Imtiaz Dharker Turns Down British Poet Laureateship, Search Continues

The Guardian's Alison Flood reports on poet Imtiaz Dharker's turning-down of the British poet laureateship, "citing a need to focus on her writing – and despite reports that she was set to be named as the next holder of the position." More:

Although it was reported by the Sunday Times last week that Dharker was due to be announced as laureate this month, the Guardian understands that no formal offer has been made to or accepted by any candidate for the laureateship, and that the selection process is still under way, with Dharker giving way to other contenders on Friday.

The laureateship is not known for bringing the muse of poetry to its incumbents. Andrew Motion, who was laureate from 1999 to 2009, called the role “very, very damaging to my work”, saying while still in post: “I dried up completely about five years ago and can’t write anything except to commission.” The public-facing position grants an annual stipend of £5,750 – used by the current laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, to fund a new poetry prize – and, traditionally, a “butt of sack”, equivalent to roughly 600 bottles of sherry.

Last November, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport convened a panel of experts to make recommendations about who should succeed Duffy after her 10-year tenure as laureate ends. But with Duffy having now completed her final project as laureate – a collection by various poets responding to the collapse in the insect population – and with the 10th anniversary of her laureateship having passed on 1 May, the DCMS has been silent about who will take up her laurels, a delay that is being blamed on the government’s preoccupation with other issues.

Read on at The Guardian.