Breaking the Mould: Escaping the Term "Black British" in the Poetry of Bernardine Evaristo and Jackie Kay

Abstract

This article will discuss the work of Bernardine Evaristo and Jackie Kay in the context of “black British” poetry. I will argue that in both poets’ work the discussion of identities which are hybrid, complex and conflicted in terms of race and nation are further complicated as the exploration of gender and sexuality focuses on the personal and disrupts all classifications that are collective. Focussing on poems from Jackie Kay’s Darling: New and Selected Poems (2007) and Bernardine Evaristo’s verse-novels Lara (1997) and The Emperor’s Babe (2001) I will argue that as gender, sexuality, family relationships and motherhood, linguistic, cultural and poetic differences replace discussion of race and nation these writers present a post-racial and transnational understanding of the UK in the context of which easy labels, like “Black British” poetry are always up for debate. Furthermore, I will also suggest that Kay and Evaristo adapt poetic forms and push at their boundaries in order to accommodate their anomalous standpoints. Therefore just as “Black” and “British” become uncertain terms, so “Poetry” is also debated.