Vulnerability and Verse: Jackie Kay and Hannah Lavery at StAnza 2025

With the arrival of Scotland’s international poetry festival, StAnza, in St Andrews, the Byre Theatre opened its doors to a number of literary talents. On Saturday 15 March, the festival hosted the first of several ‘Bards & Blethers’ talks, beginning with former Scottish Makar, Scotland's national poet, Jackie Kay and former Edinburgh Makar Hannah Lavery.

Kay’s work is no stranger to the University, having earned both an honorary doctorate and a staple spot on the first-year English reading list for her debut novel Trumpet. Meanwhile, Lavery’s work has been honored with a nomination for the Saltire Prize in 2022 and a role as an Associate Artist at National Theatre Scotland. Both writers boast prolific bibliographies spanning several literary genres, including novels, plays, and, of course, poetry collections.

The event began with a series of readings by Kay from her 2024 poetry collection May Day. Kay’s poems were largely autobiographical, her words painting a vivid recollection of her past. Before each reading, Kay gave a brief explanation of the inspiration behind the poem, with many being linked to the relationship to her late parents, to whom she dedicated the collection. The poems’ intimate nature made for a powerful listening experience for both the audience and, indeed, Lavery, who appeared quite literally in awe and, at one point, was even moved to tears. 

Kay’s performance addressed identity, memory, and grief in a profoundly engaging way that captivated her extremely attentive audience. Despite the intensity of such topics, the delivery never felt entirely solemn, uplifted by Kay’s distinctly joyful tone. This particularly stood out in the poem ‘A Life in Protest,’ in which Kay cheerfully skipped down memory lane, recalling, as the title would suggest, her long history with activism. Clearly, Kay is no stranger to a captive audience and knew exactly how to use this to her benefit: building rapport by cracking jokes and even taking requests.

Kay may have been a tough act to follow, but Lavery rose to the occasion with a charming sheepishness and hypnotic stage presence. Lavery’s background in theatre was certainly present throughout her work; she punctuated her readings with a series of ‘Theatre Announcement’ poems that felt right at home onstage at the Byre. However, her proclamation in one announcement that “art is dead” felt a tad ironic when read aloud to a packed audience  which had payed to see and support art.

Lavery’s work did not share the clear storylines present throughout Kay’s poetry, rather it was composed through an abstract style that left more to the imagination. While this made for an intriguing experience for the listener, Lavery’s swift pace did not leave much time to fully digest the depth of each poem before beginning another.

Following the readings, the pair moved on to the rather brief blether portion of the event, during which they gushed about their admiration for each other’s works and the craft itself. They asked one another questions on a range of topics, such as the role of identity and loss present in both their works. As the discussion progressed, it became more and more apparent that, despite differences in style, their inspirations and subject matter had much more in common than not.

Later, the conversation took a rather meta turn as the pair discussed – with a fellow writer – whether or not their work is “in conversation” with fellow writers. Ultimately, Lavery concluded that it wasn’t. Instead, she stated that her work simply intends to honor those writers whom she respects, proving this point with her final poem of the evening: a short piece on friendship dedicated to Kay herself.

As the hour drew to a close, time was allotted for audience questions. When asked how they manage to overcome the fear of vulnerability when sharing their works with an audience, Kay remarked that the feeling is mutual. Being an audience member is as vulnerable as being onstage, she assured She let this thought briefly linger, before concluding the evening with a poem on her late father. As I noticed my fellow audience members once more being moved to tears and laughter, I found myself finally starting to see Kay’s point.

For those lucky few who aren’t afraid of vulnerability, those would enjoy being in direct conversation with some of the best literary minds of the nation, or simply those that like to sound cultured in front of your friends, I strongly urge you to head to the Byre Theatre and catch another excellent StAnza event.

Photo provided by StAnza 2025