Carol Ann Duffy

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Life and Times

Born in 1955.
She was born in Glasgow and grew up in England.
Significant events during her lifetime included:
- Influx of Asian immigrants into England,
- The “Swinging Sixties” and the rise of drug culture.
Duffy was the first openly LGBTQ+ poet laureate.

Dramatic monologue
- A type of lyric poem that was perfected by Robert Browning
- A single person, who is patently not the poet, addresses and interacts with one or more people.
- The poet’s formulation of what the lyric speaker says, reveals the speaker’s temperament and character.
Free Verse
- Like traditional verse, it is written in short lines rather than the continuity of prose.
- However, it need not have rhythm, fixed line length or rhyme.
- She is acclaimed for her characterisations which emphasise sympathy and empathy.
She often gives voices to those who are marginalised and shunned by society. She gives insight into disturbed minds and into the society that has let them down without condoning their wrongdoings in any way.
She frequently writes about love, but never with sentimentality, exploring its complex nature, its pain and its bliss.
It is noted that she moves beyond “a straightforwardly feminist poetry”, and shows the “difficulties that patriarchy presents to both men and women”.

Rohan Subramaniam