Maureen Duffy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Maureen Duffy
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Maureen Patricia Duffy
21 October 1933 |
| Education | King's College London |
| Occupation | Novelist, poet, playwright, nonfiction author, activist |
Maureen Patricia Duffy (born 21 October 1933) is an English writer of poems, plays, and novels. She is also known for her non-fiction books. For many years, she has been an activist, speaking up for the rights of authors, animals, and all people. For her lifetime of writing, she received the special Benson Medal.
Contents
Early Life and Schooling
Maureen Duffy was born in Worthing, Sussex, on October 21, 1933. Her family was from Stratford in East London. Her father, who was Irish, left when she was a baby. When Maureen was 15, her mother sadly passed away. This made her childhood difficult. She then moved to live with family in East London.
Maureen used her tough childhood experiences in her novel That's How It Was. Her working-class background and her close relationship with her mother were big inspirations for her writing. From a young age, she loved stories about Ancient Greece and Rome, and folk tales from Ireland and Wales.
Her mother taught her that "the one thing they can't take away from you is education." Maureen finished school and worked as a teacher to support herself before college. In 1956, she earned a degree in English from King's College London. After graduating, she taught in Naples, Italy, and then in London schools until 1961.
A Life of Writing
Maureen Duffy's first dream was to be a poet. She won her first poetry prize when she was 17. Soon, her poems were printed in magazines like The Listener.
While she was in college, she wrote her first full-length play, Pearson. It was noticed by a famous theater critic, which led to her joining the Royal Court Writers Group in 1958. There, she worked with other important writers.
In 1961, she was asked to write a screenplay called Josie for television. It was about a teenage girl who wanted to be a fashion designer. The money she earned allowed her to start writing full-time.
Famous Novels
A publisher suggested that Maureen write a novel. Her first book, That's How It Was (1962), was a big success. It vividly described a working-class childhood and showed how a person could become a writer.
Her novel The Microcosm (1966) was set in a famous London club. It was one of the first books to show many different kinds of women. The book sold well and inspired many readers.
Other early novels by Duffy are about artists. The Single Eye (1964) is about a talented photographer. The Paradox Players (1967) is about a writer living on a houseboat, which was based on her own life.
Later, Duffy wrote a series of three novels about London.
- Capital (1975) weaves together the lives of different people in London, from modern times to the Stone Age.
- Londoners: an Elegy (1983) is about the challenges of being a writer. It is inspired by the famous poem Dante's Inferno.
- Change (1987) is set during World War II and even includes a group of apes as characters.
Many of her later novels use a special technique. They tell stories from both the past and the present. For example, Restitution (1998) is about a young woman in London who discovers her family's connection to events in Nazi Germany many years earlier.
Plays and Poetry
In 1968, Duffy wrote a play called Rites for the National Theatre. It was set in a ladies' public restroom and was very popular. She also wrote plays for BBC radio, including one about the writer Aphra Behn.
Duffy has published nine books of poetry. Her poems cover many topics, from love and family to politics. Her Collected Poems, 1949–84 was published in 1985. Her poetry is known for being honest and full of sympathy for people and animals.
Fighting for Important Causes
Maureen Duffy has spent her life as an activist, working to make the world a better place. She is a humanist, which means she believes in fairness and kindness for everyone.
Champion for Equal Rights
Maureen Duffy was one of the first public figures in Britain to be open about who she was. She spoke up for equal rights for all people, no matter who they love. In the 1980s, she was the first president of the Gay Humanist Group. She spoke out on many issues, including rights for people with HIV and AIDS. In 1988, she successfully argued against a law called Section 28, which she believed was unfair and limited free speech.
A Voice for Animals
Duffy has been a vegetarian and an animal rights supporter since 1967. She believes animals should be treated with kindness and respect. She is against testing products on animals and once signed a letter promising never to wear fur.
Her love for animals is a key theme in some of her books. Her novel Gor Saga (1981) is about a character who is half-gorilla and half-human. This story was made into a TV series called First Born.
Protecting Authors' Rights
Duffy has worked hard to protect the rights of writers. In 1972, she helped start the Writers' Action Group. They campaigned for Public Lending Right, a system that pays authors when their books are borrowed from public libraries. The law was passed in 1979.
She also helped create the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society, which makes sure writers are paid when their work is copied. She is an expert on copyright law, which protects the work of creators.
Awards and Honors
- 1985 – Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- 2004 – Benson Medal, from the Royal Society of Literature
- 2009 – Medal of Honour from the Portuguese Society of Authors
- 2011 – Honorary Doctor of Literature from Loughborough University
- 2013 – Honorary Doctor of Literature from the University of Kent
A Few of Her Works
Fiction
- That's How It Was (1962)
- The Microcosm (1966)
- The Paradox Players (1967)
- Capital: a Fiction (1975)
- Gor Saga (1981)
- Londoners: an Elegy (1983)
- Change (1987)
- Restitution (1998)
- The Orpheus Trail (2009)
- In Times Like These: a Fable (2013)
Non-fiction
- The Passionate Shepherdess: Aphra Behn 1640–87 (1977)
- Men and Beasts: an Animal Rights Handbook (1984)
- Henry Purcell 1659–95 (1994)
- England: the Making of the Myth from Stonehenge to Albert Square (2001)
Poetry
- Lyrics for the Dog Hour (1968)
- Collected Poems 1949–84 (1985)
- Environmental Studies (2013)
- Pictures from an Exhibition (2016)
