Kay McKenzie Cooke | |
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Born | 1953 (age 71–72) Tuatapere, New Zealand |
Genre | Poetry |
Notable works | Feeding the Dogs |
Notable awards | NZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry (2003) |
Kay McKenzie Cooke (born 1953) is a New Zealand poet. In 2003, her collection, Feeding the Dogs, won the NZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry at the New Zealand Book Awards. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Cooke was born in 1953 in Tuatapere. [5] [1] She grew up in Orepuki. [6] She is of Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, English, Scottish, and Irish descent. She studied at Dunedin Teachers' College and worked in the early childhood education sector. [7] Cooke currently lives in Dunedin. [8] [9]
Cooke has been published in the 2020 and 2014 Best New Zealand Poems series and her work was praised in the 2007 edition. [10] [11] She was included in The Second New Zealand Haiku Anthology [12] and Cordite Poetry Review. [13] Her work has also appeared in a number of literary journals and magazines including: Takahe , "Landfall", New Zealand Listener , Sport, JAAM, Southern Ocean Review , Trout, Glottis, and Poetry New Zealand . [7]
Regarding Cooke's collection Born to a Red-Headed Woman, The Southland Times reviewer Jillian Allison-Aitken called it "autobiographical and raw, taking the reader on a journey through the poet's life, from carefree child to angry teen to balanced grandmother and more". [14]
Cooke was awarded the 2006 Dan Davin Foundation Award for her short story, "Where The Trees Lean Sideways".
Cooke has collaborated with fellow poet Jenny Powell to create 'J&K On The Road Again', a project to discover and promote poetry in the rural areas of New Zealand. [15]
Cooke has published four collections of poems:
Cooke has published three novels: