Campaigning in the battle for the post of professor of poetry at Oxford University began in earnest today with nominated candidates setting out their manifestos in prose.

Flysheets from three of the five candidates were published in the University Gazette today - including that of Christopher Ricks, the controversial non-poet and Bob Dylan specialist who is tipped for the post.

Oxford professors, students and alumni are eligible to vote in the election, the result of which is expected to be announced by officials at 5pm on Saturday.

Professor Ricks, the only non-poet in the contest - he is a literary critic - is odds-on favourite to win the post.

Following the close of nominations at the end of last month, Ladbrokes put the odds on Professor Ricks getting the job at 2/1, followed by Anne Carson (5/2), Peter Porter (4/1) Ian McMillan (5/1) and Mark Walker (5/1).

If elected, Professor Ricks's manifesto claims he "would combine his formal lectures with informal meetings to discuss poems by and with individual undergraduates and graduates. As a critic and scholar, Christopher Ricks belongs in what Matthew Arnold called 'the glorious class of the best'."

Campaigners for Anne Carson, who is hot on the heels of Professor Ricks, describe her as "a distinguished and original poet". Her publicity adds: "Her creative use of language, which combines originality, wit, and irony, makes her one of the most exciting poets writing today."

Peter Porter's campaign, which is backed by leading poets including the poet laureate, Andrew Motion, focuses on exploiting his poetry credentials and the advantages of these over Professor Ricks's academic background. "Note that ten out of the 11 immediately previous incumbents of the chair have been practising poets," his flyer says. "If you agree that the chair should be held by a poet of such calibre, please consider voting for Peter Porter," it adds.

Ian McMillan and Mark Walker were last-minute nominations and did not supply flysheets for the University Gazette. Mr McMillan is poet in residence at Barnsley Football Club.

Mark Walker is better known Marcus Walker. He was president of Oxford student union for a term last year and held the same post at the Oxford University Conservative Association. He is a post-graduate student in Byzantine studies at Oriel College.

From Anne Carson's The Glass Enemy:

You remember too much,
my mother said to me recently.

Why hold onto all that? And I said,
Where can I put it down?
She shifted to a question about airports.

From Ian McMillan's A Drench for St Swithun's Day:

July is the lady in blue Skirt and shoes
July is the man in blue Trousers and hats
Sky as blue as All those things
across the ancient valley the church bell rings

From Peter Porter's On The One Hand

The ancestors' bones
quarried and measured,
the End of the Class War
theoried and leisured.

The genius artists
polishing vanity,
the hole in the ozone
layer of humanity.

Andrew Motion on Christopher Ricks' Dylan's Vision of Sin:

"Good critics lead double lives. On the one hand they are conservators, bent on preserving and interpreting the past. On the other hand they are pioneers, breaking open the present and telling us what matters. Christopher Ricks has combined the roles better than most."