Kate Tempest

City Books present Kate Tempest launching her new book of poetry Hold Your Own.

Kate Tempest's first full-length 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.

A vastly popular and accomplished performance poet, Tempest commands a huge and dedicated following on the performance and rap circuit. Brand New Ancients, also available from Picador, won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work In Poetry and has played to packed concert halls on both sides of the Atlantic.

Kate writes rhymes, lyrics, poems, prose and plays. She began at sixteen, rapping in battles across London, and began performing spoken word at twenty-one. She's performed her writing on stages all over the world.