Nature

Carol Ann Duffy (born in Glasgow, Scotland) served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2019, the first woman and first Scot to hold the position. Educated at the University of Liverpool, her poetry is celebrated for its feminist perspectives, dramatic monologue, and engagement with contemporary language and popular culture. Her landmark collection The World's Wife (Picador, 1999) recasts canonical stories from female perspectives. Earlier collections include Standing Female Nude (1985) and Mean Time (1993), which won the Whitbread Poetry Award and the Forward Prize. She is a professor and creative director of the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University and was appointed a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2015.