Introduction

Carol Ann Duffy: Feminine Gospels

In this course, Professor John McRae (University of Nottingham) explores Carol Ann Duffy’s 2002 collection, ‘Feminine Gospels’. After an introductory module in which we think about the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy in general and the collection as a whole – and especially the implications of its title – the course continues with a reading and analysis of each of the twenty-one poems in the collection, one by one.

Introduction

In this module, we provide an introduction to Carol Ann Duffy as a poet and her 2002 collection ‘Feminine Gospels’, focusing in particular on: (i) Duffy’s use of language, and Wordsworth’s comments in the preface to the second edition of the Lyrical Ballads (2nd ed. 1800) about ‘fitting to metrical arrangement … the real language of men’; (ii) the extent to which Duffy’s feminine gospels are also feminist gospels; (iii) the idea of gospels as a genre of writing associated with men, and what it means to have feminine gospels; (iv) the position of women in literary fiction; and (v) the importance of Duffy’s position as Poet Laureate, the first woman to hold the position in the history of the institution.