Kay McKenzie Cooke


Kay McKenzie Cooke is a poet from New Zealand.

Background

Cooke was born in 1953 in Orepuki, Southland, New Zealand. She is of Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, British, and Irish descent. She attended the Dunedin Teachers' College and worked in the Early Childhood Sector. Cooke currently lives in Dunedin.

Career

Cooke's has published three collections of poems:
Cooke has been published in the 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, New Zealand Listener, Sport, JAAM, Southern Ocean Review, Trout, Glottis, and Poetry New Zealand.
Cooke has collaborated with fellow poet Jenny Powell to create 'J&K Rolling Outrider Poetry', 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.