Poets

Carol Ann Duffy (born in Glasgow, 1955, in a family of Irish descent) is one of the most famous poetic names in Great Britain. Alongside being highly valued and esteemed in academic circles, she is a favorite of the broader audience too. An important detail towards this statement is the fact that her poetry has already been included as part of the school reading lists in national curriculums at universities and schools alike. Starting with her first, provocatively titled book “Standing Female Nude” (published in the middle of the 80s), Carol Ann Duffy had managed to garner a broad spectrum of readers, but also the undisputable support from literary critics, who recognized her as “an outstanding, new voice of poetry”. Since her debut book, nearly all new poetry publications by Duffy have been awarded with the most prestigious national and international recognitions (including the prestigious T. S. Eliot poetry prize, awarded for her collection Rapture (2005), making her the first female author in history to have received this prize), followed by the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, the PEN/Pinter Prize, etc.), which is an ample testimony to the unequivocal reputation of her poetry among the demanding, critical public. For the first time in the 400-year-old tradition of this recognition, in 2009, Duffy was the first female poet to hold the post of Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. She is the author of nearly 50 books, the latest being: Sincerity (2019), Frost Fair (2019). Besides being the recipient of numerous important international literary awards, Carol Ann Duffy has been awarded high honors, one of the highest is being named as “Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire” in 2015.