Her adoptive father was an MP and worked for the Communist Party. Her adoptive mother worked as a secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She dealt with racism from teachers and students at school. 2/
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She studied at the University of Stirling and published her first book of poetry, The Adoption Papers, in 1991. The volume was a bit autobiographical and she also won two awards for the book in 1992. 3/
The Adoption Papers is about a biracial girl (not unlike Kay), who was adopted by a white Scottish couple. It is told from three different perspectives: the mother, the birth mother, and the daughter. Kay's writing spans genres. In 2010, she published her memoir Red Dust Road. 4/
Kay has also written other works, including Bessie Smith, Other Lovers, Trumpet, Why Don't You Stop Talking, Darling: New & Selected Poem, etc. She has also written children's books, such as Coorie Doon: A Scottish Lullaby Story. 5/
Red Dust Road allowed her to focus on the search of her biological parents. The book was adapted for the stage and premiered in August 2019. She forged connections with numerous writers, including Audre Lorde. She shared some of her poetry with Lorde and asked for advice. 6/
Kay began writing because “there wasn’t anybody else saying the things I wanted to say…I started out of that sense of wanting to create some image of myself.” She was appointed MBE in 2006 and the CBE in 2020; both for her contributions to literature. 7/
She has won numerous literary awards for your publications. Kay is a lesbian, and for a while, Kay thought she was the only Black lesbian in Scotland. She lives in Machester. For a period of 10 years, she lived there with her son Matthew, Carol Ann Duffy, and Duffy's daughter. 8/
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