Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, and her term expired in 2019. She was the first female poet laureate, the first Scottish-born poet and the first openly lesbian poet to hold the Poet Laureate position. Her collections include ''Standing Female Nude'' (1985), winner of a Scottish Arts Council Book Award; ''Selling Manhattan'' (1987), which won a

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to ...

; ''Mean Time'' (1993), which won the

Whitbread Poetry Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

; and ''

Rapture The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

'' (2005), which won the

T. S. Eliot Prize The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize for poetry awarded by the T. S. Eliot Foundation. For many years it was awarded by the Eliots' Poetry Book Society (UK) for "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or t ...

. Her poems address issues such as

oppression Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment of, or exercise of power over, a group of individuals, often in the form of governmental authority. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced. No universally accepted model ...

, gender, and violence, in accessible language.

Early life

Carol Ann Duffy was born into a Roman Catholic family in the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and e ...

, considered a poor part of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. She was the daughter of Mary (née Black) and Frank Duffy, an electrical fitter. Her mother's parents were Irish, and her father had Irish grandparents. The eldest of five siblings, she has four brothers: Frank, Adrian, Eugene and Tim. The family moved to

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

, England, when Duffy was six years old. Her father worked for

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

. A trade unionist, he stood unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party in 1983 in addition to managing Stafford Football Club. Duffy was educated in Stafford at Saint Austin's RC Primary School (1962–1967), St. Joseph's Convent School (1967–1970), and Stafford Girls' High School (1970–1974), her literary talent encouraged by two English teachers, June Scriven at St Joseph's, and Jim Walker at Stafford Girls' High. She was a passionate reader from an early age, and always wanted to be a writer, producing poems from the age of 11. When one of her English teachers died, she wrote:

Career

When Duffy was 15, June Scriven sent her poems to ''Outposts'', a publisher of pamphlets, where it was read by the bookseller Bernard Stone, who published some of them. When she was 16, she met

Adrian Henri Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...

, 39 at the time, one of the Liverpool poets, and decided she wanted to be with him; she then lived with him for 10 years until they split in 1982. "He gave me confidence," she said, "he was great. It was all poetry, very heady, and he was never faithful. He thought poets had a duty to be unfaithful." She applied to the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

to be near him, and began a

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

degree there in 1974. She had two plays performed at the

Liverpool Playhouse The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actre ...

, wrote a pamphlet, ''Fifth Last Song'', and received an honours degree in philosophy in 1977. She won the

National Poetry Competition The National Poetry Competition is an annual poetry prize established in 1978 in the United Kingdom. It is run by UK-based The Poetry Society and accepts entries from all over the world, with over 10,000 poems being submitted to the competition ...

in 1983. She worked as poetry critic for ''The Guardian'' from 1988 to 1989, and was editor of the poetry magazine, ''Ambit''. In 1996, she was appointed as a lecturer in poetry at

, and later became creative director of its Writing School. Duffy was a contender for the post of

Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom The British poet laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation ...

in 1999 after the death of

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

, but lost out to

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Peter Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and a ...

. Duffy said she would not have accepted the position at that time anyway, because she was in a relationship with Scottish poet

Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay (born 9 November 1961) is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Somerset Maugham A ...

, had a young daughter, and would not have welcomed the public attention. In the same year, she was elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

. She was appointed as Poet Laureate on 1 May 2009, when Motion's 10-year term was over. Duffy was featured on ''

The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, a ...

'' with

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg (born 6 October 1939) is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is the editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010, 2012–2023), and the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 documentary series ...

in December 2009 and on 7 December she presented the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

to artist Richard Wright. Duffy received an Honorary Doctorate from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

in 2009. In 2015, Duffy was elected as an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

Poet laureate

In her first poem as poet laureate, Duffy tackled the scandal over British MPs' expenses in the format of a

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

. Her second, "

Last Post The "Last Post" is a British and Commonwealth bugle call used at military funerals, and at ceremonies commemorating those who have died in war. Versions The "Last Post" is either an A or a B♭ bugle call, primarily within British infan ...

", was commissioned by the BBC to mark the deaths of

Henry Allingham Henry William Allingham (6 June 1896 – 18 July 2009) was an English supercentenarian. He is the longest-lived man ever recorded from the United Kingdom, a First World War veteran, and, for one month, the verified oldest living man in the wo ...

and

Harry Patch Henry John Patch (17 June 1898 – 25 July 2009), dubbed in his later years "the Last Fighting Tommy", was an English supercentenarian, briefly the oldest man in Europe, and the world's last surviving trench combat soldier of the First World ...

, the last remaining British soldiers to fight in World War I. Her third, "The Twelve Days of Christmas 2009", addresses current events such as

species extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its last member. A taxon may become functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to reproduce and recover. As a species' potential range may be ...

, the climate change conference in Copenhagen, the

banking crisis A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe the bank may fail in the near future. In other words, it is when, in a fractional-reserve banking system (where banks normally only ...

, and the

war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

. In March 2010, she wrote "Achilles (for David Beckham)" about the

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

injury that left

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

out of the English football team at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

; the poem was published in ''

The Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead ...

'' and treats modern celebrity culture as a kind of mythicisation. "Silver Lining," written in April 2010, acknowledges the grounding of flights caused by the ash of the Icelandic volcano

Eyjafjallajökull Eyjafjallajökull (; "glacier of (the mountain) Eyjafjöll"), sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano wi ...

. On 30 August 2010 she premièred her poem "Vigil" for the

Manchester Pride Manchester Pride is a Charity (practice), charity that campaigns for LGBT, LGBTQ+ Equality Act 2010, equality across the United Kingdom, predominantly in Greater Manchester. The Charity offers dialogue, training, research and policy analysis, a ...

Candlelight Vigil in memory of

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

people who have lost their lives to

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. Duffy wrote a 46-line poem, "Rings," for the 2011

wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. William was second in the line of succession to the British throne at the time, later becoming heir apparent. T ...

. The poem celebrates the rings found in nature and does not specifically mention the couple's names. It begins ''for both to say'' and continues: "I might have raised your hand to the sky / to give you the ring surrounding the moon / or looked to twin the rings of your eyes / with mine / or added a ring to the rings of a tree / by forming a handheld circle with you, thee, / ...". She wrote the verse with Stephen Raw, a textual artist, and a signed print of the work was sent to the couple as a wedding gift. Duffy also wrote the poem "The Throne," which she composed for the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. In '' Stylist'' magazine, Duffy said of becoming poet laureate: "There's no requirement. I do get asked to do things and so far I've been happy to do them." She also spoke about being appointed to the role by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, saying: "She's lovely! I met her before I became poet laureate but when I was appointed I had an 'audience' with her which meant we were alone, at the palace, for the first time. We chatted about poetry. Her mother was friends with

whose poetry I admire a lot. We spoke about his influence on me." Duffy stood down as laureate in May 2019.

Poetry

Style

Duffy's work explores both everyday experience and the rich fantasy life of herself and others. In dramatizing scenes from childhood, adolescence, and adult life, she discovers moments of consolation through love, memory, and language. Charlotte Mendelson writes in ''The Observer'':

Part of Duffy's talent – besides her ear for ordinary eloquence, her gorgeous, powerful, throwaway lines, her subtlety – is her ventriloquism. Like the best of her novelist peers ... she slides in and out of her characters' lives on a stream of possessions, aspirations, idioms and turns of phrase. However, she is also a time-traveller and a shape-shifter, gliding from
Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
to Hollywood, galaxies to intestines, sloughed-off skin to department stores while other poets make heavy weather of one kiss, one kick, one letter ... from verbal nuances to mind-expanding imaginative leaps, her words seem freshly plucked from the minds of non-poets – that is, she makes it look easy.

Of her own writing, Duffy has said: "I'm not interested, as a poet, in words like 'plash'—

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...

words, interesting words. I like to use simple words, but in a complicated way." She told ''The Observer'': "Like the sand and the oyster, it's a creative irritant. In each poem, I'm trying to reveal a truth, so it can't have a fictional beginning." Duffy rose to greater prominence in UK poetry circles after her poem "Whoever She Was" won the

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

National Poetry Competition in 1983. In her first collection, ''Standing Female Nude'' (1985), she uses the voices of outsiders, for example in the poems " Education for Leisure" and "Dear Norman." Her next collection, ''Feminine Gospels'' (2002), continues this vein, showing an increased interest in long narrative poems, accessible in style and often surreal in their imagery. Her 2005 publication, ''

'' (2005), is a series of intimate poems charting the course of a love affair, for which she won the £10,000

. In 2007, she published ''The Hat'', a collection of poems for children. Online copies of her poems are rare, but her poem dedicated to

U A Fanthorpe Ursula Askham Fanthorpe CBE FRSL (22 July 1929 – 28 April 2009) was an English poet, who published as U. A. Fanthorpe. Her poetry comments mainly on social issues. Life and work Early years and education Born in south-east London, Fanthorpe ...

, "Premonitions," is available through ''The Guardian'', and several others via ''The Daily Mirror''.

In schools

Duffy's poems are studied in British schools at ISC, GCSE, National 5, A-level, and higher levels. In August 2008, her "Education for Leisure," a poem about violence, was removed from the GCSE

AQA Anthology The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (the AQA) has produced Anthologies for GCSE English and English Literature studied in English schools. This follows on from AQA's predecessor organisations; Northern Examinations and Assessment Board ( ...

, following a complaint about its references to

knife crime Knife legislation is defined as the body of statutory law or case law promulgated or enacted by a government or other governing jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, or restricts the otherwise legal manufacture, importation, sale, transfer, po ...

and a goldfish being flushed down a toilet. The poem begins: "Today I am going to kill something. Anything./I have had enough of being ignored and today/I am going to play God." The protagonist kills a fly, then a goldfish. The budgie panics and the cat hides. It ends with him, or her, or them, leaving the house with a knife. "The pavements glitter suddenly. I touch your arm." According to ''The Guardian'', schools were urged to destroy copies of the unedited anthology,Curtis, Polly
"Top exam board asks schools to destroy book containing knife poem"
, ''The Guardian'', 4 September 2008. though this was later denied by AQA.Addley, Esther
"Poet's rhyming riposte leaves Mrs Schofield 'gobsmacked'"
, ''The Guardian'', 6 September 2008. Duffy called the decision ridiculous. "It's an anti-violence poem," she said. "It is a plea for education rather than violence." She responded with "Mrs Schofield's GCSE", a poem about violence in other fiction, and the point of it. "Explain how poetry/pursues the human like the smitten moon/above the weeping, laughing earth ..." The Mrs. Schofield of the title refers to Pat Schofield, an external examiner at Lutterworth College, Leicestershire, who complained about "Education for Leisure," calling it "absolutely horrendous." For the new National Qualifications Higher English Course in Scotland, Duffy's agents, RCW Literacy Agency, refused permission for her poem, "Originally," to be reproduced in the publicly accessible version of the paper.

''Anthologise'' annual competition for schools

In 2011 Duffy, spearheaded a new poetry competition for schools, named ''Anthologise''. The competition is administered by the

Poetry Book Society The Poetry Book Society (PBS) is a British subscription-based book club dedicated to selecting, recommending and publicising new poetry books. Every quarter, it selects two Poetry Book Society Choices and four Poetry Book Society Recommendations. ...

and was launched by the

Duchess of Cornwall The Duchess of Cornwall is a title held by the wife of the heir apparent to the British throne. The Duchess of Cornwall is usually also the Princess of Wales, and she uses that title. The current title-holder is Catherine, Princess of Wales, Ca ...

in September 2011. School students aged 11–18 from around the UK were invited to create and submit their own anthologies of published poetry. The 2011 ''Anthologise'' judges were Duffy;

Gillian Clarke Gillian Clarke (born 8 June 1937) is a Welsh poet and playwright, who also edits, broadcasts, lectures and translates from Welsh into English. She co-founded Tŷ Newydd, a writers' centre in North Wales. Life Gillian Clarke was born on 8 ...

(National Poet for Wales);

John Agard John Agard FRSL (born 21 June 1949) is a Guyanese-born British playwright, poet and children's writer. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

;

Grace Nichols Grace Nichols (born 1950) is a Guyanese poet who moved to Britain in 1977, before which she worked as a teacher and journalist in Guyana. Her first collection, ''I is a Long-Memoried Woman'' (1983), won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. In Decemb ...

and Cambridge Professor of Children's Poetry, Morag Styles. The first ever winners of ''Anthologise'' were the sixth form pupils of

Monkton Combe School Monkton Combe School is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school), in the village of Monkton Combe near Bath in Somerset, England. History Monkton Combe School was founded in 1868 by the Revd. Francis Pocock, a former curate ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, with their anthology titled ''The Poetry of Earth is Never Dead'', which was described by Duffy as "assured and accomplished as any anthology currently on the bookshelves."

Plays and songs

Duffy is also a playwright, and has had plays performed at the

and the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre is a 325-seat producing house located on Almeida Street off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre opened in 1980, and produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West E ...

in London. Her plays include ''Take My Husband'' (1982), ''Cavern of Dreams'' (1984), ''Little Women, Big Boys'' (1986) ''Loss'' (1986), ''Casanova'' (2007). Her radio credits include an adaptation of ''Rapture''. Her children's collections include ''Meeting Midnight'' (1999) and ''The Oldest Girl in the World'' (2000). She also collaborated with the Manchester composer,

Sasha Johnson Manning Sasha Johnson Manning (born 1963) is an English composer specialising in vocal pieces. She graduated in voice and cello from the Royal Academy of Music in 1985. She has worked as a full-time soprano and composer ever since. Her singing career ...

, on ''The Manchester Carols'', a series of Christmas songs that premiered in

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the c ...

in 2007. She also participated in the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. Artistic Directors * Brian McDermott ...

's 2011 project ''

Sixty-Six Books ''Sixty-Six Books'' was a set of plays premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2011, to mark the theatre's reopening on a new site and the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. It drew its title from the 66 books of the Protestant Bible ...

'', for which she wrote a piece based on a book of the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

. A modernised adaptation of ''

Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin and history The term ''everyman'' was used ...

'' by Duffy, with

Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emm ...

in the title role, was performed at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

from April to July 2015.

Personal life

At the age of 16, Duffy began a relationship with poet

, living with him until 1982. Duffy later met poet

, with whom she had a 15-year relationship. During her relationship with Kay, Duffy gave birth to a daughter, Ella (born 1995), whose biological father is fellow poet Peter Benson. Raised in her parents' Roman Catholic faith, Duffy became an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

when she was 15. However, she has spoken of the influence her religious upbringing has had on her poetry, stating: "Poetry and prayer are very similar." She is a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

Honours and awards

Duffy holds honorary doctorates from the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

, the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

, the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, and the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, as well as an Honorary Fellowship at

Homerton College, Cambridge Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the col ...

. * 1983:

1st prize (for ''Whoever She Was'') * 1983: Greenwich Poetry Competition ("for Words of Absolution") * 1984:

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by United Kingdom poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. Past winne ...

* 1986: Scottish Arts Council Book Award (for ''Standing Female Nude'') * 1988:

(for ''Selling Manhattan'') * 1989:

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published w ...

* 1990: Scottish Arts Council Book Award (for ''The Other Country'' * 1992:

Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards ( ) are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has bee ...

* 1993:

Whitbread Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, the ...

(for ''Mean Time'') * 1993: Scottish Arts Council Book Award (for ''Mean Time'') * 1993:

Forward Prize The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

(for ''Mean Time'') * 1995:

Lannan Literary Award The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

* 1999: Signal Children's Poetry Prize * 1999: Elected a Fellow of the

* 2001: National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts Award * 2005:

(for ''Rapture'') * 2011:

Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in United Kingdom, UK and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first ...

(Poetry), winner, ''The Bees'' *2012

PEN Pinter Prize The PEN Pinter Prize and the Pinter International Writer of Courage Award both comprise an annual literary award launched in 2009 by English PEN in honour of the late Nobel Literature Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, who had been a Vice Pre ...

*2013: Assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. *2015: Elected as an

of the

. *2015: Elected as an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

*2021:

Struga Poetry Evenings Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) (, СВП; tr. ''Struški večeri na poezijata'', ''SVP'') is an international poetry festival held annually in Struga, North Macedonia. During the several decades of its existence, the Festival has awarded its most ...

Golden Wreath Laureate She was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1995,

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 2002, and

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to poetry.

Works

* 1974: ''Fleshweathercock and Other Poems'', Outposts Ltd. * 1977: (with

) ''Beauty and the Beast'' (poetry). * 1982: ''Fifth Last Song'', Headland (poetry). * 1982: ''Take My Husband'' (play)O'Reilly, Elizabeth
"Carol Ann Duffy"
, Contemporary Poets website. Retrieved 4 May 2009. * 1984: ''Cavern of Dreams'' (play). * 1985: ''Standing Female Nude'',

Anvil Press Poetry Anvil Press Poetry is an independent poetry publisher based in Greenwich, south-east London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a popu ...

(poetry). * 1986: ''Little Women, Big Boys'' (play). * 1986: ''Loss'' (radio play). * 1986: ''Thrown Voices'', Turret Books, pamphlet (poetry).Micelis, Angelica and Rowland, Anthony
''The Poetry of Carol Ann Duffy: Choosing Tough Roads''
. * 1987: ''Selling Manhattan'', Anvil Press Poetry (poetry). * 1990: ''The Other Country'', Anvil Press Poetry (poetry). * 1992: ''I Wouldn't Thank You for a Valentine'' (editor), Viking (poetry anthology).Griffin, Gabriele
"Duffy, Carol Ann"
, ''Who's Who in Lesbian and Gay Writing'', Routledge, 2002, . * 1992: ''William and the Ex-Prime Minister'', Anvil Press Poetry, pamphlet, (poetry). * 1993: ''Mean Time'' Anvil Press Poetry (poetry). * 1994: ''Anvil New Poets Volume 2'' (editor),

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

(poetry anthology). * 1994: ''Selected Poems'' Penguin (poems). * 1995: ''Penguin Modern Poets 2'', with

Vicki Feaver Vicki Feaver (born 1943) is an English poet. She has published three poetry collections. Feaver's poem "Judith", from her book, ''Handless Maiden'', was awarded the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. The book was also the recipient of a Heinem ...

and

Eavan Boland Eavan Aisling Boland ( ; 24 September 1944 – 27 April 2020) was an Irish poet, author, and professor. She was a professor at Stanford University, where she had taught from 1996. Her work deals with the Irish national identity, and the role o ...

, Penguin (poetry). * 1996: ''Grimm Tales'',

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

(play). * 1996: ''Salmon – Carol Ann Duffy: Selected Poems'', Salmon Poetry (poetry). * 1996: ''Stopping for Death'', Viking (poetry anthology). * 1997: ''More Grimm Tales'', Faber and Faber (children's play). * 1998: ''The Pamphlet'', Anvil Press Poetry (poetry). * 1999: ''Meeting Midnight'', Faber and Faber (children's poetry). * 1999: '' The World's Wife'', Anvil Press Poetry (poetry). * 1999: ''Time's Tidings: Greeting the 21st Century'' (editor), Anvil Press Poetry (poetry anthology). * 2000: ''The Oldest Girl in the World'', Faber and Faber (children's poetry). * 2001: ''Hand in Hand: An Anthology of Love Poems'' (editor), Picador (poetry anthology). * 2002: ''Feminine Gospels'', Picador. * 2002: ''Queen Munch and Queen Nibble'', Macmillan Children's Books. * 2002: ''Underwater Farmyard'', Macmillan Children's Books (children's book). * 2003: ''The Good Child's Guide to Rock N Roll'', Faber and Faber (children's poetry). * 2003: ''Collected Grimm Tales'' (with Tim Supple), Faber and Faber (children's book). * 2004: ''Doris the Giant'' (children's literature, picture book). * 2004: ''New Selected Poems'', Picador. * 2004: ''Out of Fashion: An Anthology of Poems'' (editor), Faber and Faber (poetry anthology). * 2004: ''Overheard on a Saltmarsh: Poets' Favourite Poems'' (editor), Macmillan. * 2005: ''Another Night Before Christmas'', with John Murray (children's poetry). * 2005: ''Moon Zoo'', Macmillan (children's literature, picture book). * 2005: ''

'', Picador (poetry). * 2006: ''The Lost Happy Endings'' (illustrated by Jane Ray), Penguin (children's book). * 2007: ''Answering Back'' (editor), Picador (poetry anthology). * 2007: ''The Hat''. Faber and Faber (children's poetry). * 2007: ''The Tear Thief''. Barefoot Books (children's book). * 2009: ''Mrs Scrooge: A Christmas Poem'' (illustrated by Beth Adams), Simon & Schuster. * 2009: ''New & Collected Poetry for Children'' Faber and Faber (poetry). * 2009: ''The Princess's Blankets'' (illustrated by Catherine Hyde). Templar (children's book). * 2009: ''The Twelve Poems of Christmas'' (editor), Candlestick Press (poetry). * 2009: ''To The Moon: An Anthology of Lunar Poetry'' (editor), Picador (poetry). * 2009: ''Love Poems'', Picador (poetry, selected). * 2010: ''The Gift'' Barefoot Books (children's book). * 2011: '' The Bees'' Picador (poetry, selected). * 2011: ''The Christmas Truce'' (illustrated by David Roberts) Picador. * 2012: ''Wenceslas: A Christmas Poem'' (illustrated by Stuart Kolakovic), Picador. * 2014: ''Dorothy Wordsworth's Christmas Birthday'' (illustrated by Tom Duxbury), Picador. * 2015: ''The Wren-Boys'' (illustrated by Dermot Flynn), Picador. * 2018: ''Sincerity'' (Picador), . * 2018: ''Eight World's Wives'' Published by Andrew J Moorhouse (Fine Press Poetry). * 2020: "Anne Hathaway" in ''The Women Writers' Handbook'' (Aurora Metro Books)

References

External links

Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan UniversityCarol Ann Duffy at BBC Poetry Season
*
Duffy at the Poetry Archive, Biography and audio files

The 5-Minute InterviewJeanette Winterson Interview
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duffy, Carol Ann 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool British poets laureate Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Former Roman Catholics People from Stafford British atheists Scottish people of Irish descent British women poets Academics of Manchester Metropolitan University Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of Homerton College, Cambridge 20th-century British poets 21st-century British poets 20th-century Scottish women writers 21st-century British women writers British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights British women dramatists and playwrights Honorary Fellows of the British Academy T. S. Eliot Prize winners English LGBTQ writers British lesbian writers Lesbian academics 21st-century British LGBTQ people Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates