SA poet barred from UK

An acclaimed South African poet and author has been denied access to the UK, despite charming many in the country for describing the University of Oxford as "Disneyland for nerds".

Athol Williams - author of Pushing Boulders and the Oaky series of children's books - was due to return to Oxford on Wednesday but was denied a UK visa.

The head of school literacy programme Read to Rise attained his masters in political theory at Oxford after two years of study and was to start work on his doctorate in political theory.

Williams, who also holds masters degrees from other top universities, including Harvard, said he planned to reapply for a visa. He had spent nearly six weeks back in South Africa.

"I am hoping that the visa denial is just a technicality ... I will reapply. I don't - yet - think there is anything sinister," he said.

He gained social media fame when he referred to the university as a "Disneyland for nerds" during an Africa Oxford Initiative.

A short clip from the interview was posted by the university on its Facebook page and has received nearly 20,000 views.

"They have taken to the description of Oxford being like a 'Disneyland for nerds' because of the broad array of opportunities and resources that exist there for the intellectually curious.

"As a poet I'm always looking for compact ways to express complex ideas so I was drawn to think of a way to describe Oxford. I love being there because of the intellectual resources, even though, as I say in the video interview, it can be socially challenging being there," he said.

"Oxford is a vast institution with a very long history that has been designed to serve a narrow social group in England. Anyone who falls outside that group, which includes the majority of English people and, of course, foreigners like myself, feel to be somewhat outsiders.

"As with any strong culture, strangers are required to leave their culture at the door and fit in with the prevailing culture," Williams said.