Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy was named Britain's poet laureate in 2009, becoming the first woman ever to hold that post. The multitalented Duffy had already been widely honored in Britain: she is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded an OBE in 1995 and the CBE in 2001. Duffy is known for poems that are read by academics and common folk alike; The Guardian in 2005 called her "the most popular living poet in Britain." She first made her name with the 1985 collection Standing Female Nude, which won the Scottish Arts Council Award. She followed it with collections including Selling Manhattan (1987), Mean Time (1993, winner of the Whitbread Poetry Award), and Rapture (2005), which won the 2005 T. S. Eliot Prize. Her popular collection The World's Wife (1999) looked at famous historical events through the eyes of female participants, such as the wife of Charles Darwin. Duffy moved to Manchester in 1996 and began lecturing at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she later became creative director of the writing school. She is a playwright as well as poet, with plays including Take My Husband (1982), Little Women, Big Boys (1986) and Casanova (2007). Duffy has also written books for children including Underwater Farmyard (2002), Doris the Giant (2004) and Another Night Before Christmas (2005).

Extra credit: Duffy succeeded Andrew Motion as poet laureate; he held the post from 1999-2009.... Along with an annual stipend of 5,750 pounds, the poet laureate receives by tradition a "butt of sack" -- a barrel of sherry equal to about 600 bottles... Duffy has a daughter, Ella, from her former relationship with another female Scottish poet, Jackie Kay. Ella was born in 1995, and the BBC reports that the father is another writer, Peter Benson... OBE and CBE stand for Office and Commander of the British Empire, respectively.