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Oxford head of poetry resigns over scandal
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-27 09:20 The first woman to chair Oxford University's poetry department announced she was stepping down Tuesday following allegations that she was involved in a campaign to discredit a rival for the post.
Ruth Padel, an award-winning poet who has taught at both Oxford and Cambridge, was elected Oxford's professor of poetry just 10 days ago after her chief rival, 1992 Nobel literature laureate Derek Walcott, pulled out. Walcott, a West Indian born poet, withdrew after a dossier laying out sexual harassment allegations made by a student he taught at Harvard University more than 25 years ago was posted anonymously to a group of Oxford academics. In a statement issued earlier this month he described it as a "low and degrading attempt at character assassination". Padel, 63, denied having anything to do with the mailings but admitted having contact with journalists about Walcott. |