Jackie Kay

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Jackie Kay

Born 1961
Glasgow, Scotland
Occupation Professor of Creative Writing
Known for Poet and novelist

Jackie Kay MBE (born 1961) is a Scottish poet and novelist.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh in 1961 to a white Scottish mother and a black Nigerian father. She was adopted by a Scottish white couple Helen and John Kay and brought up in Bishopbriggs, a suburb of Glasgow.[1]

Kay was brought up in a 1950s-built Glasgow housing estate in a small Wimpey house, which her adoptive parents had bought from new in 1957.[1] They adopted Kay in 1961 having already adopted Kay's brother, Maxwell, about 2 years earlier; nevertheless, Kay and Maxwell also have sibs who were brought up by her genetic parents.[1] Kay's adoptive father worked for the communist party full-time and stood for Member of Parliament, and her adoptive mother was the Scottish secretary of CND.[1] In August 2007 Kay was the subject of the forth episode of The House I Grew Up In, in which she talked about a happy childhood in a stimulating, albeit unconventional, home.[1]

Initially harbouring ambitions to be an actress, she decided to concentrate on writing after Alasdair Gray read her poetry and told her that writing was what she should be doing. She studied English at the University of Stirling and her first book of poetry, the autobiographical The Adoption Papers, was published in 1991, and won the Saltire Society Scottish First Book Award. Her other awards include the 1994 Somerset Maugham Award for Other Lovers, and the Guardian Fiction Prize for Trumpet. She writes extensively for children, stage and screen. She has a son, Matthew, and until 2004 lived in Manchester with her former partner, the poet Carol Ann Duffy.

Kay became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 17 June 2006.

She currently teaches creative writing at Newcastle University.[2]

[edit] Some work

  • The Adoption Papers (Poetry - 1991)
  • Other Lovers (Poetry - 1993)
  • Off Colour (Poetry - 1998)
  • Trumpet (Fiction - 1998)
  • Why Don't You Stop Talking (Fiction - 2002)
  • Life Mask (Poetry - 2005)
  • Wish I Was Here (Fiction - 2006)

Some other poetry used in GCSE Edexcel Syllabus

  • Brendon Gallacher
  • Lucozade
  • Yellow

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "The House I Grew Up In, featuring Jackie Kay". The House I Grew Up In. BBC radio 4. 2007-08-27.
  2. ^ Prof. Jackie Kay: Professor of Creative Writing. Newcastle University.

[edit] External links