Wendy Cope

One of the UK’s wittiest and best-loved poets Wendy Cope talks about her writing and her life to mark the publication of her collected poems.

Cope’s first collection of poems, Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis, published in 1986 saw her become both a bestseller and a celebrated poet. The poems were characterised by insight and wit and a gentle snook at the pomposity of a literary world dominated by men. She has since published four further volumes of poetry and reached a new audience when her poem, Orange, went viral. Cope’s work chronicles the desires and fears of everyday life including love and heartbreak, disappointment and a capacity to find happiness.

Cope worked as a primary school teacher for 15 years. Her most recent collection of new poems is Anecdotal Evidence. She is winner of a Cholmondeley Award for poetry and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Michael Braude Award.