Carol Ann Duffy is widely acclaimed as Britain's leading female poet. She was born in Glasgow in 1965, and studied philosophy at Liverpool University. Hailed as a crusading spirit, Duffy is poetry editor of AMBIT, reviews new verse for The Guardian newspaper, and presents it on BBC Radio 4. Her poetry collections include Standing Female Nude (1985), winner of a Scottish Arts Council Award; Selling Manhattan (1987), which won a Somerset Maugham Award; The Other Country (1990); Mean Time (1993), which won the Whitbread Poetry Award and the Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year); and The World's Wife (1999). Feminine Gospels (2002) is a celebration of the female condition. The Good Child's Guide to Rock N Roll (2003) is her latest collection for children. In Out of Fashion (2004) she creates a vital dialogue between classic and contemporary poets over the two arts of poetry and fashion. She is also an accomplished playwright and has received many awards.