Jackie Kay

Watch award-winning poet and novelist Jackie Kay discuss her work and read her poetry. Two contemporary Scottish poets, MiKo Berry and Jenny Lindsay, explore Jackie's work with her and perform poems they have written in response to Jackie's work. 

A full transcript of this event is available to download.

If you only do one thing

We know time is tight, so here is just one activity you could complete with your class before or after watching the broadcast. 

Write a response poem LIT 3-10a, LIT 3-11a, LIT 3-16a, LIT 3-20a

Both MiKo Berry and Jenny Lindsay have written poems in response to Jackie Kay's work. Read a variety of Jackie's poems with your class and ask pupils to select their favourite. In pairs encourage pupils to dicuss why a particular poem is their favourite; is it the subject matter that attracted them to it? Or a particular style or device that Jackie has used? Ask them to write their own short poem in response. They can be inspired by the theme or style of writing. Once the poems are complete, encourage pupils to read them back to the class and discuss where their inspiration came from.

For shorter video clips from this event visit the BBC Scotland Learning(this will open in a new window) website.

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