Poetry at Keble

The Oxford Poetry Internship

In recent years Poetry at Keble has established a reputation as a thriving international centre for the study and practice of poetry. Thanks to a generous donation, the college and Oxford Poetry are delighted to announce an exciting new collaboration: The Oxford Poetry Internship.

Founded in 1910, Oxford Poetry is the oldest poetry magazine in the UK. Its previous editors include Dorothy Sayers, Aldous Huxley, Robert Graves, Vera Brittain, W. H. Auden, Kingsley Amis, and Geoffrey Hill (himself one of Keble’s most renowned alumni and a former Oxford Professor of Poetry). Among the authors to have appeared in the magazine’s pages are J. R. R. Tolkien, Fleur Adcock, Seamus Heaney, Philip Larkin, and Paul Muldoon. The magazine is also truly international in reach, having published poets such as John Ashbery, Anne Carson, James Merrill, Robert Pinsky, Charles Wright, and many more. As well as publishing two print issues per year, the magazine hosts the annual Oxford Poetry Prize. Each issue features around thirty new poems by leading poets of the day from around the world, alongside two or three book reviews and the occasional essay. More information about the magazine is available at Oxford Poetry.

The Oxford Poetry Internship will offer a Keble student hands-on experience in the internal operations of a successful literary magazine. The intern will make valuable connections within the literary world, deepen their understanding of literature and literary production, and develop skills which will equip them to work in the publishing industry in the future, should they wish. Some of the tasks undertaken by the intern will be pre-determined, others will be shaped by the intern themselves in response to their specific curiosities. Standard tasks may include: assisting in the production workflow of new issues; contributing to the magazine’s website and digital content; working within the online submissions portal to process new submissions; helping to develop the readership (e.g. by acquiring new subscriptions); communicating with authors regarding their work; and assisting in the production of live poetry readings and prize-giving ceremonies. Tasks unique to the intern would be determined through conversation at the start of their tenure. For example, an intern with a particular interest in digital humanities might dedicate a portion of their hours to developing the magazine’s website and online literary offering. An intern with an interest in literary archives might explore and excavate the vast Oxford Poetry archive, which dates back to 1910.

This 18-month position is available exclusively to students at Keble. The first three months would involve a period of ‘onboarding’ with the editors and the outgoing intern, and the final three months would be a period of collaboration with the incoming intern. The internship is therefore rolling, and each new person is inducted by the last (under the guidance of the Managing Editor). A rough expectation of an intern’s workload is two or three hours per week, but the workload can be flexible, responding to their changing schedule and the academic calendar. The intern would be in close contact with the editors of the magazine, especially at first, but they will also be given tasks and projects on which they can work independently and they will enjoy a good amount of ownership.

Any Keble student (undergraduate or postgraduate, from any subject) is eligible to apply. Applications materials—a CV and a short cover letter (2 pages maximum)—should be sent to Professor Matthew Bevis at matthew.bevis@ell.ox.ac.uk by 31st August 2025. The cover letter should set out the case for why the applicant would be a good fit for the role, detailing relevant strengths, interests, and experience, along with potential ideas and/or initiatives they might like to bring to Oxford Poetry. The successful applicant will be notified by the mid-September, and the internship will start on 1st October 2025.