AT last, 341 years after Charles II named John Dryden the first poet laureate, a woman has been appointed to the most prominent literary position in Britain.

 On May 1, at the University of Manchester's John Rylands library, Carol Ann Duffy was anointed poet laureate by Andy Burnham, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport.

 'It is a great day for women writers,' said Duffy, who described the laureateship as 'tending the flame' of poetry. 'It highlights the way that women writers have changed the landscape of literature in this country ... though I think guys will be pleased as well.'

Ten years ago, she was reportedly ruled out of the laureateship because Tony Blair was concerned about how a gay poet laureate might play in middle England (although his then spin doctor Alastair Campbell denied this yesterday in his blog).

 Rumours that Duffy was unsure about taking the job were untrue, she said. 'The final say went to my 13-year-old daughter. She said, 'Yes, Mum.' I didn't dither.' Duffy added 'I hope after my 10 years are up, there will be another woman laureate, then another, for 300 years.'

The outgoing holder of the post, Andrew Motion, has frequently been sneered at in the press for his poems marking public or royal occasions. So how does Duffy intend to tackle that part of the role?

'Poetry comes from the imagination, from memory, from experience and from events both personal and public,' she said. 'I will write what needs to be written ... I wouldn't write a poem if it felt forced. But if something occurred at a public or political moment, and it genuinely felt truthful to me, then I would do it.

 'When I was briefed by the government and the palace, I was told there was no expectation that I would write royal poetry. I don't have to write about anything if I don't want to. I can only write if it is from an authentic source and is truthful.'

Asked if she would write a poem to celebrate Prince Philip's birthday on June 10, she said, 'It has never occurred to me to write a birthday poem; but perhaps I could.' Duffy said that she regarded the post as 'a spotlight on the vocation of poetry,' and said she felt privileged to be 'part of a generation of poets in Britain who serve the vocation of poetry, writers who... regard poetry as the place in language where everything that can be praised is praised, and where what needs to be called into question is so.'

 Motion has made no bones about the pressures of the post, and the toll it took on his own writing. Duffy said she was prepared for a more prominent public role, but also said 'I am a very private person, and will continue to be so.' She added 'I believe that the continuance of the laureateship acknowledges that poetry is vital to the imagining of what Britain has been, what it is and what it might yet become.'

Duffy, 53, was born in Glasgow and spent her school years in Stafford, where her father was a fitter for English Electric. She studied philosophy at the University of Liverpool.

 She has produced more than 30 books of children's stories and anthologies, as well as work for the theatre and opera.

— Dawn/Guardian Service