Shortlisted for: Costa Poetry Award

Jackie Kay's new collection is a lyric counterpart to her memoir, Red Dust Road, but it is also a moving book in its own right, and a deep enquiry into all forms of human friendship.

Fiere - Scots for companion, friend, equal - is a vivid description of the many paths our lives take, and of how those journeys are made meaningful by our companions on the road. Written with Kay's trademark wit and flair, and infused with both Scots and Igbo speech, it is also a fascinating account of the formation of a self-identity and the discovery of a tongue that best honours it.