Overview

May Day is the long-awaited poetry collection from Jackie Kay, former Makar of Scotland. These poems move across decades of political activism and personal memory, linking international solidarity, feminist and LGBT+ movements, anti-racist struggle, and reflections on grief. Kay brings historical figures and intimate experience into a vivid poetic register.

Writing & Voice

We found Kay’s voice rhythmic, resonant, and urgent. Her poems blend political pulse with lyric intimacy, using language that feels both rooted in the body and alert to history. The tone moves between celebration, protest, and careful grief, always grounded in clear, accessible lines.

Content & Perspective

The collection moves between personal memory and wider social narratives. Kay evokes her parents’ socialist activism in Glasgow, major cultural movements of the 80s and 90s, and present-day urgency around racial justice and community. Interwoven are figures like Paul Robeson, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, and imagined encounters with history.

Themes

May Day explores activism, memory, identity, and collective struggle. It looks at how protest and community shape language and belonging, how love and loss co-exist, and how personal and political histories intersect. We were struck by the way the poems balance public urgency with private reflection.

What Worked

• Poetic range across personal and political terrain.
• Clear, powerful voice rooted in lived experience.
• Themes of solidarity and memory woven tightly.

Minor Quibbles

• Some references to historical figures assume prior knowledge.
• Readers new to poetry may want slower pacing between thematic shifts.

Final Thoughts

We found May Day galvanising and generous, weaving activism, memory, and grief into poems that feel lived-in, urgent, and quietly sustaining rather than slogan-driven.

Rating: ★★★★★ / 5