Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. She has published five collections of poetry for adults 'The Adoption Papers' (winner of a Forward Prize, a Saltire Award and a Scottish Arts Council Book Award.)
 

'Other Lovers' (which won the Somerset Maugham Award) and 'Off Colour' were shortlisted for the 1999 TS Eliot Award.  'Life Mask' and 'Darling', New and Selected Poems (both Poetry Book Society Recommendations.)
 

Her first novel, 'Trumpet' (Picador, 1998) won the Guardian Fiction Prize, a Scottish Arts Council Book Award and The Author’s Club First Novel Award. It was also on the shortlist for the IMPAC award.

Her new collection of short stories, 'Wish I was Here'  won the Decibel Writer of the Year award. She is a fellow of The Royal Society of Literature. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University.  Her new collection of poetry for children, 'Red, Cherry Red' was published by Bloomsbury and won the CLPE award in 2008.  'The Lamplighter', the play she wrote for the BBC to commemorate the abolition of the slave trade has just been published. Her memoir 'Red Dust Road' will be published next year by Picador. She lives in Manchester with her son.

She was awarded an MBE in 2006.