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Carol Ann Duffy

キャロル・アン・ダフィー

Kyaroru An Dafii

Aliases: Dame Carol Ann Duffy / Carol Ann Duffy DBE

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1955-12-23 （Glasgow (Gorbals), Scotland）
Nationality
Scottish
Languages
English
Religion
Raised Roman Catholic; became an atheist at age 15
Residence History
Glasgow (birth/early childhood) → Stafford, England (grew up) → Manchester (worked/lived)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Playwright, Professor of Contemporary Poetry, Poetry critic
Active Years
1974-
Affiliations
Manchester Metropolitan University (Manchester Writing School)
Memberships
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Honorary Fellow of the British Academy, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Influenced By
Adrian Henri, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney
Influenced
Contemporary UK poets (younger generation)

Education

University of Liverpool
Philosophy
Degree: B.A. (Hons) Philosophy
Period: 1974–1977
Year of Graduation: 1977
Country: United Kingdom

Awards

National Poetry Competition (1st prize)
1983
Work: Whoever She Was
Organization: The Poetry Society
Result: winner
Scottish Arts Council Book Award
1986
Work: Standing Female Nude
Organization: Scottish Arts Council
Result: winner
Somerset Maugham Award
1988
Work: Selling Manhattan
Organization: Society of Authors (Somerset Maugham Award)
Result: winner
Whitbread/Costa Book Award (Poetry)
1993
Work: Mean Time
Category: Poetry
Organization: Whitbread/Costa
Result: winner
T. S. Eliot Prize
2005
Work: Rapture
Category: Poetry
Organization: T. S. Eliot Prize
Result: winner
Costa Book Awards (Poetry)
2011
Work: The Bees
Category: Poetry
Organization: Costa
Result: winner
PEN Pinter Prize
2012
Organization: PEN
Result: winner
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
2015
Category: Honours
Organization: UK Honours (The London Gazette / New Year Honours)
Result: appointed DBE
Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath
2021
Organization: Struga Poetry Evenings
Result: laureate

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Standing Female Nude

1985 Poetry collection

Early collection using voices of outsiders to explore everyday life and social marginalisation.

Voices of outsidersGenderSocial oppression

Selling Manhattan

1987 Poetry collection

Poems themed around urban life and movement; one of her award-winning early works.

CityMovementIndividual and environment

Mean Time

1993 Poetry collection

A major mid-career collection focusing on memory, loss and the passage of time; winner of Whitbread/Costa awards.

MemoryLossTime

Rapture

2005 Poetry collection (sequence on love)

An intimate sequence charting a love affair from inception to dissolution; winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize.

LoveIntimacyChange
Adaptations
  • [Radio adaptation] Rapture (radio) / Fiona Shaw（出演） / BBC Radio Four（放送） (2007)

The Bees

2011 Poetry (selected)

A selected collection covering a range of subjects; winner of the 2011 Costa Poetry Award.

NatureMemorySociety

Bibliography

  • Fleshweathercock and Other Poems (1974)
  • Standing Female Nude (1985)
  • Selling Manhattan (1987)
  • Mean Time (1993)
  • Rapture (2005)
  • The Bees (2011)
  • Sincerity (2018)

Adaptations

  • Everyman (modern adaptation, National Theatre production, 2015)
  • Rapture (BBC Radio adaptation, 2007)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Clear, sonically aware style using simple words in complex waysVentriloquism: adopting voices of othersOccasional use of narrative/long-form poems
Recurring Motifs
Memory and lossLove and intimacyGender and identityFantasy within the everyday

Legacy

Carol Ann Duffy is one of the most influential contemporary British poets; she served as Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2019. Her appointment as the first female, Scottish-born and openly lesbian Poet Laureate was symbolically significant. Her poems are widely taught in UK schools and she has influenced a generation of poets and readers.

Museums

  • National Portrait Gallery (London) — portraits of Carol Ann Duffy London

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature
  • The British Academy (Honorary Fellow)
  • The Royal Society of Edinburgh (Honorary Fellow)

Archives

  • British Library (potential holdings)
  • National/university archives (e.g. Manchester Metropolitan University)

In Popular Culture

  • Poems widely taught in UK schools (GCSE, A-level, National 5)
  • Poems commissioned for royal and public events (royal wedding, coronation anniversary)

Quotes

  • I'm not interested, as a poet, in words like 'plash'—Seamus Heaney words, interesting words. I like to use simple words, but in a complicated way.
    Source: Interview / The Observer (2005)

Trivia

  • Appointed Poet Laureate in 2009 — first woman, first Scottish-born and first openly lesbian poet to hold the post
  • Has a daughter, Ella (born 1995)
  • Lived with poet Adrian Henri in youth, who influenced her development