@ Edinburgh International Book Festival, on Wed 19 Aug 2015 @ 20:15
Kate Tempest has a good relationship with Edinburgh. In 2013 she performed her epic spoken word and music show Brand New Ancients at the Traverse Theatre and recently she stopped here on her poetry tour and also in support of her Mercury Music Prize short listed album Everybody Down. Tonight she is taking centre stage to read poetry at a special event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival as part of the spoken word strand – Babble On.
Kate is immersed in words and language. Poetry flows out of her in a way that commands attention and is impossible to ignore. The event is introduced by performance poet and Babble On co-organiser Luke Wright. He takes no time in making way for Kate Tempest who is reading from her poetry collection Hold Your Own. She reads for approximately an hour and barely pauses for breath, as she blends the poems from the collection together. The engaging reading builds a solid narrative that is immersed in Greek Mythology and discusses love, passion and the turmoils and joy of finding your own way in life. Her delivery is awe inspiring, but it is the words that have the lasting impression. Kate Tempest is a unique performer. Her poetry has life her and performances feel like interactive events, where the audience take the same steps as the poet. The words have conviction and seeing and hearing them spoken with such a rare and raw voice creates a secure connection with the audience and makes the reading feel special, warm and intimate.
The Babble On Strand at the Book Festival continues with events from George The Poet, Ryan Van Winkle and a special event looking at the poetry of Philip Larkin. There’s loads of events if you enjoy your poetry spoken out loud as well as written on the page and this evening Kate Tempest proved she is a master of both.