In Feminine Gospels , Carol Ann Duffy—the first woman to hold the UK Poet Laureateship—crafts an alternative biblical canon for women. The collection responds to the absence of female-centred stories within traditional religious and epic frameworks. Through personas ranging from a long-reigning queen to a female Elvis, Duffy challenges the male gaze, the politics of beauty, and the erasure of women’s labour. This paper will explore three thematic pillars: , history rewritten through female memory , and the power of communal laughter .
Feminine Gospels is not chronological. Print the first page of each poem from your PDF and lay them out. You will see a deliberate arc: from birth (The Long Queen) to death (North-West), with detours through shopping, dieting, and history. carol ann duffy feminine gospels pdf
The title itself is a literary play on words. A "Gospel" is traditionally defined as "good news" or a doctrine. By titling the collection Feminine Gospels , Duffy suggests that the stories of women—both ordinary and extraordinary—are a form of scripture or truth that has historically been excluded from the canon. The collection functions as a series of parables for the modern age. In Feminine Gospels , Carol Ann Duffy—the first