LONDON, (Reuters) – Carol Ann Duffy was named Britain’s Poet Laureate yesterday, the first woman to hold the royal post in its 341-year history.
The 53-year-old, born in Glasgow, Scotland, said she had thought “long and hard” about accepting the position, seen by some as a poisoned chalice due to the public scrutiny that comes with it.
“I look on it as a recognition of the great women poets we have writing now,” Duffy told BBC Radio. “I’ve decided to accept it for that reason.”
Poets Laureate are expected to compose poems to mark major state occasions and other national events.
The post has been held by John Dryden, William Wordsworth and Ted Hughes. It used to be for life but Duffy, like her predecessor Andrew Motion, will hold it for 10 years.