Tempest ci racconta la vita, l'amore, la monotonia, la banalità e il male in una chiave inedita e irresistibile. Mostly, in that it does not live up to its premise of finding the godlike in quotidian contemporary life.

L'abilità narrativa nei poemi in versi della Tempest è encomiabile, poiché mantenere il ritmo della storia attraverso la poesia e le rime non è cosa da tutti. Questo poema è un invito a ritrovare la deità che è in ciascuno di noi, un invito a ritrovarla attraverso l'amore. Brand New Ancients", their self-performed epic poem to a live score, won the Ted Hughes Award 2012 and the Herald Angel at Edinburgh Fringe.Honest, insightful, heart wrenching, fun, philosophical, angry, inspired, revolutionary, hopeful, ironic, and pragmatic all with an internal rhythm that you can't help but be pulled along into. Our blog is written by many different voices and, although everything we share is in line with our values, some of the views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the wider views of GWL. Kae Tempest is one of the most exciting and innovative performers to have emerged in spoken-word poetry in many years: this dramatic poem won the prestigious Ted Hughes Prize for innovation in poetry. I was drawn to this narrative poem by the cover – Ancient Greeks toting briefcases and smart phones. This is a very short read, with stanzas musing on the constancy of the human condition and how we really haven’t come so far from the days when Zeus and Hera might have walked among us.

Her poetry flows in a way that translates to the page extremely well but works even better when spoken aloud (as the poem should be, the title page advises). An ancient god’s name here, a examination of modern godhood there, but overall much of this analogy, and especially of Tempest’s ancient inspirations, remained unexplored. The story of Mary and Brian, Jane and Kevin, and their two sons is dramatic enough to carry the reader through the poem, but it is, in the end, a superficial one.It suggests that this outcome could be avoided – like characters from the Greek mythology she draws upon, we all have the ability to become a hero or to become wicked, but it’s up to us how we choose to use this power. They received the Ted Hughes Award for their long-form narrative poem Brand New Ancients and the Leone D’Argento at the Venice Teatro Biennale for their work as a playwright.

I first came across Kate Tempest’s poetry in 2018, when I bought her collection Running Upon the Wires on a whim. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.Kate Tempest is indeed a skilled wordsmith, and Brand New Ancients showcases the full range of her lyrical talent, stylistic repertoire, and linguistic creativity. It’s the kind of story that deserves to be read all in one go, preferably with tea, and lose yourself into the world of these characters whose lives intersect in ways that are recognisable to the reader. If Homer got bladdered with Ken Loach in a south London pub, they might come up with something like this. I really love the parallels between the storyline of the two generations and the one more abstract about the « gods of the every day». I'm well impressed with this one, reminds me at times of Ginsberg's Howl, the short lines, long lines and repetition give you a feeling of constantly changing direction.

Tempest uses rhythm, rhymes, different lyrical styles (including rap) and other stylistic devices to great effect.I have bought her play "Wasted" which is also brilliant and I'm waiting for the new album which I have already heard so much of on Radio 6.