Maureen Duffy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Maureen Duffy
Born	Maureen Patricia Duffy (1933-10-21) 21 October 1933 (age 91) Worthing, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
Education	King's College London
Occupation	Novelist, poet, playwright, nonfiction author, activist

Maureen Patricia Duffy (born 21 October 1933) is a famous English writer. She writes poems, plays, novels, and non-fiction books. She has also been a strong activist for many important causes. These include fighting for writers' rights and animal rights. She has received the Benson Medal for her amazing work over the years.

Early Life and Education

Maureen Patricia Duffy was born in Worthing, Sussex, England, on 21 October 1933. Her family came from Stratford in East London. Her father, who was Irish, left when she was very young. Her mother sadly passed away when Maureen was just 15 years old. After this, she moved to Stratford in East London to live with her relatives.

Maureen Duffy used her challenging childhood experiences in her novel That's How It Was. This book is very personal and tells a lot about her own life. Her early life, growing up in a working-class family, and her close bond with her mother greatly influenced her writing. From a young age, she loved "stories of Ancient Greece and Rome," folk tales from Ireland and Wales, and stories about knights and poetry.

Her mother taught her that "education is the one thing they can't take away from you." Maureen took this to heart. She finished school and worked as a junior school teacher to support herself before going to university. She earned a degree in English from King's College London in 1956. After that, she taught in Naples until 1958 and then in London secondary schools until 1961.

Career as a Writer

Maureen Duffy's first dream was to be a poet. She won her first poetry prize at 17. Her poem was printed in Adam magazine. Soon after, her poems appeared in The Listener and other places. She even edited a poetry magazine called the sixties from 1960 to 1961.

While at King's College, she wrote her first full play, Pearson. It was entered into a competition judged by Kenneth Tynan, a famous drama critic. This led to her being invited to join the Royal Court Writers Group in 1958. Other well-known writers like Edward Bond and Arnold Wesker were also part of this group.

Maureen Duffy started writing full-time after Granada Television asked her to write a TV show. This show, called Josie, was about a teenage girl who wanted to escape factory work by becoming a fashion designer. It was shown on ITV in 1961. The money she earned allowed her to buy a houseboat to live on! Her play Pearson won a prize in 1962. It was performed as The Lay Off and was inspired by her own experiences working in factories during holidays. This play was a modern version of an old story called Piers Plowman. It was also an early example of Duffy including diverse characters and showing her opposition to unfair treatment.

Becoming a Novelist

Maureen Duffy's first novel, That's How It Was (1962), was a big success. Many reviewers praised its vivid description of a working-class childhood. Duffy also wanted to show how a writer's life is shaped and how different kinds of love can be explored.

Her novel The Microcosm (1966) was important because it showed many different kinds of women from various backgrounds and time periods. It aimed to show that "there are dozens of ways of being unique." This book was widely reviewed and sold well. It inspired many readers, including other writers.

Duffy's other early novels often focused on the lives of creative people. The Single Eye (1964) is about a talented photographer. He finds that his wife is holding back his art and life, so he must leave her to protect his creativity. The Paradox Players (1967) is about a writer and is based on Duffy's own experience of living on a houseboat. It explores the appeal of a free, alternative lifestyle, but also its challenges.

Plays

In 1968, Maureen Duffy was one of five women writers asked to write a play for the National Theatre. Her play, Rites, was chosen for a second run at the Old Vic theatre. It has been performed many times since. The play is set in a ladies' public toilet and explores themes of identity and perception. Duffy described it as a "black farce" that mixes fantasy and real-life situations.

In 1971, Duffy was asked to write an episode for the popular ITV series Upstairs Downstairs. Her play about the last hour of Virginia Woolf's life, A Nightingale in Bloomsbury Square, was performed in 1973.

Maureen Duffy also wrote plays for BBC radio. These include The Passionate Shepherdess (1977) about Aphra Behn, and Only Goodnight (1981). Family Trees (1984) is about researching family history. Her play The Masque of Henry Purcell was staged in London in 1995. Sappho Singing was performed in 2010 and 2011.

Her play Hilda and Virginia was shown in 2018. It featured two monologues. One was about the last evening of Virginia Woolf's life. The other was about episodes in the life of Abbess Hilda of Whitby, as told by Bede. Hilda talks about the poet Caedmon and changes in the church.

Poetry

Maureen Duffy's first book of poetry came out in 1968. She has published nine poetry collections in total. These include Environmental Studies (2013), which was considered for the Green Carnation Prize, and Pictures from an Exhibition (2016). Her Collected Poems, 1949–84 was published in 1985.

Her poems often refer to older poets from a modern point of view. Alison Hennegan has said that Duffy wrote "the first modern poems about love between women, open and proud." Her main focus in poetry is "sympathy for the human (or animal) condition," showing deep care without being overly emotional.

Fiction

Wounds (1969) creates a detailed picture of London life. It weaves together the voices of many different characters, including a black mother, a local politician, and a theatre director. Their lives are contrasted with the uplifting story of two passionate lovers.

Love Child (1971) has a narrator whose gender is not stated. This character, Kit, is jealous of its mother's relationship, which leads to sad events.

Duffy's trilogy of novels about London includes Capital (1975). Many critics thought this was her most impressive novel at the time. The third book in the trilogy, Londoners: an Elegy (1983), uses dry humor to describe the challenges of being a writer today. It is also inspired by Dante's Inferno and shows parallels with medieval Paris. It is notable for showing diverse characters and places.

Change (1987), set during World War II, includes a group of apes as some of the storytellers. Many of Duffy's later novels use different stories from the past and present. This technique helps to connect them. Restitution (1998) was considered for the Booker Prize. It brings the past and present together as a young London woman finds her identity changed by events from Nazi Germany fifty years earlier.

Some of Duffy's novels are like thrillers. These include I want to go to Moscow (1973), Housespy (1978), and Occam's Razor (1991). Her strong beliefs often drive her work. The Microcosm argues for acceptance of different people. Gor Saga questions the differences between humans and other animals. In Times Like These warns about possible dangers in political changes. Scarborough Fear (1982), written under a different name, is a horror story with a modern setting. It has spooky elements and involves a young narrator fighting for survival.

Non-fiction

Maureen Duffy's book about Aphra Behn (1977) helped people rediscover this 17th-century playwright. Aphra Behn was the first woman to earn a living by writing. Duffy's book also found new facts about Behn's life. Duffy has also edited Behn's plays and other works.

Writing Style

Maureen Duffy's writing often uses ideas from Freudian thought and Greek mythology. Her writing is special because it uses different voices or streams of thought. It often includes the viewpoints of people who feel like outsiders. Her novels have been compared to European literary traditions that explore reality through language and questioning, rather than just telling a straightforward story. Writers like James Joyce and Joyce Cary have influenced her. Many say that "Duffy has inspired many other writers and proved that the English novel can be imaginative, experimental, and political." Her writing is known for its "eye for detail and ear for language" and "powerful intense imagery."

Her early plays often show working-class life with humor and vivid language. She joined the Royal Court writers' group when British drama was changing. This was due to writers like John Osborne and Arnold Wesker who focused on social realism. Some of her plays have been called "anarchic" and deal with "taboo subjects." They are sometimes described as "total theater," using ideas from Antonin Artaud and Jean Genet, and techniques from Bertolt Brecht. Jean-Paul Sartre has also been an influence.

Maureen Duffy believes in "an ethic of compassion" for both human and animal rights.

Activism

Maureen Duffy has been a socialist all her life. She was involved in early CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) marches. As a humanist, she has often taken the lead in promoting her beliefs.

Fighting for Rights

In 1977, she published The Ballad of the Blasphemy Trial. This was a strong protest against the trial of the Gay News newspaper.

She was the first chair of the Gay Humanist Group starting in 1980. This group was later renamed GALHA (the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association) in 1987. She spoke out on many issues, including human rights for people with HIV and AIDS. At the 1988 TUC conference, as President of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, she successfully pushed for a motion against Section 28. This law limited free speech and expression. Duffy has supported the British Humanist Association since GALHA joined it in 2012.

Maureen Duffy is often invited by groups that support diverse people to read her work. In 1991, she appeared on BBC 2. In 1995, Gay Times named her one of the 200 most influential people in Britain who support diverse communities. She was also on the Independent on Sunday's Pink List in 2005. In 2014, she received an Icon Award for her amazing lifetime achievements from Attitude magazine.

Animal Rights

Maureen Duffy has been a vegetarian and an animal rights campaigner since 1967. She signed a letter to The Times newspaper in 1970, promising never to wear fur. Her ideas on animal rights are in her book Men & Beasts: an Animal Rights Handbook (1984). Duffy is also against animal testing.

Animal rights are a main theme in two of her novels. These are I Want to Go to Moscow (1973) and Gor Saga (1981). Gor Saga tells the story of Gor, who is half-gorilla and half-human. This book was made into a three-part TV show called First Born in 1988. Maureen Duffy became Vice President of Beauty Without Cruelty in 1975.

Authors' Rights

In 1972, Maureen Duffy, along with author Brigid Brophy and others, started the Writers' Action Group. This group grew to have over 700 author members. They campaigned for the Public Lending Right. This means authors get paid each year based on how many times their books are borrowed from public libraries. Their campaign succeeded in 1979. She remains an expert on copyright and intellectual property law, which protect writers' work.

Maureen Duffy has worked for a long time to protect the rights of writers. These rights have been challenged by new technologies and changes in the book market. She continues to defend the Public Lending Right. She also helped campaign for authors to be paid when their work is photocopied. She helped create the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society. She was its chair for 15 years and is now its president. She has held important positions in many organizations that support writers and protect their rights. These include the Writers Guild of Great Britain and the Royal Society of Literature. She represents authors at the World Intellectual Property Organization, which is a special United Nations agency.

Awards and Honours

• 1985 – Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
• 2002 – CISAC gold medal, International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers
• 2004 – Benson Medal, Royal Society of Literature
• 2009 – Medal of Honour – Portuguese Society of Authors
• 2011 – Honorary Doctor of Literature – Loughborough University
• 2013 – Honorary Doctor of Literature – University of Kent
• 2015 – Fellow of the English Association

Selected Works

Fiction

Non-fiction

Poetry

Drama

Plays

Plays published

• "Rites" in New Short Plays 2 (Methuen, 1969), and published on its own by Hansom Books 1969, and in Plays by Women, edited by Michelene Wandor (Methuen, 1983)
• "A Nightingale in Bloomsbury Square", in Factions, edited by Giles Gordon and Alex Hamilton (Michael Joseph. 1974)
• "The Choice" and "A Nightingale in Bloomsbury Square" in Hilda and Virginia (Oberon Modern Plays 2018)

Art Exhibitions

• 1969 Prop Art (with Brigid Brophy). London.
• 2014 Paper Wings – a collaboration with Liz Mathews. London

Images for kids

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  Maureen Duffy