Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize, more commonly the Newdigate Prize, is awarded to students of the University of Oxford for the Best Composition in English verse by an undergraduate who has been admitted to Oxford within the previous four years. 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."
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 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:
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 Arnold
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
1860: The Escorial. John Addington Symonds
1868: The Catacombs. John Alexander Stewart
1875: David Livingstone. George Earle Buckle
1877: John Baguley Brooks
1878: Ravenna. Oscar Wilde
1880: Raleigh. Rennell Rodd
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
1900: Robespierre. Arthur Carré
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
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 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: The Tides. 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 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
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
