[New-Poetry] Carol Ann Duffy gets the laurels

[Bob Grumman]

jforjames at aol.com wrote:
> What do people think about this snip from the NYT article:
>
> Ms. Duffy, 53, is known for writing accessible, often witty poems on a 
> wide range of topics, many of them to do with the minutiae of everyday 
> life. She succeeds Andrew Motion, who has just completed his 10-year 
> term.
>
> The culture secretary, Andy Burnham, called Ms. Duffy “a towering 
> figure in English literature today and a superb poet.”
> -
> I know it's typical bureaucratic hyperbole, but do you think it's 
> possible to be a 'towering figure' in any nation's literature by 
> writing "witty poems...many to do with the minutiae of everyday life"?
> Finnegan
Needless to say, I laughed out loud at that.  I think Wordsworth was a 
towering figure in English literature but no laureate since.  I know 
nothing about Duffy--which, sorry, suggests to me she isn't doing 
anything toweringly interesting.  Because, if she were, my friends in 
poetry would be telling me about it.  And, of course, because--if she 
were--she would certainly not have been up for the post she's been given. 

Back to being--Bob