Alice Oswald

Alice Oswald is the Oxford Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford, known for pioneering innovative approaches to poetic form through her work with The Letter Press, a collaborative project with designer Kevin Mount. She designs and publishes poetry in unconventional formats such as letters, postcards, and aerogrammes, exploring how these mediums challenge traditional temporal and spatial boundaries of poetry. Her recent workshops, like the Direct Address session in June 2021, engaged nearly 100 participants in experiments with anonymous letter-poem exchanges via Oxford's internal postal system, culminating in communal experiences like the Moon Viewing performance and a 400th-anniversary event for the Oxford Botanic Garden.

Oswald's work interrogates the immediacy of poetic communication, contrasting the permanence of poems with the transient nature of letters. She poses critical questions about audience engagement, such as whether a love poem is intended to be overheard or eavesdropped upon, and examines how modern communication habits (texts, emails) influence poetic and epistolary practices. Her projects emphasize direct address, temporal specificity, and the physicality of poetic delivery.