Carol Ann Duffy has become the first female Poet Laureate. Picture: British Council
Widely-tipped favourite Carol Ann Duffy has become the first female Poet Laureate in the post's 400-year history. The controversial fixture of national curriculum material succeeds Andrew Motion in an appointment which will come as no surprise to bookmakers, who were refusing further bets on the announcement as early as last Monday (April 27 2009.)
The author of numerous award-winning works for children, who was awarded an OBE in 1995 and a CBE in 2002 for services to poetry and is Creative Director of the Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University, edged out Simon Armitage, her fellow frontrunner rumoured to have been Motion's preferred choice.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown congratulated Duffy, calling her "a truly brilliant modern poet who has stretched our imaginations by putting the whole range of human experiences into lines that capture the emotions perfectly" in a good luck message for the ten-year term.
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham described Duffy as "a towering figure in English literature today," and admitted he was "delighted" at her acceptance of the post, a decision Duffy confessed had caused her some deliberation in an interview on the BBC's Woman's Hour this morning (May 1 2009.)
Burnham also credited Motion with achieving "so much to revive public interest in the post" during a spell of "exceptional public service", citing Duffy as a "popular and profound" writer and "spellbinding performer" who would bring "a new generation to poetry."
The Glaswegian almost took the role ten years ago, but allegedly lost out because of a reluctance among Tony Blair's government to appoint a lesbian to the position.
A witty and occasionally fiery character, Duffy fell foul of exam board AQA last September, who ordered an anthology containing an angry example of her poetry to be removed from the syllabus because of a mystifyingly far-fetched fear that it glorified knife crime.
"I'm very honoured and humbled to become Poet Laureate, not only when I think of some of the great poets who have occupied the post since the 17th Century, but when I think of some of the wonderful poets writing now," Duffy responded in a less qualified retort than her Woman's Hour appearance, when she discussed concerns about the level of public scrutiny historically given to the Laureate and revealed she would use her subsequent annual earning (£5,750) to support the Poetry Society.
"Poetry is all around us, all of the time, whether in song or in speech or on the page, and we turn to it when events, personal or public, matter most.
"In accepting this Laureateship I hope to contribute to people's understanding of what poetry can do, and where it can be found."
