Jackie Kay

One of Britain's most engaging live performers, poet Jackie Kay brings warmth, wit and extraordinary humanity to every reading.

The acclaimed poet, novelist and former Scottish Makar performs a selection of poems from her landmark new collection, Selected Poems 1991 - 2026, spanning more than three decades of extraordinary work.  

From the groundbreaking The Adoption Papers to the acclaimed May Day, Jackie’s poetry explores love and loss, childhood and family, activism and community, history and the present day, all bound together by the warmth, humanity and emotional insight that define her work.

‘Jackie Kay is the people‘s poet because she puts language where it starts - in our mouths, and holds it where it belongs - in our hearts' - Jeanette Winterson

Rich in compassion and the power of performance, this is a rare opportunity to experience one of our finest writers reading from a body of work that has moved and inspired generations.

Jackie Kay is an award-winning poet, novelist and writer of short stories whose works include Trumpet, Red Dust Road and the acclaimed poetry collections Fiere, Bantam and May Day. Scotland's Makar (National Poet) from 2016 - 21.

Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh. A poet, novelist and writer of short stories, she has enjoyed great acclaim for her work for both adults and children. Her novel, Trumpet, won the Guardian Fiction Prize. 

She has published three collections of stories with Picador, Why Don’t You Stop Talking, Wish I Was Here, and Reality, Reality; two poetry collections, Fiere and Bantam; and her memoir, Red Dust Road.

From 2016 to 2021 she was the third modern Makar, the poet laureate of Scotland.

A Patron of Manchester Literature Festival, she lives in Manchester and is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Salford.