Kay McKenzie Cooke
{{short description|New Zealand poet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Kay McKenzie Cooke
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1953}}
| birth_place = Tuatapere, New Zealand
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| genre = Poetry
| notableworks = Feeding the Dogs
| awards = NZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry (2003)
| website =
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Kay McKenzie Cooke (born 1953) is a New Zealand poet. In 2003, her collection, Feeding the Dogs, won the NZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry at the New Zealand Book Awards.{{Cite news |title=Montana New Zealand Book Awards |url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/montana-new-zealand-book-awards/ |access-date=8 June 2018 |language=en-NZ}}{{cite news |date=2007-09-28 |title=Award-winning poet comes down south |newspaper=The Southland Times |page=13 |id={{ProQuest|330873209}}}}{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Paula |date=2020-07-28 |title=Poetry Shelf interviews Kay McKenzie Cooke |url=https://nzpoetryshelf.com/2020/07/29/poetry-shelf-interviews-kay-mckenzie-cooke/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=NZ Poetry Shelf |language=en}}
Background
Cooke was born in 1953 in Tuatapere.{{Cite news|url=https://bellamysatfive.wordpress.com/the-poets/kay-mckenzie-cooke/|title=Kay McKenzie Cooke|date=16 March 2013|work=Bellamys at Five|access-date=24 November 2017|language=en-US}}{{cite news |last=Sharp |first=Iain |date=2003-08-10 |title=Right first time |newspaper=Sunday Star-Times |page=E.24 |id={{ProQuest|313989635}} }} She grew up in Orepuki.{{cite news |last=Soper |first=Patricia |date=2002-12-05 |title=Inspired in Orepuki |newspaper=The Southland Times |page=7 |id={{ProQuest|330779368}} }} She is of Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, English, Scottish, and Irish descent. She studied at Dunedin Teachers' College and worked in the early childhood education sector.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writer/cooke-kay-mckenzie/|title=Kay McKenzie Cooke|website=New Zealand Book Council|access-date=24 November 2017}} Cooke currently lives in Dunedin.{{Cite web|url=https://shenandoahliterary.org/622/author/kcooke/|title=Kay McKenzie Cooke|website=Shenandoah Literary|language=en-US|access-date=24 November 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/features/dunedin/cooke.asp|title=Kay McKenzie Cooke|website=New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre|access-date=24 November 2017}}
Career
Cooke has been published in the 2020 and 2014 Best New Zealand Poems series and her work was praised in the 2007 edition.{{Cite web|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/iiml/bestnzpoems/BNZP07/t1-front1-d2.html|title=Best New Zealand Poems 2007|website=victoria.ac.nz|access-date=24 November 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/iiml/bestnzpoems/BNZP14/contents.html|title=Best New Zealand Poems 2014|website=victoria.ac.nz|access-date=24 November 2017}} She was included in The Second New Zealand Haiku Anthology{{Cite book|url=http://www.brooksbookshaiku.com/othersbooks/newzealand2.html|title=The Second New Zealand Haiku Anthology|editor-last=Childs|editor-first=Cyril |publisher=New Zealand Poetry Society|year=1998|isbn=9780473053741}} and Cordite Poetry Review.{{Cite web|url=http://cordite.org.au/content/poetry/mathematics/|title=83: Mathematics|website=Cordite Poetry Review|language=en-US|access-date=24 November 2017}} Her work has also appeared in a number of literary journals and magazines including: Takahe, "Landfall", New Zealand Listener, Sport, JAAM, Southern Ocean Review, Trout, Glottis, and Poetry New Zealand.
Regarding Cooke's collection Born to a Red-Headed Woman, The Southland Times reviewer Jillian Allison-Aitken called it "autobiographical and raw, taking the reader on a journey through the poet's life, from carefree child to angry teen to balanced grandmother and more".{{cite news |last=Allison-Aitken |first=Jillian |date=2014-07-05 |title=Whimsical work a little gem |newspaper=The Southland Times |page=A17 |id={{ProQuest|1542909181}} }}
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 to create 'J&K On The Road Again', a project to discover and promote poetry in the rural areas of New Zealand.{{Cite web|url=https://authors.org.nz/author/kaycooke/|title=Kay Cooke|website=New Zealand Society of Authors & Writers Association|language=en-US|access-date=24 November 2017}}
Works
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 published three novels:
- Craggan Dhu (Time Will Tell) (Amazon Digital Services LLC – KDP Print USA), {{ISBN|9798630145512}}
- Quick Blue Fire (Amazon Digital Services LLC – KDP Print USA), {{ISBN|979-8357633552}}
- I, Said The Lark (Amazon Digital Services LLC – KDP Print USA), {{ISBN|9798875803550}}
References
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External links
- [https://kaymckenziecooke.com Official website]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Kay McKenzie}}
Category:New Zealand women poets
Category:People from Tuatapere
Category:Dunedin College of Education alumni