The Wickedest - Caleb Femi

The Wickedest

By: Caleb Femi

Hardcover | 24 February 2025

At a Glance

Hardcover


$47.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $11.94 with

 or 

Available: 24th February 2025

Preorder. Will ship when available.

'Atmospheric and intoxicating' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS'A joyous, lyrical read' YOMI ADEGOKE'Hypnotic and freewheeling' GUARDIANCaleb 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.

‘One of London’s most renowned poets’ SALMA EL-WARDANY, BBC Radio London

‘I love the collection so much’ NICK GRIMSHAW, BBC Radio 6

'A near-holy experience' JONATHAN ESCOFFERY

'This is poetry that moves and is felt in the body' ANDREW MCMILLAN

Caleb Femi's collection, Poor, won the Forward Prize's Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection in 2021

More in Poetry

Dropbear : Winner of the 2022 Stella Prize - Evelyn Araluen
Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass : Poems - Lana Del Rey
Complete Poems Of Banjo Paterson - A. B. Paterson

RRP $39.99

$35.35

12%
OFF
Doggedly Onward : A Life in Poems - Pam Ayres

RRP $55.00

$39.90

27%
OFF
The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump - Rob Sears
Heroes : The myths of the Ancient Greek heroes retold - Stephen Fry
The Prophet : Penguin Classics Hardcover - Kahlil Gibran

RRP $32.99

$30.25

The Way Forward : The Inward Trilogy - yung pueblo

RRP $34.99

$31.50

10%
OFF
Iliad and Odyssey : Leather-bound Classics - Homer

RRP $49.99

$37.25

25%
OFF
Throat : Uqp Poetry - Ellen van Neerven

RRP $24.99

$23.75

milk and honey - Rupi Kaur

RRP $29.99

$27.35

The Essential Rumi : New Expanded Edition - Coleman Barks
Tao Te Ching : Penguin Classics - Lao Tzu

RRP $17.99

$17.95

The Epic of Gilgamesh : Penguin Classics - Andrew George

RRP $22.99

$17.75

23%
OFF
The Odyssey : Bevelled Edge Edition - Homer

RRP $31.95

$23.25

27%
OFF
The Iliad - Homer

Paperback

RRP $32.95

$30.25