Carol Ann Duffy Biography

British poet, born in Glasgow; she grew up in Staffordshire, and studied philosophy at the University of Liverpool, a city reflected in a number of her poems. Two of her plays, Take My Husband and Cavern of Dreams, were produced at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1982 and 1984 respectively. She became poetry editor for Ambit magazine in 1983 and has worked as a writer-in-residence at various schools and colleges. Standing Female Nude (1985) was her first substantial collection of poetry. Thrown Voices followed in 1986, its title indicative of her ability in dramatic monologue forms; these are a principal feature of the collection Selling Manhattan, which won her considerable acclaim on its appearance in 1987, its numerous poems in the voices of dispossessed personae framing a penetrating critique of contemporary society. In both dramatic monologue modes and more directly personal idioms, Duffy's verse unites sensitive individuality of tone with starkly unsentimental objectivity. The Other Country (1990) and Mean Time (1993) display a broadening of technical and imaginative range; Selected Poems appeared in 1994.