Jackie Kay’s poetry collection

was published in October 2017 by the London publishing house Picador and is Kay’s first collection to come out during her time as the Scots Makar, the Scottish poet laureate. Kay’s appointment as Makar was announced in March 2016, shortly after Liz Lochhead’s tenure, which lasted until January 2016. Though significant in its position in Kay’s oeuvre due to its connection with her role as poet laureate,

has not yet been discussed in critical and scholarly literature.

The collection contains poems both written during her time as Scots Makar and during her time as writer-in-residence at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, which is clearly visible in the selection of themes and content of the individual poems. Two poems, “Mr

1706 words

Citation: Burger, Bettina. "Bantam". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 July 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38874, accessed 22 November 2024.]