The Wickedest

'Atmospheric and intoxicating … The Wickedest is a heady night in the dance' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS

Caleb Femi returns with a landmark, life-affirming new poetry collection, The Wickedest.

This is a minute-by-minute depiction of a typical night at a legendary monthly house party known as 'The Wickedest'. Here, we meet a vivid cast of characters, young and old, all surfing a revelry steeped in camaraderie, community, desire and a spirit of jubilant defiance.

A modern epic, The Wickedest explores the institution of shoobs or house parties and their vital role within working-class communities. The poems range from classical English sonnets to experimental forms and are immersively interwoven with photographs, text messages and ephemera. The collection playfully dissembles parties – in space, sound, law and bureaucracy – to document the precarious existence of our nightlife venues.

In Caleb Femi's inimitable, cinematic style the book builds to a crescendo that is at once euphoric and grief-soaked. The Wickedest calls us to cast our minds to the moments we stood surrounded by our loved ones on a dancefloor, arms outstretched, and freed ourselves from the weight of reality to float.

Reviews

Praise for The Wickedest:

‘Atmospheric and intoxicating, lyrical and inviting, The Wickedest is a heady night in the dance, and Caleb Femi is the life of the literary party' Candice Carty-Williams, author of People Person

Praise for Caleb Femi:

'Restlessly inventive, brutally graceful, startlingly beautiful … a landmark debut' Guardian

'Oh my God, he's just stirring me. Destroying me' Michaela Coel

'Caleb's talent calls for a global stage' Virgil Abloh

'A poet of truth and rage, heartbreak and joy' Max Porter

'Takes us into new literary territory … impressive' Bernardine Evaristo

'Simply stunning. Every image is a revelation' Terrance Hayes

'An urban romantic … powerful' Dazed & Confused

About the author

Caleb Femi is a writer, director and photographer, and was featured in the Dazed 100 list of the next generation shaping youth culture. Femi’s award-winning debut poetry collection, Poor, was published in 2020 by Penguin, and won the Forward Prize for best first collection in 2021. It was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, longlisted for the Jhalak Prize, was selected as a Book of the Year by the New Statesman, Financial Times, Guardian, Observer, Rough Trade and the BBC, and was added to AQA's English Literature GCSE syllabus in the UK in 2022. He has directed TV episodes for HBO, the BBC and Netflix, as well as commercials, high-fashion films and runway shows for brands such as Louis Vuitton, TikTok, Bottega Veneta, Dior, Mulberry and NCS. From 2016 to 2018 he was the Young People’s Laureate for London, working with young people on a city, national and global level.