Book description
Jackie Kay’s new collection is a lyric counterpart to her memoir,
Red Dust Road
, the extraordinary story of the search for her Nigerian and Highland
birth-parents; but it is also a moving book in its own right, and a deep
enquiry into all forms of human friendship. Fiere - Scots for
‘companion, friend, equal’ - is a vivid description of the many paths
our lives take, and of how those journeys are made meaningful by our
companions on the road: lovers, friends, parents, children, mentors - as
well as all the remarkable and chance acquaintances we would not
otherwise have made. Written with Kay’s trademark wit and flair, and
infused with both Scots and Igbo speech, it is also a fascinating
account of the formation of a self-identity - and the discovery of a
tongue that best honours it. Musical and moving, funny and profound, Fiere
is Jackie Kay’s most accomplished, assured and ambitious collection of
poems to date. JACKIE KAY was born in Edinburgh. She is a poet,
playwright, novelist and writer of short stories and has enjoyed great
acclaim for her work for both adults and children. Her novel Trumpet
won the Guardian
Fiction Prize, and she has published two further collections of stories
with Picador, Why Don’t You Stop Talking?
and Wish I Was Here
. She lives in Manchester.
