Tuesday, May 5, 2009

No Longer Out of Fashion: UK Names First Female (and first openly gay) Poet Laureate


Can you believe it? I couldn't name any, but I was sure there had to have been at least one until I read this recent article (by Jill Lawless) about Carol Ann Duffy's appointment to the post.

http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_12277471


3 comments:

John B. Burroughs said...

Actually the version of this story in my local newspaper (the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram) is longer than the online version I've linked you to above. After posting, I discovered what might be an even better article about Duffy's appointment: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/01/carol-ann-duffy-poet-laureate.

Shelley Chernin said...

Poor laureates! Look what the last one was driven to. No wonder he resigned.

Andrew Motion's 'Recession' poem:

Poor Alistair Darling's new budget
Invites us to listen and judge it
As though we'd agree
It was better to be
Au fait with hard truth and not fudge it.
But some difficult questions remain
When our pensions are all down the drain
Dole figures sky high
Debt figures awry
And high tax on what extras we gain.
Whose fault can we honestly say
Must it be for things being this way?
Banker pigs in the trough?
MPs? Sure enough.
And ourselves – what role did we play?
I'll just finish this short doggerel
With a personal comment as well
The duty of writing
Lines sharp and exciting
On this – it ain't mine, but my heirs as 'PL'.

John B. Burroughs said...

Nooses in the news: New Poet Lariat!

Cited...

The poet doesn't invent. He listens. ~Jean Cocteau