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| Jackie Kay named as new Scottish makar | Jackie Kay named as new Scottish makar |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The acclaimed writer Jackie Kay, whose complex relationship with her Scottish identity provides inspiration for much of her work, has been named as the country’s new makar, or national poet. | The acclaimed writer Jackie Kay, whose complex relationship with her Scottish identity provides inspiration for much of her work, has been named as the country’s new makar, or national poet. |
| Related: A life in writing: Jackie Kay | Related: A life in writing: Jackie Kay |
| Accepting the appointment at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh on Tuesday, Kay said she hoped to “open up the conversations, the blethers, the arguments and celebrations that Scotland has with itself and with the rest of the world”. | Accepting the appointment at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh on Tuesday, Kay said she hoped to “open up the conversations, the blethers, the arguments and celebrations that Scotland has with itself and with the rest of the world”. |
| Kay told the Guardian it was “an extraordinary time to be Scottish” particularly since the surge in political engagement after the 2014 independence referendum campaign. | |
| “It was a really exciting time to be living through and it continues to be. As a poet, you have a relationship with your country all of the time. I think Scotland is finding a way to have a really interesting conversation with itself, but also we are looking outwards to the world.” | “It was a really exciting time to be living through and it continues to be. As a poet, you have a relationship with your country all of the time. I think Scotland is finding a way to have a really interesting conversation with itself, but also we are looking outwards to the world.” |
| Kay became the third poet to take the post since it was established in 2004, succeeding Liz Lochhead and her mentor Edwin Morgan, Scotland’s first makar. | Kay became the third poet to take the post since it was established in 2004, succeeding Liz Lochhead and her mentor Edwin Morgan, Scotland’s first makar. |
| Apart from appearing in larger venues, Kay, who is known for the warmth and humour of her performances, said she planned to take poetry to “small and unexpected places”. | |
| The first thing she wanted to write about in her new role was the islands: “Often big cities get the attention, but I would like to address the people of the islands and the peninsula.” | |
| The writer, who divides her time between Manchester and Glasgow, won the Guardian fiction prize in 1998 for her first novel, Trumpet, and was awarded an MBE for services to literature in 2006. Her first collection of poetry, The Adoption Papers, was published in 1991 and was named Scottish First Book of the Year. She is currently the chancellor of Salford University. | The writer, who divides her time between Manchester and Glasgow, won the Guardian fiction prize in 1998 for her first novel, Trumpet, and was awarded an MBE for services to literature in 2006. Her first collection of poetry, The Adoption Papers, was published in 1991 and was named Scottish First Book of the Year. She is currently the chancellor of Salford University. |
| Kay has always explored themes of identity and belonging through her writing. Trumpet tells the story of a jazz musician who, after his death, is revealed to have been a woman. | Kay has always explored themes of identity and belonging through her writing. Trumpet tells the story of a jazz musician who, after his death, is revealed to have been a woman. |
| Related: Jackie Kay on reading out an anti-racist poem at a football ground | Jackie Kay | |
| In her best-selling memoir, Red Dust Road, Kay describes the search for her birth parents – a young nurse from the Highlands and a Nigerian student at Aberdeen University in the early sixties. | In her best-selling memoir, Red Dust Road, Kay describes the search for her birth parents – a young nurse from the Highlands and a Nigerian student at Aberdeen University in the early sixties. |
| Born in Edinburgh in 1961, Kay was adopted by a white communist couple and brought up in Glasgow, later discussing the rarity at that time of being a mixed-race child brought up by white parents. | Born in Edinburgh in 1961, Kay was adopted by a white communist couple and brought up in Glasgow, later discussing the rarity at that time of being a mixed-race child brought up by white parents. |
| Kay remains close to her former partner, and current UK poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, with whom she lived in Manchester for more than a decade with their two children. | Kay remains close to her former partner, and current UK poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, with whom she lived in Manchester for more than a decade with their two children. |
| The final selection of Kay as makar was made from a shortlist by the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and former first ministers Alex Salmond, Jack McConnell and Henry McLeish. | The final selection of Kay as makar was made from a shortlist by the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and former first ministers Alex Salmond, Jack McConnell and Henry McLeish. |
| Announcing the appointment, Sturgeon saluted Kay’s “particular Scottish brand of gallus humour”. | Announcing the appointment, Sturgeon saluted Kay’s “particular Scottish brand of gallus humour”. |
| Describing the new makar as being “known for her poignant and honest words”, Sturgeon added that the role was “to celebrate our poetic past, promote the poetry of today and produce new pieces of work that relate to significant events in our nation”. | |
| After the announcement, Kay said she did not consider the appointment political, “but it is a government taking an interest in poetry, which is pretty cool!” | After the announcement, Kay said she did not consider the appointment political, “but it is a government taking an interest in poetry, which is pretty cool!” |
| “I don’t think that being picked by politicians means that you have to toe any political line. It is a national position. Having said that, I am a very political person, as I think we all are.” |