I apologise, it was a bad error of judgment, says poet

She said she was "very silly" to highlight claims that Walcott had sexually harassed students. But she tried to shift some blame to the emails' recipients, neither of whom used the information. "I thought these journalists were writing about the election in a responsible and balanced way," she said. "This act was naive and silly of me. I do not believe it was wrong but it was a bad error of judgment I was trying in a misguided way to address students' concerns which I thought were genuine."

At the Hay literary festival, where she was tonight due to speak about her poetry, she tried to disassociate herself from a wider smear campaign. She said she did not know whether that campaign, which apparently involved more than 100 people, was a vendetta against Walcott or aimed at undermining her. "I was horrified, it seemed to me an insane and malicious action," she said. "From that point on, of course I was extremely troubled."

She also apologised for the damage to Walcott. "I do want to apologise to him but I can't apologise for things I didn't do," she said. "I apologise for anything I have done that can be misconstrued as being against him. He's my senior colleague. I revere his work. When I first heard he had pulled out, I felt completely scooped out inside. I don't want poets to be humiliated."

Of her emails, she added: "I fully regret that they could be misconstrued as evidence that I had taken part in a widescale campaign. Nothing I did led to Walcott's withdrawing from the election. I wish he had not. I would have been happy to lose to him."

She said she had been guided by the university which did not want her to withdraw but decided to step down when she realised the scandal had "deeply divided" those who cared about the post.

She said: "I care deeply about Oxford University. My life and my mind and my heart were formed there. I lived there for 15 years and taught there. I had acted throughout in complete good faith."

She said she would not stand in any new election. "I don't think now I could have a clean beginning. People wouldn't believe in me I don't think it would be helpful for me to stand. I hope the people who do stand are good."

"I wish the next professor of poetry the very best and I hope she is a woman."