Padel

His appointment could help dispel the sordid air that has hung around the professorship since the resignation of Ruth Padel from the position last year, after it emerged that she had alerted journalists to sexual harassment allegations made against Nobel laureate and fellow contender Derek Walcott.

Oxford noms cap out at 11 2010

After regional bloggers reacted en masse to the withdrawal of St. Lucian Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott from the race to be Oxford Professor of Poetry based on a smear campaign that targeted the writer's alleged past sexual impropriety, Ruth Padel, Walcott's closest competitor who eventually won the coveted post, has resigned under pressure of mounting allegations that she was the puppet master behind the smear campaign.

Global Voices in English » Caribbean, UK: Padel resigns from Oxford post 2009

Padel then went on to inform journalists that the claims could be found on the internet and were widely known in the United States.

Global Voices in English » Caribbean, UK: Padel resigns from Oxford post 2009

Repeating Islands notes that articles by the Telegraph detail the part Padel played in what Walcott himself called a “low attempt at character assassination”:

Global Voices in English » Caribbean, UK: Padel resigns from Oxford post 2009

Español · Caribe, Reino Unido: Padel renuncia a puesto en Oxford

Global Voices in English » Caribbean, UK: Padel resigns from Oxford post 2009

It also, however, offers a space for supporters of Walcott who believe the smear campaign against the St. Lucian poet was a conspiracy involving Ruth Padel and her backers.

Global Voices in English » Caribbean: Bloggers React to Walcott’s Withdrawal 2009

His predecessor, Ruth Padel, the first woman to be elected, had to resign after just nine days in the job when it emerged that she had been the source of allegations that her rival Derek Walcott had sexually harassed students years earlier.

Forward shortlist includes Geoffrey Hill, Sean O'Brien and David Harsent 2011

In emails sent to a number of reporters, Padel pointed out his advanced age (Walcott is 79), claimed that he had suffered poor health, and stressed that he lived in the Caribbean.

Global Voices in English » Caribbean, UK: Padel resigns from Oxford post 2009

But tellingly, neither Padel nor Mehrohtra have pulled out so the farce goes on and the cloud of suspicion darkens.

Global Voices in English » Caribbean: Bloggers React to Walcott’s Withdrawal 2009

Padel does not deny alerting journalists to the accusations.

Global Voices in English » Caribbean, UK: Padel resigns from Oxford post 2009