Speaker 1: ... yes, it's funny you should mention Merwin - until about a year ago I thought England was the only country that had a Poet Laureate. After all , it's a pretty odd job, isn't it? No salary to speak of and just a barrel of wine or something as payment. But he was or is the American Poet Laureate, isn't he?
Speaker 2: That's right, but quite a few other countries have one too.
Speaker 1: I know, I looked into it a bit. Other countries in the UK for a start: Wales, as you'd expect, with their eisteddfods and long poetic tradition , and Ireland and Scotland. I think some places that were colonies or are in the Commonwealth have them - Canada, for example. And who's that wonderful Caribbean poet, urn, the one that wrote Omeros?
Speaker 2: Derek Walcott.
Speaker 1: That's him. He was the Poet Laureate of Saint Lucia. But what about the rest of Europe? Don't the French have such a thing?
Speaker 2: No, I don't think so. They've got the Academy, and you get elected to that if you're considered the best in your field. But I think Germany might have - no, it wasn't Germany. Somewhere else, but I don't remember. By the way, you're a bit behind the times in thinking what they get paid is a barrel of wine. All that changed long ago, but one of the more recent ones asked to have it back.