New Year: Poet & Context – A Level English Language and Literature OCR Revision

Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish poet and playwright, known for her collections of poetry centred on the female experience, social commentary, narratives of time, and intimate relationships.
She was Britain’s Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2019, the first woman to occupy this honoured position.
Duffy is often praised for her ability to convey complex emotions and experiences in simple, accessible language.

The poem “New Year” was published in the collection ‘Mean Time’ (1993).
This collection explores the passage of time, love, loss, and regret and often interweaves personal history with broader cultural and social histories.
“New Year” reflects Duffy’s recurring exploration of time and her fascination with marking its passing.

As a poet who writes extensively about love and relationships, Duffy’s work resonates with the human experiences of affection, grief, desire and separation.
While her poetry often explores very specific personal experiences, it draws on universal human themes which might account for the accessible, relatable quality found in her work.
Despite the personal nature of her work, she has stated in interviews that her poetry is not always autobiographical, so it is important to avoid making assumptions about the poet’s life based on interpretations of her poems.

The use of the ‘New Year’ as a theme leans into a ubiquitous cultural tradition of marking the passage of time and serves as a universal symbol of change, reflection, renewal and often, melancholy.
The poem explores the emotions and reflections instigated by the dawn of a new year.
It speaks to the universal human experience of reflecting on the past, present and future during significant temporal milestones, inviting the reader to engage with their own emotional responses to such moments.