Cope, Wendy (1945– )

English poet. Her talent for parody, and for light-hearted demolitions of men, targets male authors such as Ted Hughes or Philip Larkin; the titles Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis (1986) and Men and their Boring Arguments (1988) indicate her approach. Her works also include Serious Concerns (1993) and If I Don't Know (2001), which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Award. She is also the author of two books for children, Twiddling Your Thumbs (1988) and The River Girl (1991).

Cope was born in Erith, Kent, and educated at Oxford. She worked as a primary-school teacher in London for 15 years before becoming a professional writer in 1986. She was television critic for The Spectator magazine until 1990. She received a Cholmondeley Award in 1987 and was awarded the Michael Braude Award for Light Verse (American Academy of Arts and Letters) in 1995.