***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 MCCANN**Rothko 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 high street that remind them of t...

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...

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

‘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 ...

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...

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...

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...

Hold Your Own, Kae 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...

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...

I want to sing you early songs. Go deeper.I want to take you back where you began,Find the scraps of you you hid in secretAnd bring them back to life beneath my tongue.Divisible by Itself and One is the powerful new collection from our foremost truth-teller Kae Tempest. Ruminative, wise, with a newer, more contemplative and metaphysical note running through, it is a book engaged with the big question...

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 Kate Tempest paint a picture of lives less ordinary in an unforgiving world, soundtracked by an exhilarating score.A play about love, life and losing your mind, Wasted heralded the dr...