Photo: Martin Schumann / Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Kae Tempest is, to me, the strongest argument that poetry never lost its public. Coming out of Brockley with a Goldsmiths education and a battle-rap instinct, Tempest collapses the distance between page, stage, and recording studio: a Ted Hughes Award, a Royal Society of Literature fellowship, and a Silver Lion all point to one restless intelligence. What moves me is the empathy in the work, the way ordinary Londoners are rendered mythic without condescension. Few artists move between novels, plays, and albums without diluting any of them. Tempest does, and each form sharpens the others. This is the rare voice I would follow into any medium.
Overview
Kae Tempest (born Kate Esther Calvert; 1985), formerly Kate Tempest, is an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist, and playwright. As of 2026 he has released seven studio albums and many singles, as well as many collections of poetry, several plays, two novels, and one work of non-fiction. He has performed around the world, on tours and at festivals.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Kae Tempest
- Name (Japanese)
- ケイ・テンペスト
- Reading
- けい・てんぺすと
- Born
- December 22, 1985 (age 40)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Ox
- Origin
- Brockley, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- singer / writer / poet / composer / rapper
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Goldsmiths, University of London
Awards & achievements
- Ted Hughes Award
- 2015 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- 2021 Silver Lion
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Singer — see all → · Writer — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-10
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.