Scots Makar, Scotland's national poet, from 2016 to 2021, Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh to a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father and adopted as an infant by a Glasgow couple. Her debut collection, The Adoption Papers (Bloodaxe, 1991), won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, a Saltire Award, and an Eric Gregory Award. Her later collections include Fiere (Picador, 2011), shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. She was appointed MBE in 2006 and is a professor of creative writing at Newcastle University.
