Carol Ann Duffy was born in Glasgow and moved to Staffordshire as a child. On graduating from Liverpool University she has worked in London and Manchester as a freelance writer. Her first collection of poetry Standing Female Nude was published in 1985.
Her poetry frequently uses the voice of outsiders - the dispossessed, the insane, and those, especially women, ignored by history. Her range, craft, many awards, and gift as a public performer have made her one of Britain's most popular, respected and influential poets.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Sixth edition, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 305.
Love
Love is talent, the world's lost metaphor.
Aflame, October's leaves adore the wind,
its urgent breath, whirl to their own death.
Not here, you're everywhere.
Duffy, Carol Ann. Rapture. Picador, 2005, p. 27.