CAROL ANN DUFFY
Abhitosh, Chaanne, Georgie
and Justin
WHO IS CAROL ANN DUFFY?
Carol Ann Duffy was born on December 23, 1955. Aged 58 today. She was born into
a Roman Catholic family in a poor area of Glasgow in Scotland. At the age of 6 her
and the rest of her family moved to Strafford. Carol Ann is the oldest child in the
family and has 4 brothers and 1 sister. Her mother was Scottish and her father was
Irish.
She attended Saint Austin’s RC Primary School and St Joseph's Convent School and
also high school at Strafford’s Girls School. She then graduated in 1974 and went to
Liverpool University where she studied a degree in philosophy.
At a young age Carol Ann knew that she wanted to be a writer and enjoyed reading
as a child. In 1996 she moved to Manchester.
Carol Ann Duffy has a daughter called Ella Benson who was born in 1995. Carol Ann
Duffy was never married but was in a relationship with Jackie Kay.
CAROL ANN DUFFY’S CAREER
When Carol Ann Duffy was 15 years old, June Scriven sent the poems that Carol wrote to Outposts
which is a publisher of pamphlets, where her poems were read by Bernard Stone who then published
some of the poems that she wrote. When Carol Ann was 16 she met a Liverpool poet called Adrian
Henri and lived with him until 1982. She applied to the University of Liverpool IN 1974 and began a
degree on philosophy. Before she finished and earned honours in her degree in 1977 she had two
plays performed at the Liverpool Playhouse and wrote a pamphlet called ‘Fifth Last Song’.
After her university degree was completed she worked as a poetry critic for the newspaper
company ‘The Guardian’ from 1988-1989, she was also the editor of the poetry magazine Ambit. In
1996 Carol Ann Duffy was appointed as a lecturer in poetry at the Manchester Metropolitan
University where she later became the creative director of the writing school there.
In 1999 after the death of Ted Hughes Carol Ann Duffy was almost appointed Poet Laureate of the
UK but lost to Andrew Motion. Duffy at that time said that she wouldn’t have accepted the position
because she was happily in a relationship with the Scottish poet Jackie Kay and had a young
daughter and didn’t want to be in the public eye at that time. However in the same year Carol Ann
was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Finally on 1st May 2009, Carol Ann Duffy was appointed as Poet Laureate as Andrew Motion’s 10
year period was over. She featured on the South Bank Show with Melvyn Bragg in December 2009
and on the 7th December she presented the Turner Prize to artist Richard Wright.
ABOUT HER POETRY
Carol Ann Duffy’s work discovers both everyday experience and the rich fantasy life of
herself and others. She uses scenes from childhood, adolescence and adult life to show
moments of love, memories and language.
Carol Ann Duffy uses 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 importance in the UK poetry circles when her poem ‘Whoever She
Was’ won Poetry Society National Poetry Competition in 1983. In her first collected in
1985 called ‘Standing Female Nude’ she used the voices of outsiders. Her next collection
in 2002 called ‘Feminine Gospels’ continues showing the increased interest in style and
often surreal in the imagery that is used. Her publication of Rapture in 2005 is a series of
poems following the affair of love. In 2007 Carol Ann published a series of children’s
poems called ‘The Hat’.
FAMOUS POEMS BY CAROL ANN DUFFY
Talent
Valentine
Stuffed
Words Wide Night
Ship
Sung
The Look
If I Was Dead
The Scottish Prince
How many sailors sail a ship?
Safe Sounds
Spell
Havisham
Originally
Mrs Midas
Anne Hathaway
War Photographer
PLAYS BY CAROL ANN DUFFY
Carol Ann Duffy had her plays performed at the Liverpool Playhouse and the
Almeida Theatre in London. Some of her plays include:
Take My Husband
(1982)
Cavern of Dreams
(1984)
Little Women, Big
Boys (1986)
Loss (1986)
Casanova (2007)
FAMOUS QUOTES
Carol Ann Duffy had many quotes. Some of her most famous and well known quotes include….
“I have piles of
poetry books in the
bathroom, on the
stairs, everywhere.
The only way to
write poetry is to
read it.”
I am always
pleased to be
asked to write a
poem.
Every day is a gift
with a child, no
matter what
problems you have.
Poetry and prayer
are very similar.
I'll be left writing
picture books and
fairy tales.
I think poetry can
help children deal
with the other
subjects on the
curriculum by
enabling them to
see a subject in a
new way.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE BACKGROUND
INFORMATION ABOUT THE A POET?
It is important to know the background information about a poet
because It is easier to relate the writing, to the author.
There is a greater understanding about their life and certain
events which could have changed or influenced the way they think.
(Not always)
It helps you understand their writing purposes and ideas.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE BACKGROUND
INFORMATION ABOUT THE A POET?
It is important to know the background information about a poet
because Sometimes, the tone of the author can also be understood just by
knowing the background information.
It helps you understand what they might have been feeling while
writing the poem.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE BACKGROUND
INFORMATION ABOUT THE A POET?
Knowing the poet is necessary if the poem explains a personal
event or his/ her view on different events, people, objects or ideas.
However it may not be necessary to know the poet’s background if
he/ she is talking about a place or certain event of another person
or country.
SOURCES
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/carol-ann-duffy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Ann_Duffy#Career
http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/carolannduffy.html
http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poems/best/carol_ann_duffy
http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poets/carol-ann-duffy
http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/biography-carol-ann-duffy-1233/
http://www.carolannduffy.co.uk/
http://anthology.aqa.org.uk/duffy