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Life Mask
Poetry by Scotland's leading lesbian poet.
64 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2005
122 people want to read
About the author
Jackie Kay
106 books435 followersBorn in Glasgow in 1961 to a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father, Kay was adopted by a white couple, Helen and John Kay, as a baby. Brought up in Bishopbriggs, a Glasgow suburb, she has an older adopted brother, Maxwell as well as siblings by her adoptive parents.
Kay's adoptive father worked full-time for the Communist Party and stood for election as a Member of Parliament, and her adoptive mother was the secretary of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Initially harbouring ambitions to be an actress, she decided to concentrate on writing after encouragement by Alasdair Gray. She studied English at the University of Stirling and her first book of poetry, the partially autobiographical The Adoption Papers, was published in 1991, and won the Saltire Society Scottish First Book Award. Her other awards include the 1994 Somerset Maugham Award for Other Lovers, and the Guardian Fiction Prize for Trumpet, based on the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton, born Dorothy Tipton, who lived as a man for the last fifty years of her life.
Kay writes extensively stage, screen, and for children. In 2010 she published Red Dust Road, an account of her search for her birth parents, a white Scottish woman, and a Nigerian man. Her birth parents met when her father was a student at Aberdeen University and her mother was a nurse. Her drama The Lamplighter is an exploration of the Atlantic slave trade. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in March 2007 and published in poem form in 2008.
Jackie Kay became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 17 June 2006. She is currently Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. Kay lives in Manchester.
Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. THE ADOPTION PAPERS (Bloodaxe, 1991) won the Forward Prize, a Saltire prize and a Scottish Arts Council Prize. DARLING was a poetry book society choice. FIERE, her most recent collection of poems was shortlisted for the COSTA award. Her novel TRUMPET won the Guardian Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the IMPAC award. RED DUST ROAD, (Picador) won the Scottish Book of the Year Award, was shortlisted for the JR ACKERLEY prize and the LONDON BOOK AWARD. She was awarded an MBE in 2006, and made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2002. Her book of stories WISH I WAS HERE won the Decibel British Book Award.
She also writes for children and her book RED CHERRY RED (Bloomsbury) won the CLYPE award. She has written extensively for stage and television. Her play MANCHESTER LINES produced by Manchester Library Theatre was on this year in Manchester. Her new book of short stories REALITY, REALITY was recently published by Picador. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University.
Kay's adoptive father worked full-time for the Communist Party and stood for election as a Member of Parliament, and her adoptive mother was the secretary of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Initially harbouring ambitions to be an actress, she decided to concentrate on writing after encouragement by Alasdair Gray. She studied English at the University of Stirling and her first book of poetry, the partially autobiographical The Adoption Papers, was published in 1991, and won the Saltire Society Scottish First Book Award. Her other awards include the 1994 Somerset Maugham Award for Other Lovers, and the Guardian Fiction Prize for Trumpet, based on the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton, born Dorothy Tipton, who lived as a man for the last fifty years of her life.
Kay writes extensively stage, screen, and for children. In 2010 she published Red Dust Road, an account of her search for her birth parents, a white Scottish woman, and a Nigerian man. Her birth parents met when her father was a student at Aberdeen University and her mother was a nurse. Her drama The Lamplighter is an exploration of the Atlantic slave trade. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in March 2007 and published in poem form in 2008.
Jackie Kay became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 17 June 2006. She is currently Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. Kay lives in Manchester.
Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. THE ADOPTION PAPERS (Bloodaxe, 1991) won the Forward Prize, a Saltire prize and a Scottish Arts Council Prize. DARLING was a poetry book society choice. FIERE, her most recent collection of poems was shortlisted for the COSTA award. Her novel TRUMPET won the Guardian Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the IMPAC award. RED DUST ROAD, (Picador) won the Scottish Book of the Year Award, was shortlisted for the JR ACKERLEY prize and the LONDON BOOK AWARD. She was awarded an MBE in 2006, and made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2002. Her book of stories WISH I WAS HERE won the Decibel British Book Award.
She also writes for children and her book RED CHERRY RED (Bloomsbury) won the CLYPE award. She has written extensively for stage and television. Her play MANCHESTER LINES produced by Manchester Library Theatre was on this year in Manchester. Her new book of short stories REALITY, REALITY was recently published by Picador. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 21, 2022
Some standout poems here (I especially liked ‘Old Tongue’ and ‘Life Mask’ towards the end), but others left less of an impression on me. 3.5/5
March 2, 2014
This is the second poetry collection by Jackie Kay I read after The Adoption Papers (which I loved) and I was impressed enough by it not to be my last one. As the collection’s name itself alludes the theme of this collection is mask as a symbolism of identity, change and disguise. Some poems are about her biological father in Africa and mask takes cultural dimensions with the idea of identify being masked and unmasked by heritage. Her personal life is also of prominent role with memory playing a vital part in the way the is poet trying to understand and remember how things used to be in her relationship, how these memories have shaped her but once again contributed in re-shaping her present. One of my favorite poems from the collection is titled Clay=Freedom in which the theme of shape is becoming literal with the use of clay that allows you to create a new shape or alter an existing one alluding once again to the theme of identity
‘ Just take a face, my face if you like
And give it another name
Just take the shape in your strong hands
And make it another shape’
Just take my shape in your arms
And let it form another body’
Past is represented by memory in the collection, but there is also a positive hint for the future in the references to her son and to change as not something to be feared but as an inevitable outcome with positive connotations.
I definitely recommend this collection to poetry lovers.
‘ Just take a face, my face if you like
And give it another name
Just take the shape in your strong hands
And make it another shape’
Just take my shape in your arms
And let it form another body’
Past is represented by memory in the collection, but there is also a positive hint for the future in the references to her son and to change as not something to be feared but as an inevitable outcome with positive connotations.
I definitely recommend this collection to poetry lovers.
December 20, 2015
The best lines:
"At last my lips are sealed;
and my eyes are shut tight.
No more talking; shielded
by the dark, the dumb black light."
Page 31, Plaster
Being dominated by the world and what has been predestined!No way!You have to confront it!
Picturing real life in poetry, simple with no embellishments, honest and believable, capturing poetic moments,FRANK !
Nice repetitions and word plays:
"Just take a face, my face if you like/ And give it another name/Just take the shape in your strong hands / And make it another shape/ Just take my shape in your arms/ And let it form another body/Just take the prints from my fingers/And give me a new pair of hands/Just take your hands and hold my new face/ To your face and call me another name."
Page 41
Words transfering to objects, objects to words and that comes to unity.Picturing a love triangle perhaps, TRAGIC !
The poems leave a bitter sense in mind, quite impressive...
"At last my lips are sealed;
and my eyes are shut tight.
No more talking; shielded
by the dark, the dumb black light."
Page 31, Plaster
Being dominated by the world and what has been predestined!No way!You have to confront it!
Picturing real life in poetry, simple with no embellishments, honest and believable, capturing poetic moments,FRANK !
Nice repetitions and word plays:
"Just take a face, my face if you like/ And give it another name/Just take the shape in your strong hands / And make it another shape/ Just take my shape in your arms/ And let it form another body/Just take the prints from my fingers/And give me a new pair of hands/Just take your hands and hold my new face/ To your face and call me another name."
Page 41
Words transfering to objects, objects to words and that comes to unity.Picturing a love triangle perhaps, TRAGIC !
The poems leave a bitter sense in mind, quite impressive...
September 23, 2008
"Her" is my favorite. It's best when Jackie Kay reads it with her Scottish accent. I played it for my students in intro to lit and they seemed to like it more than the traditional poetry I forced them read.
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July 20, 2010Still not a big fan of poetry, but there were a couple in here that I liked.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews