Jackie Kay is a multi-award-winning poet, playwright and writer of memoir and fiction. She’s an MBE and a CBE, Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University and Chancellor of the University of Salford. But she’s also the Makar, or national poet for Scotland. Every baby born in Scotland gets a poem by her in their baby basket. Through lockdown, she has brought the role to a global stage with her Makar to Makar series online. In this moving and deeply personal conversation, she talks about her own emotional struggles during the pandemic, Black Lives Matter and how poetry can help us all.

Listen to the podcast here: Jackie Kay, poet, playwright, novelist and Makar (Scottish poet laureate) on poetry in dark times