Duffy, Carol Ann

Carol Ann Duffy was named poet laureate of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in May 2009. Duffy was the first poet laureate chosen in the 21st century. More important, Duffy was the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly bisexual person to hold the prestigious, crown-appointed position. Duffy is known for writing in a variety of genres, but each of her works whether song, drama, children's fiction, or poem explores controversial themes, including violence, sexuality, education, gender, and more. Despite the complex subject matter of her work, Duffy is known for her fluid and accessible style that, in recent years, has made her work popular in both public schools and university classrooms.

Although Duffy was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1955, she was raised in Stafford, England. Duffy's first recognition as a poet came when she was just 16, when a teacher sent her work off to a publisher of pamphlets. From age 16, Duffy lived with famous British poet and painter, Adrian Henri. She attended Liverpool University, where she has admitted she [Page 432]applied, simply to be close to Henri. She graduated in 1977 with a degree in philosophy. Duffy and Henri split in 1982. Duffy worked for The Guardian from 1988-89 as a poetry critic, and she later served as an editor for Ambit, a poetry magazine. In 1996, Duffy was appointed to a lecturer position in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and later was named the creative director of the university's school of writing.

Critical Claim and Awards

It was widely assumed that Duffy would be named poet laureate in 1999, after the death of Ted Hughes. It is likely that Duffy's public, lesbian affair with fellow Scottish poet and novelist Jackie Kay made the appointment politically impossible, and, ultimately, Duffy lost to Andrew Motion. Since 1999, Duffy has claimed that she, and her young daughter, would not have welcomed the public attention, and that she would have declined the position even if it had been offered. In that same year, Duffy's work The World's Wife was published to critical acclaim. This collection of narrative, short poetry was written in the voices of the “wives”-both real and fictional-of history's most famous men and was the first to earn her mass appeal both in the United Kingdom and the United States.

In 1995, Duffy was awarded an Order of the British Empire, and in 2002, she was awarded Commander of the British Empire. In 2005, she published a collection of intimate poems, Rapture, in which she charts the course of a long love affair in poetic form. This collection earned her the T. S. Eliot Prize and £10,000. Duffy's first poem as poet laureate solidified her position as a “new voice” for the United Kingdom; this 14-line sonnet explored the political scandal surrounding the allowances and expenses claimed by Members of Parliament.

Carol Anne Duffy (right) speaking at the Hay Festival with Gillian Clarke. Duffy was the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly bisexual person to be named poet laureate of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

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