Impact of Giving
The Impact of Giving Throughout Girton’s history it has supported the arts, believing the opportunity to create, perform and experience art in all its forms to be an important part of the Collegiate University experience, both in terms of student mental health and for inspiring every student to develop creatively as an individual. The College is very grateful that a number of generous donations have enabled us to run ground-breaking creative initiatives that encourage our students to excel and which bring the arts to a wider audience in College and beyond.
The Jane Martin Poetry Prize Girton has a strong poetic tradition, thanks to the works, amongst others, of Sarojini Naidu (Chattopâhyây, 1896, a member of the Rhymers’ Club alongside W B Yeats and Oscar Wilde, a suffragist, a campaigner for Indian Independence and the first Indian Woman President of the Indian National Congress), Kathleen Raine (1926, Founder of the Temenos Academy), Gwyneth Lewis (1978, National Poet of Wales), Adam Crothers (2002, awardwinning poet and commissioning editor of The Literateur) and Seán Hewitt (2009, academic and award-winning poet). This tradition is continued today through Girton’s Poetry Group and by the renowned Jane Martin Poetry Prize. Established in 2010, in memory of Jane Elizabeth Martin (Classics, 1978) by her father, Professor Sir Laurence Martin, the Jane Martin Poetry Prize is a national poetry competition for young poets resident in the UK. The competition is managed with the support of the College’s English Fellowship, including the Jane Martin Fellow in English, Dr James Wade (a post also endowed by Sir Laurence). The competition is judged by experts from across the literary world with previous judging panels including Hilary
18 Girton Newsletter
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Spring 2021
Davies, Adam Crothers, Jeremy NoelTod, Alex Huen and Holly Corfield-Carr. Over the last ten years the reputation of the prize has grown considerably, raising the profile of Girton College in literary circles. Past winners include the academics Agnes Lehoczky, Jane Yeh and Andrew Wynn Owen, novelist Katie Hale and Sunday Times bestselling author Jen Campbell, while poems by past winner Nina Powles have been commissioned by the South Bank Centre and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. This year in particular the Jane Martin Prize, and the Girton Poetry Group, have provided inspiration and solace to our students, as Harry Camp (2018) outlines below: ‘Girton is home to many hidden riches, not least of which is its dynamic community of poets. Four times a term, Fellows, staff and students of all disciplines come together for an evening of good humour and stimulating discussion under the auspices of the Girton Poetry Group. It is a testament to the efforts of this year’s leaders, Esther Shambira and Francesca Weekes, that we have been able to bring this warm and welcoming spirit to the virtual realm.
Jane Elizabeth Martin (Classics, 1978)
Harry Camp (English, 2018)
