Jackie Kay – May Day
WithJackie Kay
In conversation withAndrés N Ordorica
On:25th April 2024, 7:30pm - 8:45pm
We are so excited that Jackie Kay is coming to Edinburgh to celebrate the publication day launch of May Day. It's an honour to welcome the beloved former Makar of Scotland back to the church hall at Nicolson Square Edinburgh where she last joined us in September 2023 to chair an event with Lemn Sissay. We're looking forward to another special evening in Kay's company!
Kay will perform some of the poems from May Day before discussing the inspiration behind this new collection with poet and writer Andrés N. Ordorica. There will also be time for questions from the audience.
Please note that this event will take place at Nicolson Square Edinburgh in the city centre.
Books for the Book & Ticket option will be available to collect at the event venue. Doors due to open at 7pm.
Please note that there will not be a livestream of this event.
About May Day:
May Day is the long-awaited new collection from one of our best-loved poets and former Makar of Scotland, Jackie Kay. As the title suggests, these poems cast an eye over several decades of political activism, from the international solidarity of the Glasgow of Kay’s childhood, accompanying her parents’ Socialist campaigns, through the feminist, LGBT+ and anti-racist movements of the 80s and 90s, up to the present day when a global pandemic intersects with the urgency of Black Lives Matter.
Kay brings to life a cast of influential figures, delving beneath the surfaces of received narratives: the Jamaican model Fanny Eaton, for example, muse of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in England; Paul Robeson, Angela Davis and the poet Audre Lorde; and a ‘what-if’ poem concerning Rabbie Burns and a road-not-taken towards the West Indian slave trade. Woven through the collection is a suite of lyric poems concerning the recent losses of Kay’s parents: poems of grief and profound change that are infused with the light of love and celebration.
Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.
Participants:
Jackie Kay Author
Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. She is the author of—among other books—The Adoption Papers, which won the Forward Prize, Red Dust Road, winner of the Scottish Book of the Year Award, Trumpet, and the Costa-shortlisted Fiere. She was the third Makar, or National Poet for Scotland (2016-2021). She is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Salford. Her new collection MAY DAY was published in 2024 to great acclaim.
Andrés N Ordorica Chair
Andrés N. Ordorica is a queer Latinx writer based in Edinburgh. Drawing on his family’s immigrant history and his own third culture upbringing, his writing maps the journey of diaspora and unpacks what it means to be from ni de aquí, ni de allá (neither here, nor there). He is the author of the poetry collection At Least This I Know. His writing has been shortlisted for the Morley Prize for Unpublished Writers of Colour, the Mo Siewcharran Prize and the Saltire Society’s Poetry Book of The Year. How We Named the Stars is his first novel. He serves as a trustee and board member for Artlink Edinburgh. He is passionate about advocating for increased opportunities for marginalised communities to engage with the creative arts.
The venue
Nicolson Square Edinburgh
The Methodist Church
Nicolson Square
Edinburgh
EH8 9BX
Telephone: 0131 662 8635
Website: www.nsevenue.com
Main hall accessible via lift, accessible toilet facilities.