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Poet, playwright and freelance writer Carol Ann Duffy was born on 23 December 1955 in Glasgow and read philosophy at Liverpool University. She is a former editor of the poetry magazine Ambit and is a regular reviewer and broadcaster. She moved from London to Manchester in 1996 and began to lecture in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her papers were acquired by the Robert W. Woodruff Library of Emory University in 1999, and in October 2000 she was awarded a grant of £75,000 over a five-year period by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.
Carol Ann Duffy is also an acclaimed playwright, and has had plays performed at the Liverpool Playhouse and the Almeida Theatre in London. Her plays include Take My Husband (1982), Cavern of Dreams (1984), Little Women, Big Boys (1986) and Loss (1986), a radio play. She received an Eric Gregory Award in 1984 and a Cholmondeley Award in 1992 from the Society of Authors, the Dylan Thomas Award from the Poetry Society in 1989 and a Lannan Literary Award from the Lannan Foundation (USA) in 1995. She was awarded an OBE in 1995, a CBE in 2001 and became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999. She was appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdon in 2009. She has written for both children and adults, and her poetry has received many awards, including the Signal Prize for Children's Verse, the Whitbread, Forward and T. S. Eliot Prizes, and the Lannan and E. M. Forster Prize in America. Her collections include Ritual Lightning, Love Poems and The Bees, which won the Costa Poetry Award. She was made a DBE in the 2015 New Year Honours list. Carol Ann Duffy lives in Manchester, where she is Professor and Creative Director of the Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University.
A stunning collection of poems for children by the Poet Laureate. Carol Ann Duffy’s collection opens with ‘The Words of Poems’, which is a perfect introduction to the feast of delights found within this anthology. Duffy’s poems encompass everything from ‘The Good Child’s Guide to Rock’n’ Roll’, which is at least as much fun for adults as children, and the more obviously child directed, ‘The Sock’. This really is an anthology to treasure. ~ Julia Eccleshare
Queen Munch has cheeks as red as tomato ketchup, eyes the colour of chutney and a laugh as loud and deep as the moo of a cow on its way to be milked; Queen Nibble on the contrary, is as tall and slender and pale as a stick of celery. They’re about as different as you can be but become special friends in this joyful story after an afternoon of food-related games, and fun making jewellery out of rain. Children will love the playful nature of the story, and its larger/smaller-than-life central characters. Carol Ann Duffy’s text is full of wonderfully precise and evocative phrases and images, and Lydia Monks’s illustrations sparkle as brightly as the jewels that are like boiled sweets in Queen Munch’s crown! ~ Andrea Reece
Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, brings her gifts as a poet to this enchanting collection of all kinds of fairy stories. Familiar favourites such as The Emperor’s New Clothes and Rumpelstiltskin are vigorously and freshly told while also conveying a strong sense of the past. Carol Ann Dufy’s own stories have all the traditional qualities of fairy stories which makes them magical too. The edition is finely illustrated by Tomislav Tomic.
A beautiful poetry collection encompassing both classic and modern verse chosen by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.
Shortlisted for the 2012 Kate Greenaway Medal. The Judges said: The beautiful illustrations are not just decorative, they interpret the text for us and strengthen the story's impact. The frames and shadows perfectly reflect the fairy tale feel and the different emblems and details emphasise the message. A perfect depiction of the circle of life. --------- The exceptional talents of Carol Ann Duffy and papercut artist Rob Ryan combine to present the story of a girl's journey through life and the desires that shape it. With a kind of magic that is timeless, The Gift speaks to everyone who wonders about the mysteries that lie at the heart of the human experience. A unique gift book for all ages by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy This lyrical text about life, love and art is accompanied by stunning papercut illustrations. The Gift portrays the cycle of life in a subtle, accessible way while exploring themes of birth, death, love and the importance of family and friends.
Age 7+. A stunning collection of poems for children by the Poet Laureate. Carol Ann Duffy’s collection opens with ‘The Words of Poems’, which is a perfect introduction to the feast of delights found within this anthology. Duffy’s poems encompass everything from ‘The Good Child’s Guide to Rock’n’ Roll’, which is at least as much fun for adults as children, and the more obviously child directed, ‘The Sock’. This really is an anthology to treasure. ~ Julia Eccleshare
A Picture Book for kids that love Animals. Carol Ann Duffy's lyrical, humorous verse illuminates an entrancing world that is both familiar and strange. This is a very special book.
A stunning collection of poems for children by the Poet Laureate. Carol Ann Duffy’s collection opens with ‘The Words of Poems’, which is a perfect introduction to the feast of delights found within this anthology. Duffy’s poems encompass everything from ‘The Good Child’s Guide to Rock’n’ Roll’, which is at least as much fun for adults as children, and the more obviously child directed, ‘The Sock’. This really is an anthology to treasure.
This is a warm, poignant and beautifully illustrated story set in a magical world where the tears of children arising from every emotion are of a different colour. An underlying thought-provoking message about emotions lies at its heart. The multi-coloured tears are collected by the tear thief for something truly wondrous. Read it to find out.
Shortlisted for the prestigious 2008 Greenway. A wonderfully lyrical story about the search for the happy endings that are needed to make the perfect story. Beautiful illustrations bring the story to life.
Shortlisted for the prestigious 2008 Greenway. A wonderfully lyrical story about the search for the happy endings that are needed to make the perfect story. Beautiful illustrations bring the story to life.
Age 9+. From one of the country’s most eminent and award winning poets comes this utterly delightful collection. Charming and witty these poems will take you off to magical worlds seeing extraordinary people, animals and beasts and all of them linked to the story of a hat blown through history from one head to another. Clever and a real treat.
This is a warm, poignant and beautifully illustrated story set in a magical world where the tears of children arising from every emotion are of a different colour.An underlying thought -provoking message about emotions lies at its heart. The multi-coloured tears are collected by the tear thief for something truly wondrous. Read it to find out.
Shortlisted for the prestigious 2008 Greenway. A wonderfully lyrical story about the search for the happy endings that are needed to make the perfect story. Beautiful illustrations bring the story to life.
Shortlisted for the prestigious 2008 Greenway. A wonderfully lyrical story about the search for the happy endings that are needed to make the perfect story. Beautiful illustrations bring the story to life.
Carol Ann Duffy’s version of this classic Christmas poem sets aside the sentimentality of Clement Moore’s original, The Night Before Christmas, offering something equally timeless and memorable but crackling with robust wit. There are lots of contemporary references: a satellite dish can observe our every move and know of famine and greed – but not see Father Christmas while cashpoints glow softly ‘like icons of light’. But, in the end, the magic of Christmas is the same. It’s not the presents or the tree; it’s the magic of truly believing.
'Duffy is magnificent, grounded, heartfelt, dedicated to the notion that poetry can give us the music of life itself' Scotsman In this stunning anthology Carol Ann Duffy has selected 99 poems exploring parenting. The special bond between parent and child is both powerful and unique. And yet there is a time when that bond must ease, where our grip on that dear one must loosen, when we must let them go whether we are ready to or not. In Empty Nest, a beautiful selection of modern and classic poems range along the tender line between parent and child, covering growing old, the deep love of a parent, the everyday of family life and leaving home to live an independent life, but also unthinkable grief, loss and estrangement. Some of our very favourite poets feature in the selection, such as Elizabeth Bishop, Jackie Kay, Simon Armitage, Shakespeare, Imtiaz Dharker, Seamus Heaney and Don Paterson. These poems are by turns wry, affecting, profound, melancholy and wise; they will console and comfort those suddenly facing a house that's much cleaner but also much quieter than it was. There is something here for every reader to treasure.
Britannia calls a meeting, to listen to her people. Caledonia, Cymru, East Midlands, North East, Northern Ireland and the South West bring the voices of their regions. The debate is passionate and opinions divided. Can there ever be a United Kingdom? In the days following the Brexit vote, a team from the National Theatre of Great Britain spoke to people nationwide, aged 9 to 97, to hear their views on the country we call home. In a series of deeply personal interviews, they heard opinions that were honest, emotional, funny, and sometimes extreme. These real testimonials are interwoven with speeches from party leaders of the time in this play by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and director Rufus Norris. My Country opened at the National Theatre, London, in March 2017 before playing at venues around the UK.
In a gorgeous pocket-sized hardback, Another Night Before Christmas is Carol Ann Duffy's magical contemporary reworking of the famous poem by Clement C. Moore. Beautifully presented, this wonderful festive poem, illustrated with Rob Ryan's paper cut artwork, is the perfect Christmas gift. On the night before Christmas, A child in a house, As the whole family slept, Behaved just like a mouse . . . It's the night before Christmas and a young girl creeps down the stairs, determined to find out for certain whether Santa is real . . . But try as she might, she can't keep awake and is soon fast asleep. She doesn't stir, even when Santa and his reindeer land on her roof-top - but then, when he bursts out of her fireplace, she wakes to a room filled with magic. As she watches him fly off into the night, she knows that she will never forget this sight because, at Christmas, the best gift of all is belief.
It is a snowy London day in The Great Winter of 1683. We follow our bold narrator as she explores 'the town on the Thames', a thousand tents and dancing fires lit on the frozen water with jubilant residents and lively festive revelry. All is a fete upon the ice as she sees jugglers, dancing bears, palm readers and even a merry wedding. Her journey leads her to meet many new companions with whom to spend a starry night upon the river, where they sleep with no inkling of who will be looking down on them in the morning light . . . Carol Ann Duffy's Christmas poem, Frost Fair is inspired by the fairs held on the River Thames in London as it froze over in the uncommonly cold winters of the Little Ice Age. This delightful, moving poem captures the inventiveness of a great city and the drama of winter. Beautifully illustrated by David De Las Heras, Frost Fair is an irresistible read for our festive season.
Her final collection as Poet Laureate, a frank, disarming and deeply moving exploration of loss and remembrance in their many forms. Presented in a beautiful, foiled package, this will be the poetry book of the year.
The Armistice of 1918 brought ceasefire to the war on the Western Front, but 'the Great War' would not as hoped be 'the war to end all wars'. In this affecting selection, the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, guides us deep into the act and root of 'armistice': its stoppage or 'stand' of arms, its search for truce and ceasefire. In 100 poems, our most cherished poets of the Great War speak alongside those from other conflicts and cultures, so that we hear some of the lesser-heard voices of war, including wives, families, those left behind. These poems of war and peace memorialise the horror and the tragedy of conflict. At the same time, in armistice, they become a record of renewal and a testimony to hope.
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