Yay for Carol Ann Duffy, who has just been announced as the first female poet laureate, despite being passed over for the role ten years ago. She will take over from Andrew Motion and end an exclusively male run at the title.

Even better in my view, is the fact that her inception in the role says something about the general climate today when it comes to questions of sexual preference. It’s been reported that the fact that the poet is gay had much to do with the reasons for her failure to beat Andrew M to the role the last time.

Should it matter that she’s not only a women, but also gay? Or course not. But it still feels like a pretty big deal that she (and by extension the things that make her her) is now officially sanctioned in a laureateship that’s lasted almost four hundred years. Good luck to her, and I hope Andrew M recovers from the writer’s block he blamed firmly on the role.

On a side note – I wish all readers were as dedicated that this cool customer. 🙂