With a rare flutter of his sadly drooping feathers and a few quiet chirps of relief the ex-Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, ten years in the gilded cage has finally flown. Carol Ann Duffy, selected by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will now hop onto the empty still swinging swing and take upon herself the role of Queen's Canary.
Poet-in-Residence has already posted his Dylanesque views on the whole Queen's Canary business and these, in a series of posts, can be found by entering 'queens canary' in the search box. Others may now write their fill. And they will.
It amazes me that anyone wants the job. I'd have thought it was the kiss of death, a bit like being Master of the Queen's Music. And after she'd written that brilliant sonnet about violence in the GCSE syllabus.
ReplyDeleteSurely an occasion for the People's anti-Laureate to break into verse... :)
I'll give her 100 days.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile I've been 'comissioned' to write some poems for a museum ... about masks!
It is indeed great that a woman poet has been appointed Poet Laureate of Britain for the first time. She must be given some time to prove herself.
ReplyDeleteR K
Thanks for the information! I have been in America for the last fortnight and didn't know the whole fiasco of changing Poets Laureate had taken place. Anyone who can write such poems as Mrs Icarus is surely far too good for the post - and what exactly is the post anyway? I am inclined to agree with Dominic - the People's Anti-Laureate should write at least a haiku on the subject - maybe even a sonnet.
ReplyDeletePoems about masks for a museum? Now there's a task.