Beneath the surface we are all connected . . .'An authentically soothing, powerful, thought-provoker.'MATT HAIG' On Connection is medicine for these wounded times.'MAX PORTER' On Connection came to me when I needed it most, and reminded me that the links we have to places, people, words, ourselves, are what keep us alive.'CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS...

*Dua Lipa's Service95 Book Club Pick for June 2026*'Trust me, you will love these characters' DUA LIPA'Amazing, it really moved me' SHON FAYE'If books can still change the world, this one most likely will' COLUM MCCANNRothko Taylor has washed up with the tide, back in their hometown, Edgecliff. Fifteen years since they left it behind.The past is accelerating towards them: the skateboard kids on the hig...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG BREAKTHROUGH AUTHOR AWARDKae Tempest**'**s critically acclaimed debut novel, the literary companion to their Mercury-Prize nominated album Everybody Down, takes us into the beating heart of the capital in this multi-generational tale of drugs, desire and belonging

Mary Jean Chan and Andrew McMillan's luminous anthology, 100 Queer Poems, is a celebration of thrilling contemporary voices and visionary poets of the past. Featuring Elizabeth Bishop, Langston Hughes, Ocean Vuong, Carol Ann Duffy, Kae Tempest and many more.* A Guardian Best Poetry Book of the Year ** Shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards *Encompassing both the flowering of queer poetry over the past f...

Kae Tempest is one of the most exciting and innovative performers to have emerged in spoken-word poetry in many years; their dramatic poem Brand New Ancients won the prestigious Ted Hughes Prize for innovation in poetry. Tempest’s wholly unique blend of street poetry, rap and storytelling – combined with the spellbinding delivery of an open-air revivalist – has won them legions of followers all over the UK. Tempest's remarkable stage presence is wholly audible in this poem, a spok...

‘Tempest has a gift for shattering and transcending convention.’ New York TimesPhiloctetes lives in a cave on a desolate island: the wartime hero is now a wounded outcast. Stranded for ten years, he sees a chance of escape when a young soldier appears with tales of Philoctetes’ past glories. But with hope comes suspicion – and, as an old enemy emerges, he is faced with an even greater temptation: revenge.Kae Tempest is now widely acknowledged as a ...

Hold Your Own, Kae Tempest's first full-length poetry collection for Picador is an ambitious, multi-voiced work based around the mythical figure of Tiresias.This four-part work follows him through his transformations from child, man and woman to blind prophet; through this structure, Tempest holds up a mirror to contemporary life in a direct and provocative way rarely associated with poetry.'Dazzling' – Metro'Mesmerising' – ...

Running Upon The Wires is Kae Tempest’s first book of free-standing poetry since the acclaimed Hold Your Own. In a beautifully varied series of formal poems, spoken songs, fragments, vignettes and ballads, Tempest charts the heartbreak at the end of one relationship and the joy at the beginning of a new love; but also tells us what happens in between, when the heart is pulled both ways at once.Running Upon The Wires is, in a sense, a departure from their ...

I'm making a decision. I'm changing things. This is it.Three old friends in their mid-twenties. One remarkable day. For Ted, Danny and Charlotte, it's time to seize control. Make a difference. Change things. This is it.A day trip through the parks and raves and cafes of South London, where life is what you make it. The rapid fire words of Kae Tempest paint a picture of lives less ordinary in an unforgiving world, sound-tracked by an exhilarating score.The dr...

Freedom has only ever meantLove.And life lived without loveIs not life enough.Chess is in prison. Facing a lengthy sentence, her cell mate, Serena, becomes her soul mate. But when Serena is given parole, Chess faces total isolation.Hope comes in the form of a music producer looking for a reason to love music again. She finds a powerful voice in Chess. But to harness her talent, Chess must first face her past.F...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 MERCURY MUSIC PRIZELet Them Eat Chaos, Kae Tempest's new long poem written for live performance and heard on the album release of the same name, is both a powerful sermon and a moving play for voices. Seven neighbours inhabit the same London street, but are all unknown to each other. The clock freezes in the small hours, and, one by one, we see directly into their lives: lives that are damaged, disenfranchised, lonely, broken, addi...

Der neue Gedichtband von Kae Tempest ist eine Öffnung: Nach der Einsamkeit und dem Stillstand der Corona-Jahre, nach dem Coming-out als nicht-binär/trans erzählt Tempest ehrlich und präzise von Verletzlichkeit und Selbstentblößung, von Zweifel und Hoffnung. Von unerfüllbaren Rollenerwartungen und der Ablehnung des eigenen Körpers, von der Flucht in den Rausch und dem Glück, wenn sich zwei Hände am Rand einer Bühne überraschend begegnen. Vom seltsamen Anblick der*des kranken Geliebten, nack...