Former Makar’s archive now available at National Library of Scotland

The literary archive of Scotland’s former national poet Jackie Kay has been made available for research and public viewing for the first time, at the National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge.

The archive totals 63 boxes of material offering unique insight into Kay’s life and writing and the rich record of her remarkable personal journey.

Acquired by the National Library of Scotland (NLS) in 2024, the remarkable archive includes early schoolbooks, personal letters, manuscripts of poems, novels, short stories and plays as well as diaries, audio cassettes, prizes, awards and honours belonging to poet, novelist and playwright who was Scotland’s Makar — or national poet — from 2016-21.

It also captures moments of Kay’s everyday life, such as family photos from trips to the Isle of Mull, and how she was dubbed the “poet laminate” by her father after she found one of her poems on the wall of a chip shop.

Alison Stevenson, the Library’s Director of Collections, Access and Research, said today/yesterday [TUES]: “We’re delighted to open Jackie Kay’s archive to the world. This is more than a collection of papers; it is a narrative of a life lived with courage, humour, and profound artistic integrity.”

Kay, 63, was born in Edinburgh to a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father, but was adopted as a baby by a white Scottish couple, Helen and John Kay, and grew up in Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow.

Her adoptive mother was Scottish secretary of the peace movement, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and her adoptive father was industrial organiser of the Communist Party.

She has previously told how her parents loved poetry and kept works by Scottish poets including Norman MacCaig, Sorley MacLean and Hugh MacDiarmid in the family home. But it was Audre Lorde, the late American writer, feminist and civil rights activist who inspired her.

Kay is the author of “The Adoption Papers”, which won the Forward Prize; “Red Dust Road”, winner of the Scottish Book of the Year Award; “Trumpet”; and the Costa-shortlisted “Fiere”.

Scotland’s third modern Makar since the position was established in 2004, she has said she only truly felt she belonged to Scotland when she succeeded Liz Lochhead as national poet in 2016.

The archive includes records of hateful posters targeting a young Kay at the University of Stirling, a memory of the hostility she faced as a Black woman.

She has previously spoken out about the racism she suffered, from “fascists” who put up these posters with razor blades behind so that anybody who tried to rip them down “would also get their hands shredded”.

The archive also charts her search for community in London, working with Sheba Feminist Press and co-founding the Black Lesbian Group.

Tape recordings of Kay’s radio appearances, poetry readings, and rehearsals for a production of her play, “Twice Over”, provide an invaluable insight into Kay’s life at this time.

One series of letters, on personalised stationery, is from Audre Lorde, who was first to tell Kay: “you can be black and Scottish, you don’t have to choose”.

Lorde’s letters, now available to view in the archive, include affectionate descriptions of Kay as “a wee lass from Glasgow with a mouth like a queen plum” and her characteristic sign-off, “be good, you hear?”