This volume contains poems chosen by Carol Ann Duffy from her first six acclaimed collections, from Standing Female Nude (1985) to Feminine Gospels (2002), and a handful of 'other poems' collected her for the first time. It shows a writer who hit the ground running, emerging into the world with an utterly distinctive voice, becoming one of the foremost poets of any generation. Her quicksilver intelligence shines throughout these poems and along with her gift for language for turning it inside out, for ringing its riches from the everyday and the far away allows her to move effortlessly from ribald mimicry to tense lyricism, from the mind of a giggling schoolgirl to that of a psychopath. Endlessly varied and wonderfully inventive, this volume is the perfect introduction for new readers, the essential selection for students, and a glorious sum of parts for old acquaintances.