Carol Ann's Crowd

I’ve always been aware that the arts appear to attract those ‘non conventional’ types, and by that I don’t just mean intellectuals, I mean dykes. A poet friend once reassured me that all poetry workshops and courses were full of ‘lesbians and vegetarians’, before feeling she had to justify herself by saying, ‘But I mean, I’m not gay.’

A recent trip to see Carol Ann Duffy read at Bristol Poetry Festival reinforced my view of the arts as a gathering ground for those who don’t find dancing to the Scissor Sisters the be all and end all.

I was mildly aware before the start of the reading that there were really far too many pairs of middle aged women for it to be an entirely lesbian-free zone. Sure enough, the lure of the lesbian-poet prevailed, and by the end of the evening, many women were cooing over Britain’s best-known poet – ‘Can you make it to Helen? It’s a Christmas present for my girlfriend.’

Even one person who seemed to have got the wrong end of the stick (she thought Carol Ann Duffy was a comedienne), was found trotting up eagerly with a fresh copy of “Rapture”.

Cynics may believe Mr. Blair didn’t want a lesbian poet laureate, but she is certainly the people’s-poet.

For those of you who are interested in lesbian-literature, Sarah Water’s latest novel – “The Night Watch” has been nominated for the Booker Prize. If you are sceptical of books, I recommend a recent article by the fabulous Jeanette Winterson.

As if you need anymore proof that the arts dabble in androgynous sexuality, just take a look at the front cover for the "Belfast Festival at Queen's guide" - in my opinion it looks rather like a promotional shot for "The L Word"