Singer * 2011: not awarded * 2012: not awarded * 2013: 'Edgelands', Daisy Syme-Taylor * 2014: 'The Centrifuge', Andrew Wynn Owen * 2015: not awarded * 2016: 'Sinai', Mary Anne Clark * 2017: 'Borderlines', Dominic Hand (published in ''Oxford Poetry'' XVII.i) *2018: not awarded *2019: not awarded *2020: 'the summer critter speaks not of frost.', Rachel Ka Yin Leung * 2021: 'Koinobionts', Annabelle Fuller * 2022: 'pecking orders', Maggie Wang * 2023: 'The girl I saw through the James Webb Telescope', Nicholas Stone * 2024: 'After 'Horses, Peacefully Farting and Snoring' and 'At the Papal Palace', Shaw Worth

References