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Hold Your Own

Brief Description
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... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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Reissued in the Picador Collection, Hold Your Own is an incendiary reworking of the life of the mythical prophet Tiresias.

Reissued in the Picador Collection, Hold Your Own is an incendiary reworking of the life of the mythical prophet Tiresias. Now part of the Picador Collection

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

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 following on the performance and rap circuit. Brand New Ancients, also available from Picador, won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry and has played to packed concert halls on both sides of the Atlantic.

Series: Picador Collection

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  • The Crossing
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781035039173

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 10 September 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Picador

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 128

About the Author

Kae Tempest is a poet. They are also a writer, a lyricist, a performer and a recording artist. They have published plays, poems, a novel, and a book-length non-fiction essay, released albums and toured extensively, selling out shows from Reykjavik to Rio de Janeiro. They received Mercury Music Prize nominations for both of the albums Everybody Down and Let Them Eat Chaos, and two Ivor Novello nominations for their song-writing on The Book of Traps and Lessons. They were named a Next Generation Poet in 2014, a once-in-a-decade accolade. 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. Their books have been translated into eleven languages and published to critical acclaim around the world. They were born in London in 1985 where they still live. They hope to continue putting words together for a long time.

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  • On Connection
    Beneath the surface we are all connected . . . This is a meditation on the power of creative connection. Drawing on twenty years' experience as a writer and performer, Kae Tempest explores how and why creativityβ€”however we choose to practise itβ€”can cultivate greater self-awareness and help us establish a deeper relationship to ourselves and the world. Honest, tender and...
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  • Wasted
    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...
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  • Having Spent Life Seeking
    The heart-breaking, soul-building new novel about the transformative power of love, from the Sunday Times-bestselling Kae Tempest. 'A wonderful, moving and enlightening state-of-Britain novel' β€” IRVINE WELSH 'Kae Tempest at his finest' β€” ANTHONY SHAPLAND 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...
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