Christmas Carols...

To celebrate Christmas, Carol Ann Duffy has release a new collection. 'The Manchester Carols', modernising and changing the traditional favourites is a collaborative work with Sasha Johnson Manning, performed by the National Chamber Orchestra. Here is a podcast of the Poet Laureate and other potential literary Christmas presents.

Carol Ann Duffy meets David Beckham...

Carol Ann Duffy is well known for choosing perhaps more unusual subjects for her poetry. Yet this time, she has gone even further, straying into the nation's favourite pastime with observations about their favourite hero. Yes, it is David Beckham, scarcely out of the tabloid headlines, who has made it into Duffy's latest poem. As the footballing community weeps over his latest injury, a torn achilles that will keep him out of the World Cup, Duffy explores both the mythological background of the achilles, and its current association. Here is 'Achilles' by Carol Ann Duffy:

Myth's river - where his mother 

dipped him, fished him, a 

slippery golden boy flowed on,

his name on its lips. 

Without him, it was prophesied,
they would not take Troy.

Women hid him, concealed him
in girls' sarongs; days of
sweetmeats, spices, silver
songs...

But when Odysseus came, with
an athlete's build, a sword and a
shield, he followed him to the
battlefield, the crowd's roar,

And it was sport, not war, his
charmed foot on the ball...

But then his heel, his heel, his heel...

Literary Live Aid...

In collaboration with 21 fellow poets, laureate Carol Ann Duffy has launched a literary live aid-style event to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Duffy thought of the idea after following the news coverage of the story, saying; 'it didn't seem enough to do the usual thing and get my credit card out, and I wondered if we could do something bigger than that, and being a poet, a poetry reading was the only thing I could think of.' She added, 'We turn to poetry at intense moments in our lives...it is the perfect art form for public or private grief.' Joining her on Saturday afternoon at Central Hall, will be recent prize winner Christopher Reid, former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, children's poet Roger McGough and Gillian Clarke. Poetry Live for Haiti, aims to raise £20,000.

Don Paterson strikes gold...

Scottish poet Don Paterson has become the latest recipient of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. Created in 1933 by King George V, the Medal is awarded annually by the monarch for a book of verse publihsed in the Commonwealth. Traditionally the award is announced on Shakespeare's supposed birthday, April 23rd; however, this year the poet was named in the 2010 New Year's Honour List. Paterson, who recently won the £10,000 Forward Poetry Prize in October, was awarded the honour for his poetry anthology 'Rain'. Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy chaired the judging panel, and said Paterson's work was 'poetry of bravery and conviction...acutely attuned to the most intimate of human exchanges'. The Medal has previously been won by names such as T.S. Eliot, John Betjeman and W.H. Auden.

Carol's Christmas...

Commissioned for Chrsitmas, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, has composed a political poem about the occasion. Commenting on topical issues such as the Cumbrain floods and expenses scandals, she also singles out high profile celebrity figures for their achievements; Joanna Lumley and Fabio Capello to name a few. There has been a trend for seasonal poetry ever since the installation of the first official Poet Laureate, John Dryden, in 1668; the third, Nahum Tate, wrote the Christmas carol, 'While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night'.

This is the first stanza of Duffy's, '12 Days of Christmas':

On the first day of Christmas,

a buzzard on a branch.

In Afghanistan,

no partridge, pear tree;

but my true love sent to me

a card from home.

I sat alone,

crouched in yellow dust,

and traced the grins of my kids

with my thumb.

Somewhere down the line,

for another father, husband,

brother, son, a bullet

with his name on.

McCarthy rules the naughties...

The Times, has published a list of the '100 Greatest Books of the Decade'. Including works from all genres, Carol Ann Duffy, Simon Armitage and Seamus Heaney are the ambassadors for poetry, with 'Rapture', 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' and 'District and Circle' respectively. Non- fiction works also feature; Obama's autobiography leads the list at number 2, and Dawkins, Bryson and grammatical work 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' occupy a place in the top 100. Naturally the list is dominated by fiction novels, with household names, such as Ian McEwan and J.K. Rowling, as well as Man Booker Prize winners Yann Martel and Aravind Adiga. Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road', was voted as the greatest book of the decade. Running in conjunction, was the '5 Worst Books of the Decade'; a list including 'Being Jordan' by Katie Price. Author Dan Brown has the unusual accolade of being cited on both lists; perhaps testament to the success of his novels in both polarising opinion and raising publicity.

Durham book festival...

The Durham Book Festival was held last week, with the theme of 'Free Range Reading'; appealing to every age and taste. From 'story parties for the under-fives' to a 'Vampire Writing Club', the festival aimed to inspire and educate; galvanising people both to write themeselves and explore the works of others. Guest speakers included authors Kate Mosse and Nick Hornby and the former and current Poet Laureates Andrew Motion and Carol Ann Duffy. It is hoped that this will assist Durham's bid to become Capital of Culture in 2013.