The Adoption Papers

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The Adoption Papers is the debut poetry collection by the Scottish poet Jackie Kay. It was published in 1991. It won the Forward Prize for best first collection. [1]

The poems are autobiographical and relate Kay's adoption from three different perspectives, from that of her own, her mother's and her birth mother. [1] [2]

Writing in Poetry Review , Alastair Niven wrote The Adoption Papers " ... could well become a key work of feminism in action" and was "a wonderfully spirited, tender and crafted contribution to Scottish writing, to black writing, and to the poetry of our time. It is a work of the utmost generosity and truth". [1] Elizabeth Burns wrote in The Scotsman that the poems in the collection were " ... brave, honest, unsentimental" and "can be loud with pain and rage, but sometimes it's as though [Kay] whispers too, entering dreams, allowing herself a delicate imagery ... This book is full of fresh, remarkable poetry; its rhythms sing from the page, demanding to be heard". [1]

The collection was included in the Big Jubilee Read to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2022. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Jackie Kay: The Adoption Papers". Bloodaxe Books . Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  2. Kay, Jackie (27 February 2021). "'I felt a strange grief when I found my birth mother': Jackie Kay on The Adoption Papers". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  3. "The Big Jubilee Read - 1982-1991". BBC . Retrieved 22 April 2022.