This year’s Venice Biennale marks a major shift in European cultural politics suggests CLARE CAROLIN
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Poetry of praise and protest
RUTH AYLETT recommends a new collection that is direct and open to all, both conversational and radical
Jackie Kay MBE, Chancellor of the University of Salford, April 29 2015
[University of Salford Press Office/CC]
ANGUS REID applauds the potential of an ambitious show about Gaza, and encourages it to keep its nerve
MATTHEW HAWKINS considers the opening offering at the National Festival of Korean Dance
ANDY HEDGECOCK welcomes an effective and entertaining overview of those who see erroneous ideas as self-evident truths
KENNY MacASKILL welcomes that rare thing: a readable analysis and explanation of the capitalist economy
The world of fake news, where people don’t believe what they are fed, will lead to a demand for authenticity, suggests PAUL DONOVAN
May Day
By Jackie Kay, Picador
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Jackie Kay has been a leading British poet for a good 30 years and she was Scotland’s Makar (poet laureate) from 2016-21. Her poetry is direct and open to all, and her voice is distinctive: both conversational and radical.
May Day is her latest collection. Its title has two meanings, represented by two poems, one called MayDay, and the other May Day. The first is a signal of distress at the recent deaths of her parents, while the second is a celebration of their activist lives as committed socialists and trade unionists, including many years in the British Communist Party.
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