Elvis' Twin Sister is a frequently-cited poem by Carol Ann Duffy,[1] which is said to reflect "the hidden lives of generations of overlooked women" as part of the collection The World's Wife, of 30 similar poems dealing with the female relatives of famous men throughout history.[2][3] The poem is sometimes studied by school children in the United Kingdom as part of the AQA syllabus for GCSE English.[4]
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The poem, subtitled Are You Lonesome Tonight?, was a 1961 hit by Elvis Presley.[5] Its opening line "In the convent, y'all", establishes its speaker in the southern United States through its use of colloquial language.[6] The poem goes on to describe Elvis's sister as a nun in a convent, tending its garden.
The textbook AQA GCSE English Literature a Short Stories Pre-1914 Poetry By Paul Burns, Jan Edge, categorizing it as a good example of a poem based on family relationships, finding happiness, use of well-known characters from history/literature, and colloquial language.
At Poetry Live in London, Duffy performed the poem herself on December 1, 2008.[7]