Selling Manhattan

Carol Ann Duffy

1988 Winner

Somerset Maugham Award

20 October 2016
9781509824984
80 pages

Synopsis

One of those rare books that is immediately enjoyable yet will repay many re-readings' Poetry Review

Carol Ann Duffy's highly praised second collection, for which she was given the Somerset Maughan Award, showcases the Poet Laureate's skill even at the very start of her career. Within are poems that reveal the full range of her interests: from the dramatic monologues, to meditations on death and art, to poems of protest and poems of love. Throughout it all, though, is a resounding determination to give voices to those who are usually voiceless, and always apparent is her inimitable wit, wisdom and imagination.

At once tender and sharp, moving and humourous, Selling Manhattan has dazzled both readers and critics ever since it was first published in 1987.

Carol Ann Duffy is the most humane and accessible poet of our time
Duffy is magnificent, grounded, heartfelt, dedicated to the notion that poetry can give us the music of life itself
Accessible and entertaining, yet her form is classical, her technique razor-sharp. She is read by people who don't really read poetry, yet she maintains the respect of her peers. Reviewers praise her touching, sensitive, witty evocations of love, loss, dislocation, nostalgia; fans talk of greeting her at readings 'with claps and cheers that would not sound out of place at a rock concert.