First Female Poet Laureate

You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette.

For 341 years, the Poets Laureate of Britain have all been men.

That changed recently.

Britain’s new Poet Laureate is Carol Ann Duffy.

Her work’s been described as dealing with the darkest turmoil and the lightest minutiae of everyday life.

Her poems include such diverse characters as lovers, depressed dolphins, and psychopaths.

Now that might sound like an odd choice for somebody whose work traditionally involves writing flattering poems for the royals.

In the past, they’ve penned verses commemorating major royal events like coronations and weddings,

And mundane ones like the illness of a prince or his return from a trip abroad.

Now, as you might expect, Carol Ann Duffy has said she’s going to use the position of poet laureate as a kind of bully pulpit to promote poetry in general.

And she’s won top awards for her poetry.

And she also writes poems for children.

Here’s one, Grant.

It’s called GLAAD.

You ready?

Mm—

GLAAD we don’t have to bark.

GLAAD we don’t have to cock one leg and wee on a lamppost.

GLAAD we don’t have to cluck or lay an egg.

Glad we don’t have to moo, neigh, baa, eat grass or hay, be milked, fleeced, ridden.

Glad we don’t have to hoot, hang from the thread of a web, sting, slither.

Glad we don’t have to mew, eat mice, peck, breathe through gills, dwell in shells or form a chrysalis, hiss, hum, hover.

Glad we don’t have to kip upside down in the dark, bark.

Grant, to be honest, I’m not really sure what to make of that.

Does it all sound like that?

You know, a lot of her poetry is kind of dark and kind of jagged.

It’s also kind of sensuous.

So if you hear the word kiss or love or lips, somewhere in the next few lines, you’ll probably hear a word like knife.

I mean, it’s really unusual.

And in this poem, Glad, I don’t know if she’s truly glad that she doesn’t have to do all those things.

Or if she’s wistful, or maybe a little bit of both.

Her work is arresting.

It’s a little jarring.

I’m still trying to figure it out.

Well, I’ll have to read more about her.

She’s got a poem here I’m seeing called Valentine,

Which is not the kind of thing I would ever give that to my mother.

Well, you’re not supposed to.

You’re supposed to give it to your Valentine.

I mean, maybe we should read that one later in the show.

It’s very sensuous on the one hand, but it’s jarring, don’t you think?

At the very least, we’ll leave it on the website.

I give you an onion.

It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.

That’s a nice line, though.

No, that’s nice.

I like that.

I like that for sure.

Well, we’d love to hear about your favorite poetry or poets, be they British or American

Or what have you.

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