Wendy Cope [Hardcover]

This is the first critical book on the poetry of Wendy Cope, one of Britain's most widely read poets. Rory Waterman considers her five 'adult' collections, her works for children and her uncollected poems, with many close readings, and careful consideration of her cultural and literary contexts and her poetic development.Wendy Cope is one of Britains most popular poets: her first two collections have together sold almost half a million copies, and in 1998, when Ted Hughes died, she was the BBC listeners choice to succeed him as Poet Laureate. She is also contrarian and sometimes controversial, and has been celebrated as one of the finest parodists of her, or any, generation. It is perhaps surprising, then, that her popular appeal has been met with critical near-silence. After five major collections, Cope has received only piecemeal critical attention, mostly confined to book reviews. This is the first in-depth study of her poetry. Drawing on Cope's published work, archival material and correspondence, Rory Waterman considers her main collections, her works for children and her uncollected poems, with many close readings, and detailed considerations of her cultural and literary contexts and her poetic development.This is the first critical book on the poetry of Wendy Cope, one of Britain's most widely read poets. Rory Waterman considers her five 'adult' collections, her works for children and her uncollected poems, with many close readings, and careful consideration of her cultural and literary contexts and her poetic development.Rory Waterman is Senior Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University.