Jackie Kay facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jackie Kay CBE FRSE FRSL
Kay in 2015
Makar
In office 15 March 2016 – 14 March 2021
Preceded by	Liz Lochhead
Succeeded by	Kathleen Jamie
Personal details
Born	Jacqueline Margaret Kay (1961-11-09) 9 November 1961 (age 63) Edinburgh, Scotland
Alma mater	University of Stirling
Occupation	Professor of creative writing at Newcastle University
Known for	Poet and novelist Makar, 2016–2021
Awards	Somerset Maugham Award (1994); Guardian Fiction Prize (1998); Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award (2011)

Jacqueline Margaret Kay (born 9 November 1961) is a famous Scottish writer. She is known for her poetry, plays, and novels. Some of her well-known books include Other Lovers (1993), Trumpet (1998), and Red Dust Road (2011).

Jackie Kay has won many awards for her writing. These include the Somerset Maugham Award in 1994 and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1998. She also received the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award in 2011.

From 2016 to 2021, Jackie Kay held a special role as the Makar. This means she was the national poet for Scotland. She was also the Chancellor of the University of Salford from 2015 to 2022.

Early Life and Education

Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1961. Her biological mother was Scottish and her biological father was Nigerian. When she was a baby, she was adopted by Helen and John Kay. They were a white Scottish couple.

Jackie grew up in Bishopbriggs, a town near Glasgow. Her adoptive parents had also adopted her brother, Maxwell, a few years before. Jackie also has other brothers and sisters who grew up with her biological parents.

Her adoptive father worked for the Communist Party. Her adoptive mother was involved with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. As a child, Jackie sometimes faced racism from other children and teachers at school. Her adoptive father, John Kay, passed away in 2019. Her adoptive mother, Helen Kay, passed away in 2021.

When she was a teenager, Jackie worked as a cleaner for a few months. One of her employers was David Cornwell, who wrote books under the name John le Carré. She once said that cleaning was good for writers. She felt it allowed her to observe and listen to everything around her.

In 2007, Jackie Kay shared stories about her childhood on a BBC Radio 4 show called The House I Grew Up In.

Becoming a Writer

Jackie Kay first thought about becoming an actor. However, she decided to focus on writing after Alasdair Gray, a Scottish artist and writer, read her poems. He told her that writing was what she should do.

She studied English at the University of Stirling. Her first book of poetry, The Adoption Papers, was published in 1991. This book was partly about her own life. It won the Saltire Society Scottish First Book Award in 1992.

The Adoption Papers explores ideas about identity, race, and family. It tells stories from the viewpoints of three women: an adopted child, her adoptive mother, and her biological mother.

Jackie Kay has won other important awards. She received the 1994 Somerset Maugham Award for her book Other Lovers. She also won the Guardian Fiction Prize for her novel Trumpet. This novel was inspired by the life of an American jazz musician named Billy Tipton.

In 1997, Kay wrote a book about the famous blues singer Bessie Smith. This book was reissued in 2021. An edited version of the book was read by Jackie Kay herself on BBC Radio 4 in 2021.

Plays and Children's Books

Jackie Kay writes many different types of works. She writes for the stage, for television, and for children. In 1988, her play Twice Over was the first play by a Black writer to be produced by Gay Sweatshop Theatre Group.

Her play The Lamplighter explores the history of the Atlantic slave trade. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2007. This was part of a special series marking 200 years since the Slave Trade Act 1807 ended the slave trade in the British Empire. The play was later published as a poem in 2008.

In 2010, Kay published Red Dust Road. This book tells the story of her search for her biological parents. They had met when her father was a student and her mother was a nurse. The book was later turned into a play by Tanika Gupta. It was first performed in 2019 at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Jackie Kay is currently a Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. She also holds a special position at Glasgow Caledonian University. She lives in Manchester.

In 2011, she took part in a project called Sixty-Six Books. For this project, she wrote a piece based on the book of Esther from the King James Bible. In 2014, she was chosen to be the Chancellor of the University of Salford. She also became the university's "Writer in Residence" in 2015.

In March 2016, Jackie Kay was named the next Scots Makar. This is the national poet of Scotland. She took over from Liz Lochhead.

She was honored with the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2006 for her contributions to literature. In 2020, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her continued work in literature. In 2020, she was also included in the BBC's list of 100 Women.

In September 2024, the National Library of Scotland bought Jackie Kay's collection of writings and papers. This collection will help people learn more about her work.

In June 2025, Jackie Kay led the Salford Literacy Symposium at the University of Salford. This was a new conference aimed at encouraging more young people to read. The conference was part of a bigger effort by the National Literacy Trust to improve reading skills in Salford.

Awards and Recognitions

Jackie Kay has received many awards and honors throughout her career:

• 1991: Eric Gregory Award
• 1992: Scottish First Book of the Year for The Adoption Papers
• 1994: Somerset Maugham Award for Other Lovers
• 1998: Guardian Fiction Prize for Trumpet
• 2000: Shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award for Trumpet
• 2002: Became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
• 2003: Cholmondeley Award
• 2006: MBE for her services to literature
• 2007: British Book Awards deciBel Writer of the Year
• 2009: Shortlisted for Scottish Book of the Year for The Lamplighter
• 2011: Shortlisted for Scottish Book of the Year for Fiere
• 2011: Shortlisted for Costa Book Awards for Fiere
• 2011: Shortlisted for PEN/Ackerley Prize for Red Dust Road
• 2011: Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award (Non-Fiction) for Red Dust Road
• 2016: Became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
• 2016: Named The Scots Makar (National Poet for Scotland)
• 2020: CBE for her services to literature

Selected Books and Poems

Here are some of Jackie Kay's published works:

• The adoption papers, 1991 (poetry)
• Other Lovers, 1993 (poetry)
• Off Colour, 1998 (poetry)
• Trumpet, 1998 (novel)
• The Frog who dreamed she was an Opera Singer, 1998 (children's book)
• Two's Company, 1994 (children's book)
• Bessie Smith, 1997 (biography)
• Why Don't You Stop Talking, 2002 (fiction)
• Strawgirl, 2002 (children's book)
• Life Mask, 2005 (poetry)
• Wish I Was Here, 2006 (fiction)
• Darling: New & Selected Poems, 2007 (poetry)
• The Lamplighter, 2008 (poetry/radio play)
• Red, Cherry Red, 2007 (children's book)
• Maw Broon Monologues, 2009 (poetry)
• Red Dust Road, 2010 (memoir)
• Fiere, 2011 (poetry)
• Reality, Reality, 2012 (fiction)
• The Empathetic Store, 2015 (poetry)
• Bantam, 2017 (poetry)
• "The Writing Life" in The Women Writers Handbook, 2020
• May Day, 2024 (poetry)

Some of her poems are studied in schools, including:

• "Brendon Gallacher"
• "Lucozade"
• "Yellow"

See also

In Spanish: Jackie Kay para niños

• Twice Through the Heart – an opera with words written by Jackie Kay.