SubscribeOr, at least, it certainly looks that way. I am dreadfully excited. Not only does this mark a momentous moment in women’s writing – the first female Poet Laureate – but Carol Ann Duffy is probably my favourite contemporary poet. And she’s Glaswegian. I am really quite thrilled, and I hope that she enjoys her role more than Mr. Motion did.
From The Guardian:
William Hill, which had made the multiple award-winning Duffy its 5/4 joint favourite with Simon Armitage to take the role, said yesterday that it had closed its books on the laureateship race.
“Carol Ann has been the heaviest backed contender for the job, and would already cost us a five-figure payout, so we’ve decided to close the book as the decision appears to have been taken,” said spokesman Graham Sharpe. William Hill had also been offering odds on Roger McGough (5/1), James Fenton (10/1), Jackie Kay (10/1), Jo Shapcott (12/1), Wendy Cope (14/1) – not particularly generous odds given that she ruled herself out of the running earlier this year – and Benjamin Zephaniah (20/1).
From The Bookseller:
Carol Ann Duffy has been put forward for the Queen’s approval to assume the role of Poet Laureate, from Andrew Motion, reports the Independent. “If all goes as planned, the Glasgow-born poet will become not only the first woman to hold the post but the first openly gay one.”
From The Independent:
It is understood she has been chosen after a new selection process, introduced by Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, in which the public was invited to offer their views on the search for the successor to a position whose previous incumbents included Lord Tennyson, Sir John Betjeman and Ted Hughes.
I really can’t recommend her writing to you highly enough, particularly her collections The World’s Wife and Feminine Gospels.
I’m so excited about this. 
Thanks Kirsty. It is so much easier to buy the books from my favourite supplier (BD) when that’s the link that appears in the blog post (as opposed to A****n).
“Service of all the Dead” just flashed past in LibraryThing as I was writing this comment — we have just re-watched the Morse episode, so I think I’ll get the book.