April 30th, 2026 (updated May 22nd) — The 71st Ivor Novello Awards were revealed yesterday in London with Kae Tempest (CRF 2017, DG 2015) taking home the award for Best Contemporary Song for “I Stand On The Line” from their album Self Titled. This award marks Kae’s second Ivor Novello Award. Combining lyrical credibility with authenticity and purpose, the track was recognized for giving voice to those “too often unheard” while balancing powerful social commentary. This comes just after the release of Having Spent Life Seeking (Jonathan Cape) his first novel in a decade, released April 30th.
About the Ivor Novello Awards
Coveted in the UK, the Ivor Novello Awards specifically recognize the importance of songwriting. Kae is honored alongside fellow award-winning songwriters including Rosalía, Lola Young, Sam Fender, and Calvin Harris.
About the Book
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 them: the skateboard kids on the high street that remind them of their teenage years, the splintered benches looking out to sea, where their mum Meg clutched her cans. The nice bit of town, where their dad Ezra tried and failed to build a happy home. And Dionne’s block. Beautiful, extraordinary Dionne, the only person who had ever looked at them and seen what was there.
Back then, overwhelmed and full of fear, they sank beneath the surface into chaos. But they made it out alive. And this time, Rothko is determined that things will be different.
A decade since Kae Tempest’s last novel, Having Spent Life Seeking is about family and forgiveness; redemption and atonement; desire and abandon; selfhood and community. The things we seek when we are hiding, and what finds us, if we can let ourselves be seen.