Two works by the new Poet Laureate | The Poetry Page

Carol Ann Duffy confirmed today that she had agreed to become the first female Poet Laureate, but made clear that she will follow her muse when deciding whether the next royal wedding deserved to be remembered in verse.

The appointment had been Britain's worst-kept secret and was due to be formally announced shortly before midday by Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary.

But the minister was pre-empted by Duffy herself, who confirmed that she had accepted the job during an interview on BBC Radio 4. "I’m really thrilled to have it properly announced on Woman’s Hour and here in Manchester," she said.

The Glasgow-born poet, 53, was considered a front-runner for the post in 1999 but lost out to Andrew Motion amid speculation that Tony Blair had decided that Middle England was not yet ready for a lesbian laureate - although Mr Blair's office denies that was the case.

She appeared relieved at having to wait 10 years however, saying that she would not have relished having to write about the wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones, who married later that year. “I will not write a poem for Edward and Sophie,” she said at the time. “No self-respecting poet should have to.”

Today, she went a step further and revealed that she would be prepared to "ignore" national events such as royal weddings if they did not inspire her. "Poetry makes its own occasion," she said.

Gordon Brown said in a statement: "I'd like to congratulate Carol Ann Duffy on her appointment as the first Poet Laureate of the 21st century and, of course, as the first woman to hold the post.

"Poetry as an art form has inspired, excited and comforted people of all ages and backgrounds for so many centuries and Carol Ann follows in a tradition set by some of the most distinguished writers in the English language.”

Duffy said that she wished her annual honorarium of £5,750 to be paid to the Poetry Society to fund a poetry prize for the best collection of poetry published each year for her ten-year tenure.

"I'm very honoured and humbled to become Poet Laureate, not only when I think of some of the great poets who have occupied the post since the 17th Century, but when I think of some of the wonderful poets writing now,” she said. “The continuance of the Laureateship is important because it properly draws attention to the central role that poetry can play in the lives of ordinary people.

“Poetry is all around us, all of the time, whether in song or in speech or on the page, and we turn to it when events, personal or public, matter most. In accepting this Laureateship, I hope to contribute to people's understanding of what poetry can do, and where it can be found."

Duffy is the latest in a long lines of laureates which began with John Dryden and has included such great names as William Wordsworth, Alfred Lord Tennyson and John Betjeman.

Other names being circulated for the job had included Simon Armitage, Roger McGough and Benjamin Zephaniah.

Duffy won the T.S Eliot Poetry Prize in 2005 for her collection Rapture, the Whitbread Poetry Award for Mean Time in 1993, and the Forward Poetry Prize in 1993. Her poems are included in the National Curriculum. She lives in Manchester, where she is creative director of the Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Motion has warned that the post was “very, very damaging” to his ability to produce personal work and forced him to write verse that he later regretted, not least his rap for Prince William’s 21st birthday: “Better stand back/here’s an age attack/but the second in line/is dealing with it fine.”

Apart from writer's block, the job also comes with a “butt of sack” - traditionally a type of wine, which nowadays translates into around 600 bottles of sherry.

Duffy said today: “Andrew (Motion) hasn’t had his yet so I’ve asked for mine up front.”

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