Carol Ann Duffy
Author of The World's Wife
About the Author
Carol Ann Duffy has published four highly praised collections of poetry. Her last, "Mean Time", won the "Forward" Poetry Prize & the Whitbread Poetry Prize. She lives in Manchester, England. (Publisher Fact Sheets) Carol Ann Duffy was born on December 23, 1955 in Gasgow. She is a Scottish poet and show more playwright. She is also Professor of Contemporary Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Britain's Poet Laureate in May 2009. She is the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly LGBT person to hold the position. She was a passionate reader from an early age, and always wanted to be a writer, producing poems from the age of 11. 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. She applied to the University of Liverpool and began a philosophy degree there in 1974. She had two plays performed at the Liverpool Playhouse, wrote a pamphlet, Fifth Last Song, and received an honours degree in philosophy in 1977. She worked as poetry critic for The Guardian from 1988 -1989, and was editor of the poetry magazine, Ambit. In 1996, she was appointed as a lecturer in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and later became creative director of its Writing School. She has since gone on to write several works of poetry and children's books. Her title's The World's Wife, Rapture, and The Bees made the New Zealand Best Seller List. (Publisher Provided) show less
Image credit: Carol Ann Duffy. (Source: Lesbian of the Day)
Series
Works by Carol Ann Duffy
Eight World's Wives 3 copies
The Zoo Keeper 1 copy
Long Table 1 copy
Warming Her Pearls {poem} 1 copy
Politics 1 copy
“Mrs Lazarus” 1 copy
Politics: Carol Ann Duffy 1 copy
Associated Works
The Pleasure of Reading: 43 Writers on the Discovery of Reading and the Books that Inspired Them (2015) — Contributor — 82 copies
Buzz Words: Poems About Insects (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series) (2021) — Contributor — 33 copies
Don't Panic, I'm Islamic: Words and Pictures on How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Alien Next Door (2017) — Contributor — 12 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Duffy, Carol Ann
- Birthdate
- 1955-12-23
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- Scotland, UK
- Birthplace
- Glasgow, Scotland, UK
- Places of residence
- Manchester, England, UK
Gorbals, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Stafford, England, UK - Education
- Liverpool University
Stafford Girls' High School - Occupations
- poet
playwright - Relationships
- Benson, Peter (biological father of her daughter)
Kay, Jackie (partner) - Awards and honors
- Eric Gregory Award (1984)
Lannan Literary Award (poetry | 1995)
Order of the British Empire (officer | 1995 | commander | 2001)
E. M. Forster Award (2000)
PEN Pinter prize (2012)
Poet Laureate of the UK (2009-2019) (show all 8)
Dylan Thomas Award
Cholmondeley Award
Members
Reviews
Bored to tears, with Christmas approaching, a Baron takes his good wife's suggestion in this poem from Carol Ann Duffy, and appoints a Lord of Misrule—a yeoman who will preside over the holiday festivities at their manor. So begins a riotous time, in which social conventions are inverted, much feasting and drinking occurs, and wild shenanigans ensue..
Published in 2016, The King of Christmas is apparently part of an annual holiday tradition in which Scottish poet Duffy, for many years the Poet Laureate of the UK, presents a Christmas poem to the public, in a beautifully-illustrated picture book edition. Apparently it all began in 2009, with the publication of Mrs. Scrooge: A Christmas Poem, illustrated by the marvelous Posy Simmonds, and has carried on ever since. The poem from this past year (2023) was Christmas Eve at The Moon Under Water, illustrated by Margaux Carpentier.
I was completely unaware of this tradition, when I purchased a digital edition of The King of Christmas shortly before the holiday. As it happens, I imagined it was an actual children's picture book, given the fact that this is usually what illustrator Lara Hawthorne produces. Duffy is an adult author, for the most part, but has also produced children's book, such as the original fairy-tale, The Lost Happy Endings. In any case, despite this not being what I expected, I did enjoy it. The story told through the poem was amusing, the poem itself was a pleasure to read, and I enjoyed the accompanying artwork from Hawthorne. I might even consider tracking down some of the other entries in this "Christmas Poems" tradition, next holiday season. Recommended to fans of the poet, and to anyone looking for a riotous Christmas celebration, in picture book form, for adults.… (more)
Published in 2016, The King of Christmas is apparently part of an annual holiday tradition in which Scottish poet Duffy, for many years the Poet Laureate of the UK, presents a Christmas poem to the public, in a beautifully-illustrated picture book edition. Apparently it all began in 2009, with the publication of Mrs. Scrooge: A Christmas Poem, illustrated by the marvelous Posy Simmonds, and has carried on ever since. The poem from this past year (2023) was Christmas Eve at The Moon Under Water, illustrated by Margaux Carpentier.
I was completely unaware of this tradition, when I purchased a digital edition of The King of Christmas shortly before the holiday. As it happens, I imagined it was an actual children's picture book, given the fact that this is usually what illustrator Lara Hawthorne produces. Duffy is an adult author, for the most part, but has also produced children's book, such as the original fairy-tale, The Lost Happy Endings. In any case, despite this not being what I expected, I did enjoy it. The story told through the poem was amusing, the poem itself was a pleasure to read, and I enjoyed the accompanying artwork from Hawthorne. I might even consider tracking down some of the other entries in this "Christmas Poems" tradition, next holiday season. Recommended to fans of the poet, and to anyone looking for a riotous Christmas celebration, in picture book form, for adults.… (more)
Who doesn't love an advent calendar with a window to open each day? In 2022, Duffy's christmas poem focuses on the windows lit up on a dark night on Advent Street. There's a ballerina, a small tangerine bird, Christmas trees and Hanukkah candles
Old age in its armchair.
Babies lifted from cribs, presents.
Teenagers lit by laptops - young saints
their guardians below, passing and laying
the plates onto the tables.
Advent Street
And then the last window is reached and the person wandering, looking in the windows, lonely and wanting to be whole, is invited in for a meal.
I love these little christmas poetry books, each illustrated by a different illustrator, this one by Yelena Brysenkovak. I have all of them.… (more)
Old age in its armchair.
Babies lifted from cribs, presents.
Teenagers lit by laptops - young saints
their guardians below, passing and laying
the plates onto the tables.
Advent Street
And then the last window is reached and the person wandering, looking in the windows, lonely and wanting to be whole, is invited in for a meal.
I love these little christmas poetry books, each illustrated by a different illustrator, this one by Yelena Brysenkovak. I have all of them.… (more)
Small hardcover which brings together select love poems from Duffy. Makes a nice gift by but If you have much of Duffy's work you might find redundant....
Lists
THE WAR ROOM (1)
Poetry Corner (2)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 104
- Also by
- 26
- Members
- 4,117
- Popularity
- #6,114
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 70
- ISBNs
- 232
- Languages
- 5
- Favorited
- 12
fiction was colour.
Inside a dragon, a jewel.
Abracadabra.
A magic carpet took flight,
bearing a girl.
The hand of a Queen shut tight
over a pearl.
from Scheherazade
This is my favourite of her collections so far, with poems about nature (including several about bees), war, mythology and storytelling. I can't choose a favourite poem from this collection as there were so many I enjoyed, including Scheherazade, Last Post, Big Ask and The Human Bee.… (more)