Kay McKenzie Cooke (born 1953) is a poet from New Zealand.

Background

Cooke was born in 1953 in

Tuatapere Tuatapere is a small rural town in Southland, New Zealand. It is the self declared "Sausage Capital of New Zealand". Tuatapere is located eight kilometres from the southern coast. The Waiau River flows through the town before reaching Te Waewa ...

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

, New Zealand. She is of Kai Tahu,

Kāti Māmoe Kāti Māmoe (also spelled Ngāti Māmoe but not by the tribe themselves) is a historic Māori iwi. Originally from the Hastings area, they moved in the 16th century to the South Island which at the time was already occupied by the Waitaha. A ...

, English, Scottish, and Irish descent. She attended the Dunedin Teachers' College and worked in the Early Childhood Sector. Cooke currently lives in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Career

Cooke has published four collections of poems: * ''Feeding the Dogs'' (2002, Otago University Press) * ''Made for Weather: Poems by Kay McKenzie Cooke'' (2007, Otago University Press) * ''Born to a Red-Headed Woman'' (2014, Otago University Press) * "Upturned" (2020, The Cuba Press) Cooke has been published in the 2020 & 2014 ''Best New Zealand Poems'' series and her work was praised in the 2007 edition. She was included in ''The Second New Zealand Haiku Anthology'' and ''Cordite Poetry Review''. Her work has also appeared in a number of literary journals and magazines including: '' Takahe'', "Landfall", ''

New Zealand Listener The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...

'', ''Sport'', ''JAAM'', ''

Southern Ocean Review Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

'', ''Trout'', ''Glottis'', and ''

Poetry New Zealand Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

''. Cooke has published two novels: "Craggan Dhu (Time Will Tell)" Fiction. Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC – KDP Print U.S.A. ISBN 9798630145512 "Quick Blue Fire" Fiction. Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print U.S.A. ISBN 979-8357633552 Cooke was awarded the 2006, Dan Davin Foundation Award for her short story, ‘Where The Trees Lean Sideways’. Cooke has collaborated with fellow poet

Jenny Powell Jenny Powell (born 8 April 1968) is an English television and radio presenter. After appearing on '' No Limits'', she went on to present series such as ''Wheel of Fortune'', '' UP2U'', ''Gimme 5'', '' Live Talk'', ''Wordplay'' and '' Daybreak'' ...

to create 'J&K On The Road Again', a project to discover and promote poetry in the rural areas of New Zealand.

Awards

In 2003 Cooke's collection, ''Feeding the Dogs'' won the NZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry at the

New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Kay McKenzie Living people 1953 births New Zealand women poets Ngāti Kahungunu people Writers from Dunedin People from Tuatapere Kāti Māmoe people Ngāi Tahu people