God, A Poem 'I didn't exist at Creation, I didn't exist at the Flood, And I won't be around for Salvation To sort out the sheep from the cud- 'Or whatever the phrase is. The fact is In soteriological terms I'm a crude existential malpractice And you are a diet of worms

He was political correspondent of the New Statesman where he worked alongside Christopher Hitchens Julian Barnes and Martin Amis. He was appointed Oxford Professor of Poetry in 1994 a post he held till 1999. " In response to criticisms of his comparatively slim 'Selected Poems' (2006) Fenton warned against the notion of poets churning out poetry in a regular automated fashion.

He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry.