Wikipedia

Kay McKenzie Cooke

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.[1][2][3][4]

Kay McKenzie Cooke
Born1953 (age 72–73)
Tuatapere, New Zealand
GenrePoetry
Notable worksFeeding the Dogs
Notable awardsNZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry (2003)

Background

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Cooke was born in 1953 in Tuatapere.[5][1] She grew up in Orepuki.[6] 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.[7][8] Cooke currently lives in Dunedin.[9][10]

Career

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Cooke has been published in the 2020 and 2014 Best New Zealand Poems series and her work was praised in the 2007 edition.[11][12] She was included in The Second New Zealand Haiku Anthology[13] and Cordite Poetry Review.[14] 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.[7]

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".[15]

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.[16]

Works

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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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  1. 1 2 Sharp, Iain (10 August 2003). "Right first time". Sunday Star-Times. p. E.24. ProQuest 313989635.
  2. ↑ "Montana New Zealand Book Awards". Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  3. ↑ "Award-winning poet comes down south". The Southland Times. 28 September 2007. p. 13. ProQuest 330873209.
  4. ↑ Green, Paula (28 July 2020). "Poetry Shelf interviews Kay McKenzie Cooke". NZ Poetry Shelf. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  5. ↑ "Kay McKenzie Cooke". Bellamys at Five. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  6. ↑ Soper, Patricia (5 December 2002). "Inspired in Orepuki". The Southland Times. p. 7. ProQuest 330779368.
  7. 1 2 "Kay McKenzie Cooke". New Zealand Book Council. Retrieved 24 November 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ↑ "Kay McKenzie Cooke - Writer's Files • Read NZ Te Pou Muramura". www.read-nz.org. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  9. ↑ "Kay McKenzie Cooke". Shenandoah Literary. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Kay McKenzie Cooke". New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Best New Zealand Poems 2007". victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  12. ↑ "Best New Zealand Poems 2014". victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  13. ↑ Childs, Cyril, ed. (1998). The Second New Zealand Haiku Anthology. New Zealand Poetry Society. ISBN 9780473053741.
  14. ↑ "83: Mathematics". Cordite Poetry Review. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  15. ↑ Allison-Aitken, Jillian (5 July 2014). "Whimsical work a little gem". The Southland Times. p. A17. ProQuest 1542909181.
  16. ↑ "Kay Cooke". New Zealand Society of Authors & Writers Association. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
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