Being Laureate does not inspire poetry in Motion

Danny Brierley13 April 2012

The Poet Laureate has revealed that during his nine years in the role his works have failed to provoke a single response from the Queen.

Speaking to an audience in west London, the current incumbent Andrew Motion said as well as a lack of critical response from his employer, the historic role of scribe to the sovereign had been "incredibly difficult and thankless" and saddled him with a bad case of writer's block.

"I dried up completely about five years ago," the 55-year-old poet and author told the Ealing Arts Festival. He has held the position since 1999 and his works as Laureate include a rap-style elegiac for Prince William's 21st birthday.

Mr Motion added: "The Queen never gives me an opinion. The last thing I did was for her diamond wedding anniversary [in 2007]. Afterward she told me 'thank you' but I have no idea if she really liked it."

Mr Motion added that aspects of the the position, believed to come with an annual £5,000 stipend, were "extremely valuable - such as the chance to speak up for poetry".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in