Scholarship named after MacColl

MacColl started her career at 16 with They Don't Know

The late singer/songwriter Kirsty MacColl is to be posthumously honoured with a scholarship named after her.

MacColl, 41, died when she was hit by speedboat while diving off the coast of Mexico with her two children last December.

Many of her songs are acutely observed vignettes about London life, family and relationships - always from her own unique point of view.

Dr Les Back

The scholarship is to be set up at the Centre of Urban and Community Research at Goldsmiths College, University Of London.

Her family has given consent for her name to be put on the scholarship. It will cover the fees for an MA in culture, globalisation and the city.

'Unique point of view'

Dr Les Back, acting head, said: "Many of her songs are acutely observed vignettes about London life, family and relationships - always from her own unique point of view."

"These aspects of her life and career resonate with the issues of music, culture and politics that are key themes within the MA," Back added.

There are also plans to put a memorial bench in Soho Square, inspired by the lyrics of one of her songs.

Her song Soho Square, featured on her album Titanic Days, included the line "an empty bench in Soho Square/ If you'd have come you'd have found me there".

Donations for the bench came from well wishers, with money also going to a fund set up in her name for her favourite country, Cuba.

Tropical Brainstorm, her last album, was heavily influenced by her experiences in Cuba and Brazil, reflecting her love of their music.

Following a trip to Cuba, she immersed herself in the country's sounds, even learning Spanish.

MacColl with Omara Portuondo in Cuba

Her Radio 2 series of programmes about Cuba, completed weeks before her death, were aired posthumously.

In January BBC Radio 2 broadcast an hour long tribute to the singer, presented by Johnnie Walker, who was a close friend of MacColl.

The programme, called Thank You for the Days - A Tribute To Kirsty MacColl, looked back at her life and career and examined her music.

The University scholarship will be established in September, and the memorial bench is set to be officially unveiled on 12 August.