Duffy named next poet laureate
Updated on 01 May 2009
Carol Ann Duffy is the next poet laureate, the first woman to hold the position since it began almost 341 years ago.
Duffy says she is "thrilled" to be taking on the job, just days after her predecessor, Andrew Motion, said he was "relieved" to be leaving it behind. Motion has held the post since 1999.
Samira Ahmed talks to Luke Wright, a performance poet, who has worked with Carol Ann Duffy and has a show named "Luke Wright, Poet Laureate".
Who is Carol Ann Duffy?
Carol Ann Duffy, 53, who was born in Glasgow, is one of the most widely-read living British poets, thanks in part to her place on A-level and GCSE syllabuses. Her work is widely recognised as appealing to both critics and the public alike.
As well as numerous collections of verse, Duffy has written a number of plays, and is now creative director at Manchester Metropolitan University's writing school.
Her 2005 book Rapture, a collection of short, passionate poems chronicling a love affair from start to end, won Duffy the T.S. Eliot and Forward prizes for verse.
She has been the favourite throughout the six-month selection process, which has included input from the public for the first time.
The laureate is officially appointed by the Queen on the advice of the government and, until Tony Blair established a 10-year tenure in 1999, was a job for life.
Part of the laureate's remit is to write poems to commemorate major state occasions and events involving the royal family - a task which Motion said he found extremely difficult.
