Jackie Kay: In conversation

Jackie will share her experiences as a looked after child and the search for her family roots, as documented in her 2010 memoir Red Dust Road. She will be in conversation with Janaya Pickett, writer, researcher and project facilitator for the Bluecoat’s Looked After Children project.

From 2016 - 21 Kay was the Makar, Poet Laureate of Scotland. She has been honoured for her services to literature and won many awards for her work, including the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1998. Her biography of blues singer Bessie Smith featured as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week in 2021.

This programme is part of Echoes and Origins, the Bluecoat’s heritage participation project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It explores the intersection of two historical narratives, the building’s looked after children and Liverpool’s colonial legacies, and their contemporary echoes. For more information visit our website.

Host or Publisher Bluecoat