THE race is on to find Oxford’s first poet laureate, after city councillors gave their overwhelming backing to the idea.

The city now looks set to follow in the footsteps of Birmingham, Liverpool and Bath by creating the post of civic poet, the holder of which would be charged with boosting Oxford’s literary prowess and encouraging children to read and write verse.

At a meeting last week, 33 councillors voted in favour of creating the role, with just four voting against.

It is yet not known how the post would be paid for.

The news was welcomed by professional poet Steven Larkin, the winner of the 2004 Spoken Word Olympic International Slam.

Mr Larkin, 34, of Florence Park, East Oxford, runs Hammer & Tongue, a company which stages public poetry performances, and is one of the candidates to become Oxford University’s professor of poetry.

He said: “It would do a lot of good for the city and for the individuals who become the poet laureate.

“Every other significant city in the UK has a poet – Oxford is brimming with poetic talent and yet doesn’t have a civic office.

“I envisage the poet being there for civic ceremonies, doing a lot of work in the community, at schools, and exposing people to the creative process of engaging in writing and performing verse.

“Poetry is all around us and marks every significant occasion in our lives. This country has an incredibly rich language and therefore an incredibly rich literary heritage “A poet laureate would simply add to cultural vibrancy already in Oxford.

“I would consider standing, but there are many other people in the city who deserve the title.”

A cross-party group of councillors will now meet to discuss how the civic poet would be chosen and how the post would be financed, before the council finally decides whether to implement the idea.

Green city councillor David Williams, who first proposed the post, said: “This will be a spark that lights a tremendous cultural fire in Oxford.

“It’s very important, because Oxford is the home of the English language and has had a cultural tradition for 1,000 years.

“Here we could have the city council promoting creativity in language and stimulating interest in being creative with language.

“It would be a focal point in trying to raise awareness of the creative genius that already exists in the city.”

Some of the world’s most famous poets, including John Betjeman and WH Auden, lived and worked in the city.

East Oxford poet Natty Mark said: “People tend to associate Oxford with academia but there are estates which are vibrant and it’s these areas that would benefit from a poet-in-residence.

“It’s a role that should engage everybody.”

City council leader Bob Price said: “The council was clearly supportive of the idea of appointing a city poet.

“We will now have to look in detail as to how it might be done most effectively, so the appointment offers some real benefits to the people of Oxford.”

gsheldrick@oxfordmail.co.uk