Kae Tempest is one of the most exciting and innovative performers to have emerged in spoken-word poetry in many years; her dramatic poem "Brand New Ancients" won the prestigious Ted Hughes Prize for innovation in poetry. Tempest's wholly unique blend of street poetry, rap, and storytelling - combined with the spellbinding delivery of an open-air revivalist - has won her legions of followers all over the UK. Her remarkable stage presence is wholly audible in this poem, a spoken story written to be told with live music.
"Brand New Ancients" is the tale of two families and their intertwining lives, set against the background of the city and braided with classical myth. Here, Tempest shows how the old myths still live on in our everyday acts of violence, bravery, sacrifice and love - and that our lives make tales no less dramatic and powerful than those of the old gods .
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In the old daysthe myths were the stories we used to explain ourselves.
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(@picadorbooks, 29 August 2013, paperback, 64 pages, bought from @AmazonUK
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I'm a huge fan of the author. Brand New Ancients is how I discovered their work. I chose this book for the 2017 Popsugar Reading Challenged and discovered a brilliant poetic voice that I've loved and consumed ever since. Pardon me for having a fangirl moment. I also have an audiobook of Brand New Ancients. I just read the paperback this time. I love this book. Tempest is brilliant at twisting myths and legends into strange, modern shapes and this book is a shining example of this. I devoured it in a single setting. It was a pleasure to return to this book.
