Carol Ann Duffy or Simon Armitage?

I studied these two poets at GCSE but which one is better??
Duffy with her disturbing poems like *Education for leisure* and *Salome* or Armitage with his darling poems like *Mother any distance...* and *Kid*
Let me know what you think!???

Simon Armitage definitely!!
His poem Kid is hilarious. Talking about someone growing up and learning new stuff but portraying the narrator as Pobin from Batman etc.
Its a good read.
Duffy is a little eccentric in her poems!!!! I mean it leaves you hanging in Education for leisure "I touch your arm....."
Argh.... scary!

I wouldn't say one is better than the other, I haven't read all their poems but I do quite like Duffy.

Man, are they *still* studying the same poems at GCSE? You think they'd update it once and a while - I did those ones, and that was three years ago!

Anyway, I always liked Armitage just because his picture in the anthology was so much cooler than anyone else's

You'll be surprised. My sister did it for GCSE and she's now 25.

I'd go Poe. Or ED...

oh wait, those weren't options.

haha.

I'd choose duffy because there is something quite pshychotic about her, lol.
Her poem, before you were mine sounds like she is talking about a lover but actually its her mum.
I read somehwere that she is a lesbian?
Is that true?
Trix x

From what I remember... I'm gonna say Duffy. But it's hard to say - I did it for GCSE (like you), and knew nothing about poetry then.

I think she was/is a lesbien.

Ah yes, that reminds me. My English teacher knew her.

(and he told us she was a lesbian - which is why your post reminded me )

your teacher knew her? cool.
I had to study her at gcse too... we had to go to this stupid thing in Bath and listen to past examiners droning on about how we should analyse the poems. Boring!
I can't say I like either of them, probably because I had to study them I suppose.
But then again I had to study shakespeare and he still rocks! lol.

I preffer Duffy, mainly because her peoms have more violent themes, education for leasuire was my favorite ^^

My sister saw all the GCSE poets at poety live yesterday. She hated it, though when I went I like it. Ah well.

In reply to Trixy's message, Carol Ann Duffy is a lesbian, and her Before You Were Mine poem is about her mother, before she was a mother. The author takes on the stance of her pre-existent self, which I think is pretty amazing. I'm studying her this year, along with Gillian Clarke. I actually wrote something called Before You Were Mine in Other Fiction inspired by that poem. I love Duffy's work.

Im not familier with these - we do Heaney and Clarke.

I prefer Duffy
I enjoy her wit and something about her poems is just...charming