Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy Among Galaxy National Book Award Nominees

Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, a Scottish poet and playwright, is among the nominees short-listed for the Galaxy National Book Awards 2011, reports BBC.

Duffy, an out lesbian, is nominated for UK author of the year for her collection of poetry The Bees.  Other nominees in the category are Julian Barnes, Carol Birch, Andrea Levy, Anthony Horowitz and Alan Hollinghurst. The awards celebrate mostly British authors, except in the categories of international author of the year and the paperback of the year.

Duffy was appointed Britain’s Poet Laureate in May 2009, and was the first Scot, first woman and the first openly gay person to fill the position. In 1999, Duffy narrowly lost out on filling Ted Hughes’ position as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, but has noted that she would not have accepted at that time because of the public attention that would have focused on her raising a young child in a lesbian relationship with poet Jackie Kay. Her daughter is now a teenager, and her relationship with Kay has since ended.

The winners of the Galaxy National Book Awards will be announced on November 4, 2011 at a ceremony in London. The awards, hosted by Dara O Briain, will be accompanied by six weekly TV programmes on More4.

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