'Independent' columnist takes poetry chair

JAMES FENTON, war correspondent, drama critic and Independent columnist, has beaten three rivals to be elected Oxford University Professor of Poetry for the next five years. He polled 228 votes from Oxford MAs to 98 for the Australian poet Les Murray. Ursula Fanthorpe was third with 85 votes and Alan Brownjohn fourth with 40.

Fenton succeeds Seamus Heaney. He celebrated with a garden party at his home near Oxford when the result was announced on Saturday.

The Daily Poem, page 2

Leading article, page 13

Fenton column, page 14