Jackie Kay served as Scotland’s Makar from 2016 to 2021 and is one of Scotland’s foremost writers. Much of her work explores her own life and heritage, her upbringing and the cultural forces which shaped her. Many of her poems illuminate the stuff of everyday existence, and commemorate the love of family and friends with great tenderness and humour. Often, too, her writing explores the lives of others, giving marginalised and persecuted individuals a voice and bearing witness to the consequences of the worst in human nature.

Lorna Borrowman Smith’s Scotnote Study Guide examines issues of family and cultural identities in Jackie Kay’s work. It covers a wide range of her poetry as well as her 2008 poetic drama The Lamplighter, and provides a comprehensive and stimulating guide for senior school pupils and teachers.