Kate Tempest: Musician, Poet, Playwright, and Novelist

Promotional Partner: DaVerse Loungee – A Big Thought and Journeyman Ink Program
Award-winning poet and performer Kate Tempest’s electrifying debut novel, The Bricks That Built the Houses, portrays the beating heart of London in a multi-generational tale of drugs, desire, and belonging. Tempest, widely regarded as the UK’s leading spoken word poet, won the Ted Hughes Award for Poetry in 2013 for her poem Brand New Ancients which was conceived as a performance piece. Her album Everybody Down was a 2014 Mercury Prize finalist, with each track corresponding to a chapter in The Bricks That Built the Houses. Bob Boilen of NPR raved about her saying, “Of all the artists I saw at SXSW this year, Tempest was the one I'll never forget. The London hip-hop artist, playwright and poet speaks with a clarity and honesty unencumbered by code or lingo, with stories that cut to the very heart of how we try to survive and embrace our time on Earth.”