A LURID sex dossier sent to women across Oxford has resulted in the withdrawal of the Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott from the race to become Oxford University’s new professor of poetry.

The dossier, containing details of sexual harassment allegations made against Mr Walcott, was sent anonymously to female staff and graduates eligible to vote in Saturday’s election for the professorship.

Walcott supporters reacted angrily to what they denounced as a “smear campaign” against one of the world’s greatest poets. But Walcott, 79, who had been the frontrunner for the five-year post, took the university by surprise on Tuesday by announcing that he was pulling out.

It is believed that up to 100 letters were sent to women, including heads of colleges, setting out accusations from former students against Mr Walcott, from when he was teaching in America in the 1980s.

Professor Hermione Lee, president of Wolfson College and a leader of the Walcott campaign, said: “This is as a result of the insulting, anonymous, orchestrated smear campaign that has been deployed against him.

“As a result, Oxford loses the opportunity to hear lectures on poetry for the next five year from one of the great poets of the world, a Nobel prize winner, an honorary doctor of Oxford University and a writer who is on the Oxford syllabus.”

Mr Walcott said he had chosen to withdraw to avoid causing embarrassment to himself and his supporters. He said: “I am disappointed that such low tactics have been used and I do not want to get into a race for a post where it causes embarrassment to those who have chosen to support me or to myself.

“While I was happy to be put forward for the post, if it has degenerated into a low and degrading attempt at character assassination, I do not want to be part of it.”

Oxford University said the election would still go ahead with only two candidates: Ruth Padel, the poet and writer, and the Indian poet Arvind Mehrotra.

The dossiers, sent from London, contained photocopied pages from a book recounting allegations made by a student at Harvard against the Nobel Prize-winning poet. It was alleged that he tried to pressure a female student into sleeping with him.

Ruth Padel, who if she wins Saturday’s election would become the first woman to hold the post in its 300-year history, said: “I feel shattered by this turn of events. It has left me feeling tainted, through no fault of my own, and it is a tragedy for the post.

“It was not a smear but a reminder of things from the past. I think his supporters ought to have brought these things out at the beginning, then there would be none of this secret and anonymous stuff.”

Elleke Boehmer, Oxford University professor of world literature in English, described her shock on receiving the package last weekend.

She said: “It was difficult to know what was going on. Was it part of someone’s election strategy? Was it from a group of women students concerned about the issue of sexual harassment. But, in that case, why send it anonymously?

“When one receives such an anonymous missive, it does give a creepy feeling. It is unsettling.”

Prof Boehmer added: “My belief that Walcott is one of the greatest living poets is unchanged. If we looked at poetry across time, which of the great poets have been entirely blameless in their lives? If we started excluding people on the basis of the peccadilloes of their careers, there would be no one for us to teach.”

But some opponents of Mr Walcott, who is from the Caribbean island of St Lucia, had argued that it would damage Oxford University if such a high-profile role, second only to the Poet Laureate, went to a figure whose behaviour towards women had been questioned.

The Oxford professorship dates back to 1708 and previous holders have included Matthew Arnold, WH Auden, Robert Graves and Seamus Heaney.