Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize, more commonly the Newdigate Prize, is awarded by the University of Oxford for the Best Composition in English verse 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 couplets, 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, Matthew Arnold, Laurence Binyon, Oscar Wilde, John Buchan, John Addington Symonds, James Laver, Donald Hall, James Fenton, 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 "[year] in poetry" article:

Notable 19th-century winners 1813: 'The Pantheon' 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', John Ruskin 1843: 'Cromwell', Matthew ArnoldCromwell: A Prize Poem, Recited in the Theatre, Oxford; June 28, 1843 at Google Books 1844: 'Battle of the Nile', Joseph Lloyd Brereton 1845: 'Petra', John William Burgon 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', John Addington Symonds 1868: 'The Catacombs', John Alexander Stewart 1870: John Huntley Skrine 1875: 'David Livingstone', George Earle Buckle 1877: 'The Battle of Stamford Bridge', John Brooks 1878: 'Ravenna', Oscar Wilde 1880: 'Raleigh', Rennell Rodd 1883: 'Inez de Castro' 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', John Buchan 1890: 'Persephone', Laurence Binyon 1895: 'Montezuma', John Stanhope 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 R. 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 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', 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: '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 1987: 'Memoirs of Tiresias', Bruce Gibson; 'Palimpsest at Thebes', Michael Felix 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' (夏蟲不可語冰), 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: ‘At the Papal Palace’ and ‘After “Horses, Peacefully Farting & Snoring”’, Shaw Worth 2025: 'Jongleurs', Austin Spendlowe 2026: 'The Deposition of Harry Goodsir, Assistant Surgeon', Angus Barrett (Subject: 'Conversation')

See also List of British literary awards List of literary awards List of poetry awards List of years in literature List of years in poetry Oxford Poetry Prizes named after people

Notes

References

Sources Richter, editor, Annie J. (1946). Literary Prizes and Their Winners. R. R. Bowker Co.