Television show review: In My Own Words - series 1, episode 4, Jackie Kay, (2024) directed by Louis Lockwood.

Hi everyone. Sorry for not posting on Monday but I was not feeling great. I think it is this heat here in the U.K; the weather has been rather hot lately. (I am never fan of the weather being extremely hot!) Todays post is the final review of the month that I had planned and therefore the post I had planned for Monday will be moved to June as the theme of the month will continue of course for a second month.

Speaking of review, I am looking at Jackie Kay's episode for the BBC programme In My Own Words. This episode is a heartwarming and deeply personal examination of Jackie Kay's life with Kay herself narrating it and featuring in the programme. She discusses how things were as she grew up, what she had to face and where her passion for writing began. For me, it allowed me to understand her writing better as I got to consider what made her write and where some of her inspirations came from. I was able to get a closer at her childhood and where her passion for writing began.

Aside from the writing and authorial aspect of her life, she went through the familial aspect of it too. I loved that I saw her walking down a busy street in London with a market on, buying stuff on her way to her son's place. Seeing how family has shaped her writing, it got me thinking about my own family I guess. One thing I love with authors is how they often many influences in the writing that they do. To be able to understand and be made aware of these influences from an author is a beauty. There were other influences besides Kay's family as well.

Some of these influences are things that I cannot comprehend what it like because I cannot ever be in these moments such as being Scottish or being black. Therefore it was nice to hear from Jackie Kay talking about these such things. I found Kay to be open and interesting as she narrated things from her life. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this episode and am going to give it a 10/10.


Until next time,


Thomas (they/them).

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