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Hold Your Own
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
30 posts | 26 read | 22 to read
My heart throws its head against my ribs, / it's denting every bone it's venting something it has known since I arrived and felt it beat.Kate Tempest, winner of the Ted Hughes Award for Brand New Ancients and widely regarded as the UK's leading spoken word poet, has produced a new poem-sequence of electrifying power. Based on the myth of the blind prophet Tiresias, Hold Your Own is a riveting tale of youth and experience, sex and love, wealth and poverty, community and alienation. Walking in the forest one morning, a young man disturbs two copulating snakes--and is punished by the goddess Hera, who turns him into a woman. This is only the beginning of his journey . . . Weaving elements of classical myth, autobiography and social commentary, Tempest uses the story of the gender-switching, clairvoyant Tiresias to create four sequences of poems, addressing childhood, manhood, womanhood, and late life. The result is a rhythmically hypnotic tour de force--and a hugely ambitious leap forward for one of the most broadly talented and compelling young writers today.
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ju.ca.no
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Book announcement from amazing Kate Tempest😍 I loved the books I‘ve read so far, so I‘m very excited!

Kalalalatja Exciting! 4y
43 likes1 comment
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Bindrosbookshelf
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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My #bookhaul today to cheer me up.
The Maggie O‘Farrell and This Shattered World were on sale.
Good Talk looks amazing, what I have flipped through, same goes for the two poetry books.
Just read the Poet X and NEEDED With the Fire On High.
I‘m in a weird reading mood and I think my choices reflect that...

Kalalalatja Love, love, love the tagged book 🙌 5y
Lovesbooks87 With the Fire on High was so good! 5y
Bindrosbookshelf @Kalalalatja I read another of hers earlier this year and really enjoyed it but even just the opening poem I read in the store, I HAD to get it! 5y
Bindrosbookshelf @Lovesbooks87 I‘m looking forward to it 😍😍 5y
27 likes4 comments
blurb
mklong
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Oh @Kalalalatja I love everything in my #favoritepoetswap package so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have read Plath‘s novel too but not much of her poetry either so I‘m looking forward to that and the Kate Tempest volume looks wonderful. The notebook and pens are so pretty and now seeing those yummy looking almonds, I know why Sandy 🐶 was so interested in the package! I wish I could stay in bed all day, read poetry and eat almonds!

mklong Big thank you to @LazyDays for organizing this swap! It was so much fun 😊 6y
Cinfhen ❤️ 6y
Kalalalatja I had so much fun shopping for you! I love Kate Tempest, so I really hope you‘ll enjoy her poetry 🤞 6y
See All 8 Comments
ju.ca.no Great picks!! 6y
LazyDays Thank you for joining! I am happy we've all had a blast💗💗 I'll have to add Kate Tempest to my list! 6y
batsy Wonderful! 6y
merelybookish Lovely! I'm curious about Kate Tempest! 6y
mklong @merelybookish Me too! Blessedly, I have the whole week off next week, so I will get to it very soon. 6y
71 likes8 comments
review
RiaWritten
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

This book was really gorgeous. Really interesting use of rhyme and gender stuff.

quote
Bookwomble
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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“How many yous have you been?
How many,
Lined up inside,
Each killing the last?”

readingjedi That is one freaky picture 😱 6y
saresmoore Eep! I may have nightmares... 6y
Bookwomble @readingjedi It seemed so right for the quote 😏 6y
LeahBergen @saresmoore me, too! 😬 6y
15 likes4 comments
quote
Bookwomble
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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“Better to have been a dickhead and seen it,
than be a cunt all your life and not know it.”

- I'm not generally one to use offensive language, but sometimes it feels appropriate.

Weaponxgirl Oh that is a face you want to punch........ 6y
Weaponxgirl Repeatedly 6y
Bookwomble @Weaponxgirl It's a face that does put a strain on my pacifist ideals! (Though it's not so much his face as what his overweening ambition and greed seems to have etched upon it. I assume Boris has a portrait in his loft in which he looks fresh-faced, young and full of hope.) 6y
Weaponxgirl @Bookwomble yes it‘s what the face portrays as he is being a mean, evil, odious little man. 6y
15 likes4 comments
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Kalalalatja
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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I lovelovelove Kate Tempest‘s poetry! I still need to read her novel, but I can definitely recommend the tagged poetry collection 👌

I couldn‘t find Tempest‘s favorite book, but I did find that she is influenced by Blake and the Wu Tang Clan, so there you go 😄

#AGameofFavorites

batsy I think I need that edition of Blake 😍 6y
ReadingEnvy I like watching her on youtube 6y
Lcsmcat @batsy Me too! 6y
Kalalalatja @batsy @Lcsmcat it is the Folio Society edition, and not as expensive as most of the other FS books 😉 @ReadingEnvy she is great! 6y
Becker I also love her poetry. Didn‘t love her book but her poetry is so smart and beautiful. 6y
100 likes1 stack add5 comments
review
ju.ca.no
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

beautiful, mindblowing, heartbreaking & mending, important and amazing poetry collection that really touched me! I highly recommend it to everyone, even if you usually don‘t like poetry, this is worth a shot! Thank you @Kalalalatja for recommending it! #blameitonlitsy 5/5🌟

Kalalalatja Yay, I‘m so happy you liked it 👏👏 6y
ju.ca.no @Kalalalatja very much! 😍 I‘m gonna order the other poem collection as well😍 6y
Kalalalatja I enjoyed that too, but not quite as much as Hold Your Own 👍 6y
See All 8 Comments
ju.ca.no @Kalalalatja ah good to know! I‘ll try not having the absolut highest expectations😅 6y
Kalalalatja I still need to read her first collection, Brand New Ancients and her novel 6y
ju.ca.no @Kalalalatja oh me too😍 6y
Tanisha_A Wow! I am going to try this one. I saw her live performing this - https://youtu.be/9z5Czr4xo7c. And then next day I met her at the airport, she was kind to give an autograph for my friend (he became a fan after that performance)! 6y
ju.ca.no @Tanisha_A oh how great! 😍lucky you! Thanks for the link☺️ 6y
55 likes2 stack adds8 comments
blurb
ju.ca.no
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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I‘ve just started this poetry collection and am already enjoying it very much! Thank you @Kalalalatja for recommending it🤗

Kalalalatja Enjoy! 6y
68 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
lauralovesbooks1
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

I really liked this poetry collection. There were a couple that didn't do much for me (as always seems to be the case for me), but the majority of them were either evocative or provocative. This collection has a central theme from a Greek mythology and the entire collection is structured around the elements of that theme -- and it worked well to link the works together so they both stood alone as well as contributed to a broader picture.

readordierachel Sounds interesting! And that cover is incredible. 7y
23 likes1 comment
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lauralovesbooks1
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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From These Things I Know -- Language lives when you speak it. Let it be heard. The worst thing that can happen to words is that they go unsaid.

blurb
Kalalalatja
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Kate Tempest‘s poetry are full of #beautifulwriting. So beautiful, in fact, that I have considered getting a line of it tattooed on my body 👌

#ReadingResolutions

hlgreenfield I own hold your own and have been slowly enjoying it! It's really good! 7y
Kalalalatja @hlgreenfield it is one of my favourite poetry collections 👏 7y
mcipher Ooooh, what‘s the line?! 7y
See All 8 Comments
Kalalalatja @mcipher it is “We kept still and let the planet move”. It took my breath away the first time I read it 👌 7y
mcipher Oh, that is lovely! Now I am adding this to my TBR. ☺️ 7y
ju.ca.no I just bought this despite my bookbuying ban and I‘m blaming you😘 😅😅 7y
Kalalalatja @ju.ca.no haha I will happily take the blame! Hope you enjoy it 🤞💜 7y
ju.ca.no @Kalalalatja I‘m very excited to start it😍 it should arrive next week💖💖💖 7y
87 likes3 stack adds8 comments
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Becker
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Kate Tempest taught me how to love poetry

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Kalalalatja
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Some day, when I finally decide that it is time for my second #tattoo, I am going to get this quote from Kate Tempest. I'm thinking of having it done right over my left elbow, but that's as far as I have got.

When I read this, I could almost feel my heart slowing down as calm filled me up. It reminds me to breathe and remember that the world moves on no matter what.

#AugustGrrrl

Cinfhen 💕💕💕 7y
charl08 Love her. 7y
Soubhiville That's beautiful. 7y
Kalalalatja @charl08 me too 💙 @Soubhiville she writes such beautiful and powerful poetry 👌 7y
83 likes4 comments
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charl08
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

This was as amazing as I hoped it would be.

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charl08
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Soon we'll learn to disappear in public... Scalding poetry for #24in48

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dastevensish
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

Really enjoyed this poetry collection based around the Greek mythological figure of Tiresias. Because I got this from the library, I don't feel like I got to spend enough time with it though. So I really might have to buy it. #poetry #queerbooks

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ReadingEnvy
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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A bit if a bizarre collection centered around the classic character of the prophet Tiberius, a gender fluid person popping up in ancient literature. But then the poet uses the word tranny in a poem so I don't know. Favorite poem was probably "Thirteen." #nationalpoetrymonth

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Lauren
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Power

Becker Beautiful. She is both tender and ferocious. 7y
7 likes1 comment
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Kalalalatja
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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I don't have any #bookishtattoos - yet. After reading Kate Tempest's poetry collection last year with this quote, I have been considering getting it tattooed in some form on my arm. It's just such a beautiful quote 💙

#riotgram

WordWaller 💖 8y
45 likes2 comments
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readingkitty
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

I've decided to read more poems this year, so I picked Hold Your Own by Kate Tempest. One of the best decision! Beautiful and powerful! Most of the poems were inspired by the Greek mythology 'Tiresias' and the also contains poems about love, war and gender.

Highly recommended!!

5/5 ⭐

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Kalalalatja
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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These three books are my #bestofoctober.

I loved Ship of Magic for its epicness. Robin Hobb builds worlds like no other, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Nimona was such a fun read, with a badass female main character and great character names all over.

Hold Your Own surprized me and hasn't really lessend its hold on me yet. It's a great collection of poetry, and everyone should read it!

#booktober 📚📚

Eyelit I'm moving ship of magic higher up my tbr list! 8y
moranadatter Ship of Magic looks good! 8y
I-read-and-eat I loved the Lifeships trilogy! 8y
Kalalalatja @Eyelit @kmdartist It's really good! 8y
24 likes3 stack adds4 comments
review
Kalalalatja
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

I can't get my hands down, this was so great! Kate Tempest writes in a beautiful, earnest and mesmerizing way that I just can't get enough of. Read this if you are new to poetry, if you read all the poetry, or just if you want something exciting. I looooooove this ❤️❤️❤️

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Kalalalatja
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Yaasssssss! Loving this poetry collection already 😍

13 likes2 stack adds
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SophieWaters
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

Woah. That was so powerful. Thought provoking and bursting with rhythm. I'm going to have to read everything by Kate Tempest now.

review
BooksForYears
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

A belated #24in48 & #recommendsday review:

In Tiresius' myth, he experiences childhood, womanhood, manhood, prophethood. These are the four chapters into which Tempest sections her work. Within, poems discuss topics of the timelessness of the human condition - war, relationships, gender, PTSD, love, aging, sex, and forgiveness. There is a great diversity in the style and structure of each poem, but all are infused with a rhythm and musicality.

12 likes3 stack adds
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BooksForYears
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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If my calculations are correct, I have about an hour left before I complete the #24in48 #readathon - finishing strong with HOLD YOUR OWN, a book of poetry by author an artist Kate Tempest

review
Uranaishi
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
Pickpick

Kate Tempest doesn't write to the beat of the heart, but rather to the timing of the tide - the world's most ancient rotation of life blood. Her poetry is ancient and modern, & wholly epic. Bleeding & sexy to just the right degree. Read this book, but look her videos up so you have her voice.

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bookshopsc
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

"Genderqueer, crass and angry, young & beautiful & painfully alive." - A.C.

3 likes1 stack add
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woohoobooks
Hold Your Own | Kate Tempest
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Pickpick

Just finished this incredible poetry collection. Recommend to those who fear poetry and to those who love it.