New Poet Laureate

[marshlander]

So Carol Ann Duffy is to be the Poet Laureate for the next ten year appointment.

Many congratulations to her. She breaks with tradition on a number of counts being the first lesbian, the first woman (that would account for the first one then ) and the first Scot to hold the post.



more news

[sudanese]

the first lesbian

I listened to a coverage of that news on BBC Arabic radio , they never mentioned she was lesbian !! . i think having been talking about her for more than half an hour , they should have mentioned that about her

[sox-and-the-city]

I listened to a coverage of that news on BBC Arabic radio , they never mentioned she was lesbian !! . i think having been talking about her for more than half an hour , they should have mentioned that about her

Really?? Is it relevant to her ability as a writer?? I mean, if you've ever read any of her man-hating drivel the fact that she subscribes to the Valerie Solanas school of thought is the only standout theme. I hate her and her scribblings.

War Photographer and Tea are, admittedly really rather good but two decent pieces of poetry in a career as long as hers is not any real achievement.

I had to study that horrendous harridan and her hateful harpings four
times I can recite most of her well known works offhand,
Look at me and i'll mimic her poetry in this very Paragraph.

I remember in one creative writing class we had to write a poem in the style of Duffy. Mine was admittedly rather mean but i've yet to show it to someone and them not to laugh. I'll away and look it out...

Watch this space...

[marshlander]

... I'll away and look it out...

Watch this space...

My breath is firmly baited mile:

[sox-and-the-city]

Looking back it's a lot more savage than i remember. It parodies most of her major works in some capacity: The Way My Mother Speaks, Shooting Stars, Mean Time...

The list goes on.

I really really really hated her work.

Does it show??

[sudanese]

My point was that they were talking about her being the first female poet laureate ( the literal translation of what they called her new position is : the poet of the thrown) .. my point was that the main theme of that programme was ( being the first ) and that's why i think they should have mentioned her sexuality as relevant to her ( pioneerness ) .. i think they didn't do that because they were considering conservative reactions !

being able to understand , and fully enjoy the poem written in a foreign language , is the most difficult task for someone who is not a native speaker , i think , but will be a good prize - and worth effort - if he makes it in the end .. i think i have to do a lot to reach that level .. often i don't try reading English poem because i think i will misunderstand it .

but still i want to enjoy what you wrote mimicking Carol's poem , so i think i will first have to have an idea about Carol's poem . which of her poems should i read ?

[marshlander]

... which of her poems should i read ?

Sox is clearly better informed than I, but in the meantime here are four to be going on with Carol Ann Duffy - Poems, Biography, Quotes

You might also be interested in this study site Carol Ann Duffy - poems although I daresay it embodies everything that Sox dislikes!

[sox-and-the-city]

If you want a really thorough grounding in Duffy's poetry, I'd start with:

Standing Female Nude, War Photographer, Rapture, Meantime, The Way My Mother Speaks, Tea, Shooting Stars, Originally, Mrs Aesop, Valentine, Before You Were Mine and In Mrs.Tilscher's Class.

That'll give you a good general overview. I included Tea bnot because of it being one of her more well known poems, but simply because it's actually quite nice. It proves somewhere deep down she DOES have a heart after all, i guess.

I still can't get over the fact that in Advanced Higher i could've got to study Plath, Austen, Achebe, Chaucer, Shakespeare and any number of other amazing writers and i got stuck with Duffy and Chekhov (yups, reading translations of depressing Russian plays, good times...).

I'll husht my whining now.

[marshlander]

... I still can't get over the fact that in Advanced Higher i could've got to study Plath, Austen, Achebe, Chaucer, Shakespeare and any number of other amazing writers and i got stuck with Duffy and Chekhov (yups, reading translations of depressing Russian plays, good times...).

Damn teachers dumbing down again