Kae Tempest

Kae Tempest has published plays, poetry, non-fiction, a Sunday Times-bestselling novel and six studio albums. In 2013, he became the youngest poet ever to win the Ted Hughes Award. Named a Next Generation Poet in 2014, he also received the first of two Mercury Prize nominations that year – making him the only person to achieve both accolades. In 2021, he was awarded the Silver Lion in Venice for playwriting, and in 2023 won an Ivor Novello for songwriting. His 2026 novel, Having Spent Life Seeking, traces the journey of its protagonist, Rothko Taylor, returning to a coastal hometown after many years away.