01 Oct

20:00

TivoliVredenburg

Vredenburgkade 11, Utrecht

Join a special book talk with the phenomenal Kae Tempest—poet, playwright, songwriter, rapper, and novelist. Tempest will discuss their latest book, Having Spent Life Seeking, and more.

Book Talk: Kae Tempest

More info & tickets

We welcome the phenomenal Kae Tempest – poet, playwright, songwriter, rapper, and novelist. They will be our guest at our Book Talk to discuss, among other things, their latest book, Having Spent Life Seeking.

Kae Tempest is an exceptional talent; they are the author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Bricks That Built the Houses, winner of the Ted Hughes Award for their poetry (as the youngest poet ever to receive it), and a musician with no fewer than seven studio albums to their name. Ten years after the publication of their debut novel, they are coming to ILFU to talk about their long-awaited new book, Having Spent Life Seeking, a lyrical return to the coastal town from which their protagonist, Rothko Taylor, left fifteen years ago. An honest and poignantly timely coming-of-age novel about first loves and complex families, written during a period of major changes in the author’s personal life – including a gender transition.

In conversation with Kae

Presenter, author, and journalist Teddy Tops will be in conversation with Tempest about redemption and atonement, longing and surrender, identity, and community. We will announce later who will be delivering the laudatory speech for Kae.

The conversation will take place in English.

About the Speakers

Kae Tempest

English rapper, musician, writer, and spoken word artist Kae Tempest has produced seven successful studio albums and has been acclaimed as a poet (including winning the Ted Hughes Award). They also have two novels to their name, including the Sunday Times bestseller The Bricks That Built the Houses. In the new novel Having Spent Life Seeking (2026), we follow the return of protagonist Rothko Taylor to their coastal hometown after a fifteen-year absence.

Teddy Tops

Teddy Tops (1989) is a writer, programmer, and cultural journalist. She hosts the VPRO program 'Een Uur Cultuur' every Saturday on NPO Radio1. She creates programs and MCs at events like Oerol, Lowlands, and Theaterfestival Boulevard. She also founded the queer art collective 'Trek Iets Leuks Uit' and the queer art club night 'Jezabel'. Her debut novel 'Egelskop' was published in 2025 by Nijgh en Van Ditmar.