Scottish poet Carol Ann Duffy was BOTD in 1945. Born in Glasgow and raised in England, she began publishing her poetry at 14, and studied philosophy at Liverpool University. She worked as a poetry critic for The Guardian and edited poetry magazine Ambit, publishing her debut poetry collection, Standing Female Nude in 1985. In 1996, she began lecturing in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, later becoming director of its creative writing school. She rose to wider public attention with 2005 poetry collection Rapture, chronicling a (discreetly lesbian) love affair, which won the T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize, followed by her 2011 collection The Bees, which won the Whitbread Award. She has also written plays and children’s books and in 2011 launched the Anthologise poetry competition for schools. In 1999, a tabloid newspaper claimed that Duffy had been turned down for the role of Poet Laureate, after British Prime Minister Tony Blair feared her homosexuality would not be accepted by “middle England”. Finally appointed Poet Laureate in 2009, she became the first woman, Scot and openly LGBTQ person to hold the role. Her work as Laureate was highly popular, covering the MP expenses scandal, the banking crisis, the war in Afghanistan and football star David Beckham’s Achilles tendon injury. Praised for her use of simple language, subtle wit and her ability to find profundity in the quotidian, she is one of Britain’s most quoted and frequently studied poets. Duffy had a long-term relationship with poet Adrian Henri, and later with poet Jackie Kay with whom she had a daughter. Duffy lives in Manchester and continues to teach at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her current relationship status is unknown.