I n 2009 Carol Ann Duffy became the first woman ever to hold the office of Poet Laureate for the United Kingdom since the establishment of that role in 1670. With a prolific output of over 60 publications of poetry, fiction, drama and edited anthologies to her name, at least 17 literary awards and prizes, an OBE (1995), CBE (2002) and DBE (2015), there is a lot to look back on.
Carol Ann Duffy was born in the Gorbals on 23 December 1955, at the time one of the most deprived urban areas of Glasgow. Her father was Scottish of Irish descent and her mother was Irish. The couple went on to have four sons. When she was six the family moved south to Stafford, where she attended Roman Catholic junior schools before joining Stafford Girls High for her senior years. Already keen to learn about contemporary poetry (not then on the school syllabus), she educated herself by reading the Penguin Modern Poets series, encountering European poets such as Neruda, Prévert and Aimé Césaire.
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