Carol Ann Duffy inspires Queen Anne’s students in National Poetry Day celebrations

Queen Anne’s School in Caversham celebrated National Poetry Day 2021 in style with an inspirational guest speaker - former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. The first female and openly LGBT person to have held the prestigious post of Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy is a prize-wining and critically acclaimed poet, recognised for tackling challenging topics including climate change, species extinction, the banking crisis, and the war in Afghanistan.

Students were treated to several readings including ‘War Photographer’, ‘Valentine’ and ‘Anne Hathaway’. Duffy shared fascinating insights and context for each poem and explored her process saying “I think of a poem as a bit like a Tardis. The words allow you to move through time and space.”

The audience was honored with the first ever public reading of ‘Nest’. This unpublished work was written by Duffy during the Covid pandemic and captures the broken world of lockdown. It echoes Duffy’s earlier poem on motherhood entitled ‘Empty Nest’ as she reflects on her adult daughter returning home for five months during the pandemic.

Head of Teaching and Learning at Queen Anne’s, Anna Spellman, is passionate about the intrinsic link between the arts and human fulfilment, having recently had a paper on the topic published in the Eton Journal. Mrs Spellman comments;

“It was a great privilege for our students and staff to hear Carol Ann Duffy speak today. Carol Ann is an important and influential poet and her work is taught to all year groups at Queen Anne’s School. Our A-Level English Literature students were particularly excited to meet Carol Ann as they are studying her collection Feminine Gospels. We hope that students went away from the event with the message that the study of poetry is not just for an exam; poetry is a powerful artform to be shared and celebrated for its own sake."

Following the whole school assembly, Sixth Form students were offered further in-depth discussion in an unforgettable insight into the collection of poetry they have been studying: ‘Feminine Gospels’. Carol Ann discussed the structure of the collection and provided clarity on her intentions and ideas. Students from Queen Anne’s and The Abbey School asked probing questions about her work and English teachers from both schools took the opportunity to enquire about themes and the writing process. Queen Anne’s English teacher Mr Jackson, whose book ‘Write About Poetry’ is due to be published by Routledge later this year, particularly enjoyed debating ideas about intertextuality and poetic craft.