Former Poet Laureate for Scotland Jackie Kay reads from her new collection, May Day, and shares stories from her unique journey to becoming ‘one of Britain’s most loved and lauded poets’, and her politically active life, from Reclaim the Streets to Gay Pride to Black Lives Matter. Jackie recently starred in BBC One’s In My Own Words series. She will be in conversation with writer Joelle Taylor.

Jackie Kay was granted an MBE in the 2006 Birthday Honours for services to literature, and a CBE in the 2020 New Year Honours, again for services to literature.

Jackie Kay is Professor of Creative Writing and former Chancellor of the University of Salford, and recently starred in BBC One’s In My Own Words series. Her novel Trumpet won the Guardian Fiction Prize. She has published three collections of stories: Why Don’t You Stop Talking; Wish I Was Here; and Reality, Reality; two poetry collections: Fiere and Bantam; and a memoir, Red Dust Road. From 2016 to 2021 she was the third modern Makar, the National Poet for Scotland. 

Joelle Taylor is an award-winning poet, playwright, author and editor. Her most recent poetry collection C+NTO & Othered Poems won the 2021 TS Eliot Prize, and the 2022 Polari Book Prize for LGBT authors; her debut novel The Night Alphabet was published in 2024. She is a co- curator and host of Out-Spoken Live at the Southbank Centre, and tours her work nationally and internationally.