British Poet and Author to Speak at Women's History Month
Dinner
USM celebrates Women's History Month this year with a visit
by Jackie Kay, an award-winning British poet, playwright and
novelist, who has written about adoption, gay/lesbian issues,
and racism.
Kay will be the Women's History Month keynote speaker at
5 p.m., Friday, March 7, in Luther Bonney Auditorium on the
Portland campus. Her free address, "Bessie and Me: Telling
the Stories and Singing the Blues," will be followed by a
free reception in the Woodbury Campus Center. A dinner with
Kay will take place in the Woodbury Campus Center Dining Room
beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets for the dinner are $15 public
and $9 for students, and must be ordered by Wednesday, March
5, by calling the Women's Studies Program at 780-4289.
Jackie Kay, the daughter of a Scottish mother and Nigerian
father, was adopted at birth by a white couple and brought
up in Glasgow, Scotland. Her book, "Bessie Smith" (1997),
about the early 20th century American blues singer, is part
of the Outlines series on leading gay and lesbian writers
and creative artists. Kay explains in the book that she knew
no other black people while growing up except her brother.
Her first Bessie Smith album was a gift from her father when
she was twelve, and she says seeing Smith's photo on the album
cover "was like finding a friend."
Kay's first novel, "Trumpet" (1998), was inspired by the
story of jazz musician Billy Tipton, who, although born a
woman, lived as a man with a wife and child. Kay has written
several works for the stage, including, "Chiaroscuro," and
"Twice Over," which were performed originally by the Gay Sweatshop,
a British theater group based in London. Her first collection
of poetry, written between 1980 and 1990, "The Adoption Papers,"
was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of the "Drama Now" series,
and won the Saltire Award and Forward Prize. Her second collection
of poetry, "Other Lovers" (1993), won a Somerset Maugham Award.
Kay currently is Northern Arts Literary Fellow and is a fellow
of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in Manchester,
England with her son and poet Carol Ann Duffy.
During Kay's stay in Portland she will visit the following
USM classes which will be open to the public:
Wednesday, March 5
In David Carey's "Introduction to Women's Studies" class,
2-3:30 p.m., Room 313, Bailey Hall, Gorham.
Thursday, March 6
In Susan Feiner's "Introduction to Women's Studies" class,
11:45 a.m.-1 p.m., Room 410, Luther Bonney Hall, Portland.
In Cheryl Laz's "Sociology of Gender" class, 1:15-2:30 p.m.,
Room 502, Luther Bonney Hall, Portland.
In Nancy Gish's "British Poetry since 1900" class, 4:10-6:40
p.m., Room 301A, Payson Smith Hall, Portland.
Monday, March 10
In Deepika Marya's "Women in the Nation" class, 11:45 a.m.-1
p.m., Room 44, Payson Smith Hall, Portland.
In Howard Solomon's "Homosexuals and Heterosexuals in History"
class, 4:10-6:40 p.m., Room 524, Luther Bonney Hall, Portland.
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