South London spoken word artist and rapper Kae Tempest first performed as a poet at an open mic night when they were sixteen. Since then, they have been nominated twice for the Mercury Prize for their albums Everybody Down and Let Them Eat Chaos and won the Ted Hughes Award for their dramatic poem Brand New Ancients.

They write prolifically, producing plays, a novel, poetry collections and 2020’s non-fiction book, On Connection, about the power of creative connection. This year’s new album The Line Is A Curve follows up 2019’s The Book of Traps and Lessons, which was praised by critics for its gritty blend of brutal truth and tenderness.