Description
For one night only, join award-winning poet, filmmaker, photographer, and former London’s Young People’s Laureate, Caleb Femi, as he celebrates the release of his most ambitious collection yet, 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.
In conversation with New Currency founder, Kazeen Kuteyi, together they will reflect on the institution of “shoobs” or house parties and their vital role within working-class communities.
Caleb will perform and discuss poems that paint a picture of moments spent on a dance floor, surrounded by loved ones, arms outstretched, and momentarily freed from reality’s burdens.
There will be a post-show signing with Caleb and an opportunity ask your own questions. Don’t miss this chance to engage with a revolutionary voice that captures the essence of joy, imagination, and grief.
“Atmospheric and intoxicating… The Wickedest is a heady night in the dance.” Candice Carty-Williams
Creative team
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.
Kazeem Kuteyi is Cultural Curator and Founder of New Currency