“The World’s Wife” by Carol Ann Duffy is a collection of poems published in 1999 that reimagines the lives of women from history, mythology, and literature. Duffy gives voice to the wives and female counterparts of famous men, often overlooked or silenced in traditional narratives. This unique collection of poems from the Poet Laureate, filled with her characteristic wit, is a feminist classic and a modern take on age-old mythology and theological stories.
Each poem in the collection presents a unique perspective, often turning well-known stories on their heads to explore themes of power, identity, and the often-unheard experiences of women. For example, poems like “Mrs. Midas” and “Mrs. Lazarus" provide a fresh take on familiar tales by focusing on the women's viewpoints.
Summarised from Wikipedia
Carol Ann Duffy is a poet and playwright. She was born to a Roman Catholic family in the Gorbals , considered a poor part of Glasgow, scottland in 1955. She lived in Glasgow, until age six, when she and her family moved to Stafford, England. Duffy grew up attending convent schools and began publishing her poetry in magazines at age 14. She later attended Liverpool University. After graduating with a degree in philosophy in 1977, Duffy set to work publishing several books and traveling to read and teach her poetry. She also worked as a poetry critic for The Guardian from 1988 to 1989 and as an editor for the poetry magazine Ambit. In 1996 she began lecturing in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she later became creative director of the Writing School. Later she was appointed Britain's Poet Laureate in May 2009. She is the first woman, and the first Scottish-born poet and the first known LGBT poet to hold the position. Her poems address issues such as oppression, gender, and violence in an accessible language that has made them popular in schools.
Summarised from Britannica