Jon Stallworthy Poetry Prize Winners announced for 2022

The annual competition was set up in memory of the late Professor Jon Stallworthy (1935-2014), poet and Fellow of Wolfson College, and was open to any student currently enrolled in postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford. The funding for the prize was provided by generous donations to the English Faculty and to Wolfson College, Oxford from Old Possum's Practical Trust and from the Derek Hill Foundation (with thanks to Lord Gowrie). 

The prize was awarded for the best poem in English verse not exceeding 40 lines in length on the subject of 'Sleep-cycles'. The value of the prize was £1,000, and entrants were permitted to submit up to three poems. The judges who would be deciding the winner, included the Oxford Professor of Poetry, Alice Oswald. 

The award ceremony took place online on 18th January 2022 where the winning poem was announced along with 2 runners up and 3 highly commended entries (listed below).

At the event Wolfson President Sir Tim Hiitchens noted "All the poems bring something fresh and new to us and our imaginations; as every year, I see something I had never seen before." 

To view the winning poems, please click the links below.

Winner:
58: Selborne 2
Alexander Peplow (pictured above) as “Selborne” for A Quick Lie 
 
Joint runners-up: 
57: Selborne 1
Alexander Peplow as “Selborne” for Munsalvaesche 
 
64: Excuse me for the voice, this moment immortal
E. L. Hallesy as “Excuse me for the voice, this moment immortal” for Charm for Not Knowing 
 
Commended: 
54: Andromeda 1
Rebecca Dillon as “Andromeda” for Arriving Late 
 
51: Adagio 2 
Katharina Freige as “Adagio” for Of Saints and Sinners 
 
31: Gorge and Canyon 3
Ben Philipps as “Gorge and Canyon” for Perhaps there are times of inherent excellence