You may remember Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry from school. The former Poet Laureate’s work appears, quite rightly, on almost every English Literature syllabus across the country. She has a poem about anything and everything: Greek goddesses, the Vietnam War, and even memories of primary school mornings. She has undoubtedly proven herself to be a poetic force of nature. Her critically acclaimed collection, The World’s Wife (1999), is an outstanding work depicting the perspectives of historical and mythological figures’ wives. She made breathtaking strides for progress in queer literary representation, and she more than deserves her share of the spotlight this LGBT+ History Month.
Carol Ann Duffy was born to two working-class parents in Glasgow and began writing poetry at a young age. Openly lesbian, much of her later poetry explores the experience of same-sex romantic relationships. She missed out on the position of Poet Laureate in 1999 but was finally awarded the honour in 2009. She held the position for ten years before resigning in 2019. She was simultaneously the first female and openly gay person to receive the title in the 400 years since its creation.
Her work is successfully accessible and engaging whilst also displaying vast poetic craftsmanship. It often contains feminist themes, most prominently in her first collection, Standing Female Nude (1985), in which her reinterpretations of historical narratives are effortlessly evocative. My favourite poem of hers is ‘Anne Hathaway’ from The World’s Wife, which challenges the assumption that Shakespeare hated his wife. He did, after all, leave her their second-best bed in his will, wittily suggesting a more Shakespearean understanding of their union. The stunning use of literary terminology as euphemisms throughout – and the fact that the poem is a sonnet – make my Shakespeare-loving heart soar. This is just one example of Duffy’s poetic strength, and it rarely, if ever, falters across her work.
Not only can you read Duffy’s poetry and marvel at her use of language, but her work is often highly witty. ‘Mrs Darwin’ never fails to make me chuckle: a four-line poem in which the biologist’s wife takes credit for his theory of evolution. She recalls a time together at the zoo when she told him, “Something about that Chimpanzee over there reminds me of you”. Though poetry has a somewhat high-brow reputation, the comedy in Duffy’s collections proves that this is not exclusively the case. In just a few lines of poetry, she can evoke genuine laughter, and that is a rare and valuable thing.
Whenever someone asks me where to start with poetry, no matter who they are, I point to Carol Ann Duffy. I struggle to think of another contemporary poet with the same range and versatility. Her work stands strong enough on its own merits, but Duffy also broke through barriers in the literary world. She proved that a gay, working-class Scottish woman can just as capably dominate the poetic scene. She is an inspiration for any aspiring writer and is, without a doubt, my literary hero.
Image Credit: “Carol Ann Duffy – Cambridge 2015” by Chris Boland is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.