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/
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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/
Mathew is an acclaimed documentary maker. Currently, Kay is a Prof. of Creative Writing at the University of Newcastle. She lives alone. But her partner of 20 years, Denise Else, who is a BBC sound engineer, lives nearby. Here is a link of Kay reading her poetry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZGCBsGZtU4 9/
From 2016 to 2021, Kay was the Makar, the poet laureate of Scotland. She was Chancellor of the University of Salford between 2015 and 2022. Her most recent publication, May Day, was published in April 2024. 10/
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