Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Dame Carol Ann Duffy DBE FRSLis a Scottish poet and playwright. She is 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...
book writing fairy-tale
I'll be left writing picture books and fairy tales
writing shapes arriving
I see the shape of the poem before I start writing, and the writing is just the process of arriving at the shape.
writing poetry
I am always pleased to be asked to write a poem.
book writing way
I have piles of poetry books in the bathroom, on the stairs, everywhere. The only way to write poetry is to read it.
grateful writing royal-wedding
If I felt, in the event of a royal wedding, inspired to write about people coming together in marriage or civil partnership, I would just be grateful to have an idea for the poem. And if I didn't, I'd ignore it.
writing feelings trying
Poets deal in writing about feelings and trying to find the language and images for intense feelings.
prayer memorable writing
I write quite a lot of sonnets, and I think of them almost as prayers: short and memorable, something you can recite.
edinburgh favourite theatre
Edinburgh is my favourite city. We'll be doing a lot of children's theatre and galleries.
bit childhood sounds space
I write in that space between Ella's childhood and mine. I know it all sounds a bit sinister.
machines who-we-are being-human
For me, poetry is the music of being human. And also a time machine by which we can travel to who we are and to who we will become.
inspirational teacher heart
I grew up in a bookless house - my parents didn't read poetry, so if I hadn't had the chance to experience it at school I'd never have experienced it. But I loved English, and I was very lucky in that I had inspirational English teachers, Miss Scriven and Mr. Walker, and they liked us to learn poems by heart, which I found I loved doing.
memories inspiration imagination
The moment of inspiration can come from memory, or language, or the imagination, or experience - anything that makes an impression forcibly enough for language to form.
intense-moments narrative facts
Poetry, above all is a series of intense moments its power is not in narrative. I'm not dealing with facts, I'm dealing with emotion.
children light house
When you have a child, your previous life seems like someone else's. It's like living in a house and suddenly finding a room you didn't know was there, full of treasure and light