Carol Ann Duffy reads at WOW Festival’s Laureates Night

To celebrate this milestone, 2014’s Women of the World festival brought all five women together for a special event, and their first joint reading, here at the Southbank Centre.

Longest in situ of the five was Gillian Clarke; born in Cardiff she had been appointed as Bardd Cenedlaethol Cymru (National Poet of Wales) in 2008. Succeeding Andrew Motion, Carol Ann Duffy had become the UK’s Poet Laureate in 2009, whilst Liz Lochhead had been the Makar, or National Poet of Scotland since 2011. Then in 2013 Paula Meehan had been installed as Ireland’s Professor of Poetry, and whilst Northern Ireland didn’t have a national title, Sinéad Morrissey became Belfast Poet Laureate in the same year.

These women came together in a packed Queen Elizabeth Hall where the audience were duly delighted by two hours of poetry from some of the most important women poets of a generation. Rather than hit you with the full two hours here and now, let us instead ease you in with Carol Ann Duffy’s appearance at the event, which saw her read poems including ‘Head of English’,’The Counties’, ‘Virgil’s Bees’ and ‘Liverpool’.

Watch the video of the full Laureate Night event