Jackie kay in my country

Join jackie kay as she reveals the musical influences on her awardwinning poetry, and passes on some of her tips for helping you put pen to paper. Nov 29, 2012 jackie kay is a prolific and wellloved writer who, though she has written in many forms, is bestknown for her poetry. The woman with the ibo nose and the scottish tongue. Like the second poem in the recording, somebody else, it deals with a sense of identity. I hope that i can do my country proud and do them proud.

Jackie kay on putting her adoption on stage and getting. Mar 15, 2016 poet and novelist jackie kay is announced as the new scots makar, taking over from liz lochhead as the national poet for scotland. Read on for an extract from the book and the poem that the chance meeting inspired. Makar jackie kay said the country had to grow up and take more responsibility for the treatment of black and ethnic minorities. Jackie kays red dust road to home visit manchester. Marketing manchesters manchester content curator simon donohue spoke to the scottish national poet about the play. Jackie kay was an adopted child of scottishnigerian descent brought up by scottish parents, the subject of the titlesequence of her first collection, the adoption papers bloodaxe books, 1991. She was born in edinburgh to a scottish mother and a nigerian father and brought up by white adoptive parents in. Scotlands national poet writes for those whove been asked where. Scots makar jackie kay s book struck a chord with readers, and this theatre adaptation tells its stories about adoption, being gay, being mixed race in a scotland that was very different.

Makar jackie kay penned an incredible poem to mark the 20th anniversary of the scottish parliament. The theme of identity in jackie kays black bottom, pride and in my country meryl mammen kurien, stella maris college, 17, cathedral rd, chokkalingam. Jackie kay was born in edinburgh, scotland in 1961 to a scottish mother and a nigerian father. Jackie kay was born in edinburgh in the 1960s to a nigerian father, and a white mother from the highlands.

The city that jackie kay grey up in was a city filled with poverty and had rougher cultural spots that other cities. Born in edinburgh to a scottish mother and nigerian father, she was. Which just happens to be one of three poems she reads on a youtube video. She was adopted by a white couple who were active members of the communist party. Jacqueline margaret kay, cbe, frse born 9 november 1961 is a scottish poet, playwright. Doc the theme of identity in jackie kays black bottom, pride. Ahead of her appearance at a write highland hoolie, we caught up with poet and playwright, jackie kay two years ago, the awardwinning glaswegian writer jackie kay was appointed scotlands makar. The comparison is significant because several of kay s pieces spring from her biography and they are all concerned with the intricate nature of identity. Recorded by bloodaxe books and used with permission for the out of bounds poetry project tour. Red dust road is jackie kay s account of growing up in glasgow, black, lesbian and adopted. Her story is terrific and her place in scottish society admirable as the scots makar, a similar honor as americas poet laureate. It is also remarkably capacious, offering selections from a wide array of poets.

And this is my country, says the fisherwoman from jura. Kay born in scotland in 1961 was adopted as a baby by a couple of white, glaswegian communists who threw the kind of parties where everybody. The theme of identity in jackie kay s black bottom, pride and in my country. To think this all started three years ago when i found out that there was a homeless camp over by draper city park and i got to thinking about all the kids who would be going to school with my kids and thought to myself, if im not using my job as a platform to make a difference in our community then that would be a shame. They wont actually hear my voice, because theyre too busy seeing my face. My grandmothers houses by jackie kay scottish poetry library.

The stairs are keeping schtum about the broken window. My grandmothers houses by jackie kay scottish poetry. Walking by the waters down where an honest river shakes hands with the sea, a woman passed round me in a slow watchful circle, as if i were. The countrys national poet whose widowed mother helen, 89, is in a care home in. Jackie kay wrote the poem in my country in the 90s. The final lines of jackie kays 1993 poem in my country play gracefully with an irony. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Jackie kay strikes me as a woman who laughs a lot, but im aware that it has taken her six years to find. Oh, my country, my country scotland itself is my country, said sorley maclean. The walls arent thick enough for all the screaming.

I cant imagine a greater honour than being asked to be a countrys national poet. Her first collection of poetry, the adoption papers, was published in 1991. In my country is a 2004 drama film directed by john boorman, starring samuel l. Jackie kays encounter with doubleconsciousness and religion. I really like being out in the country in certain kinds of landscape i was talking about, i love sort of empty. Jackie kay was born in edinburgh in 1961 to a scottish mother and a nigerian father.

I came across jackie kay s poem in my country and i liked it. Scotlands makar, jackie kay, has been asked to pen a tribute to anne bronte as part of a new memorial to the talented trio. Challenged about her origins, the black glaswegian poet asserts her belonging through. The country s national poet whose widowed mother helen, 89, is in a care home in. Im going to sit down in a pub on a chair in london and this woman went you cannae sit in that chair.

Jackie dale chew, 63, of hutchinson, passed away march 22, 2020, at the arbors in hutchinson. If you know the answer to this question, please register to join our limited beta program and start the. Guardian first book awardwinning poet who became the first black writer to have a play produced by the gay sweatshop theatre group. The adoption papers the story of jackie kay s life is as fascinating and complex as her literary works. She was born january 9, 1957 in harper, kansas, the daughter of jack and lavonna kay mccoy branstetter. Poet jackie kay was born in scotland in 1961 to a scottish mother and nigerian father, and adopted by a scottish couple at birth. They adopted jackie in 1961, having already adopted her brother, maxwell, about two years earlier. Sep 11, 2003 the adoption papers the story of jackie kay s life is as fascinating and complex as her literary works. Mar 15, 2016 jackie kay, the new makar national poet for scotland pa now the acclaimed black writer jackie kay is to hold up a mirror to her own countrys identity, after been named as scotlands new. The toilets sick of the trapped pipes squealing so. In 2014 she was appointed chancellor of the university of salford. The film is centred around the story of afrikaner poet anna malan binoche and an american journalist, langston whitfield jackson, sent to south africa to report about the south african truth and reconciliation commission hearings.

Phenomenal woman, still i rise, the road not taken, if you forget me, dreams. Jackie kay lives in manchester and is professor of creative writing at newcastle university. In my country jackie kay walking by the waters, down where an honest river shakes hands with the sea, a woman passed around me in a slow, watchful circle, as if i were a superstition. Jackie kay on putting her adoption on stage and getting a pay rise for her successor peter ross. I cant imagine a greater honour than being asked to be a country s national poet. She was adopted as a baby by a white scottish couple, helen and john kay, and grew up in bishopbriggs, a suburb of glasgow, in a 1950sbuilt housing estate in a small wimpey. May 27, 2017 poem hunter all poems of by jackie kay poems.

Scotland decades behind in attitudes to race warns national. Jackie kay i try my absolute best i give my kids pure apple juice no sugar less acid than orange buy my baby soya milk formula now shes off the breast nondairy, no cholesterol, good for their little hearts apparently their arteries can harden before five even. Jackie kay i try my absolute best british council bbc. Jun 05, 2010 even playing her laughter back on my dictaphone days later, i catch myself joining in. She was adopted as a baby by a white scottish couple, helen and john kay, and grew up in bishopbriggs, a suburb of glasgow. Join facebook to connect with jackie kays and others you may know. Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love.

Sep 14, 2009 in my country jackie kay walking by the waters, down where an honest river shakes hands with the sea, a woman passed around me in a slow, watchful circle. She was adopted as a baby by a white scottish couple, helen and john kay, and grew up in bishopbriggs, a suburb of glasgow, in a 1950sbuilt housing estate in a small wimpey house, which her adoptive parents had bought new in 1957. And on the back cover theres jackie kay s in my country. A concise anthology is truly concise, covering over one thousand years of poetry in english in a single volume. Her poem, in my country is that thing of value for me today and serves to remind us all in america. Poet and author jackie kay s acclaimed autobiography, red dust road, will be brought to life on stage at manchesters home arts centre in september. The theme of identity in jackie kays black bottom, pride and in my country. Jackie kay was born to a scottish mother and nigerian father in edinburgh on 9. Scots national poet jackie kay hails anne bronte in.

Scotland decades behind in attitudes to race warns. The expression of this multiplicity necessarily implies the question of belonging, and also in the particular case of jackie kay, of a painful recognition of not belonging, of. My other country is ireland and after it, france, our great gaelic bard said plainly. Her poems move from the familiar the parent, the child, the lover to the extraordinary including a sequence on the. Jackie kay is a prolific and wellloved writer who, though she has written. In her deeply moving new book, red dust road, jackie kay describes an encounter with a stranger on a train who reads her ancestry in her features. Here she achieves great range, exploring the qualities of love in a variety of relationships rooted in the past and the present.

The comparison is significant because several of kays pieces spring from her biography and they are all concerned with the intricate nature of identity. She was born in edinburgh to a scottish mother and a nigerian father and brought up by white adoptive parents in glasgow. My country has started to speak my language and i am no longer alone i used to feel a foreigner in my. She used descriptive words that painted a picture in my head and before i had even read the write up about her i already had a feeling about who she was.

She was awarded an mbe in 2006, and was appointed scotlands makar in 2016. In the poem at home, abroad from her collection darling, she writes about dreaming of other countries, places shes never been which include not only africa, the site of her paternal roots, but scotland too, even. Travelling the country is very much a part of jackie s work as. It is a companion piece to her recent poetry collection fiere which i red dust road won the scottish book of the year award and i was delighted to win copies of all the shortlisted books in a competition.

Its where your interests connect you with your people. Poet and novelist jackie kay is announced as the new scots makar, taking over from liz lochhead as the national poet for scotland. People often ask me where im from, even in my own country i seem to have a whole collection of strange anecdotes of people doing that. This article examines the many ways in which jackie kays writing is about. Mar 17, 2014 i came across jackie kays poem in my country and i liked it. Jackie kay 1 1961 writer unconventional upbringing 2 early works explored identity 3 the multiplicity of what i am 4 selected writings 5 sources 6 british writer jackie kay 7 has won acclaim for work that questions assumptions about personal and cultural identity. Mar 22, 2020 scotlands makar jackie kay hopes poetry can help provide solace and hope in these dark, uncertain times. Jackie kay was born to a scottish mother and nigerian father in edinburgh on 9 november 1961, and was adopted as a baby by helen and john kay, who had already adopted a boy, maxwell. The racism and poverty was much higher in glasgow than other places in scotland probably putting even more tension on jackie kay s life. Among these are hanif kureishis my beautiful laundrette and the. Jackie kay was born in edinburgh, scotland, in 1961, to a scottish mother and a nigerian father. She was adopted by a white couple at birth and was brought up in glasgow, studying at the royal scottish academy of music and drama and stirling university where she read english. Scotlands makar jackie kay hopes poetry can help provide solace and hope in these dark, uncertain times.

My father had a lifelong terror, phobia whatever, about hospitals. She is half nigerian and was adopted by a white scottish couple. With humour and emotional directness, her poetry explores gender, sexuality, identity, racism and cultural difference as well as love and music. Jackie kay on putting her adoption on stage and getting a. The story therefore goes against the grain of the racist attitude kay meets with in such early poems as so you think im a mule. How many of us know exactly who we are and where we truly belong. A mixedrace scot who lives in the north of england, her work frequently utilises the facts of her own life as a means to ponder wider issues of identity, loss and sexual desire. Hope comes home finds a hearth, a country ahead of its time, looking out across the lands and the years across the cold north sea, where the waves knit in plain and purl, is a country to sign you a lullaby, a country to rock you awake. In 2006, she was awarded an mbe for services to literature. What is the style of jackie kays in my country answers.

Jackie kay was born in edinburgh, scotland and brought up in glasgow. Mary mccartney makar jackie kay said the country had to grow up and take more responsibility for the treatment of black and ethnic minorities. Questions of identityor more appropriately of identitiesare at the core of much of jackie kay s writing, and are often intimately linked to the writers personal experience of being scottish, black and adopted. Aug 07, 2019 jackie kay on putting her adoption on stage and getting a pay rise for her successor peter ross. Challenged about her origins, the black glaswegian poet asserts her. Jackie kay was born in edinburgh in 1961 to a scottish mother and nigerian father, and was adopted at birth by a white couple living in glasgow. An interview with jackie kay childrens poetry archive. Jun 19, 2015 and on the back cover theres jackie kays in my country. He was so scared of doctors, he passed that on to me.