Kae Tempest

Kae Tempest is a British poet, playwright, rapper, and novelist who is one of the most electrifying literary performers of their generation. Born in London in 1985, they studied English Literature at Goldsmiths and were named a Next Generation Poet by the Poetry Book Society. They are non-binary and use they/them pronouns. Brand New Ancients is an epic narrative poem performed to a live score — a modern myth set on the streets of south-east London, arguing that the gods of ancient Greece are alive in ordinary people. It won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. Tempest's other works include the poetry collections Hold Your Own and Running Upon the Wires, and the novels The Bricks That Built the Houses and On Connection. Their audiobooks and books offer listeners and readers poetry and prose that crackles with the energy of live performance — writing that finds the mythic in the everyday.