The Wickedest

"Hypnotic and freewheeling . . . The book captures the sensual chaos of dance and the sociopolitical dynamics of a clubhouse culture where Black working-class communities share a common rhythm of grief and euphoria . . . The Wickedest celebrates the process of making and making up when art confronts change." —Kit Fan, The Guardian

"In The Wickedest, Femi draws on his skills as a photographer as well as a poet to encapsulate the house party experience in a book that’s stylish and wittily curated — complete with floor plan, screen grabs of text messages, even a 'Promotion Risk Assessment Form' from London’s Metropolitan Police, anarchically completed. It is fun, optimistic and beautiful to look at." —Maria Crawford, Financial Times

"[The Wickedest] spins an ecstatic story of one night in South London’s underground party scene . . . Throughout, Femi gleefully evokes the sense of liberation found by the partygoers as they free themselves of the weight of reality. It’s a blast." —Publishers Weekly

"Wholly immersive, The Wickedest crystalizes and forever elevates bashment in this pulsing, visceral fever dream. Femi’s urgent, striking lyricism and images call for us to shake loose jadedness, to recapture what it means to be alive with one another. A near-holy experience, The Wickedest should be read, reread, and studied." —Jonathan Escoffery, author of If I Survive You

"A riveting collection, bottled in a time capsule of nostalgia, and lived experience. These poems are as tender, as they are a vibe. A head nod to communities meeting in ritual. The Wickedest honors the world within a world. The enjoyment in language, and complexities in how gatherings can unfold." —Yomi Sode, author of Manorisms

"A mellifluously marvellous journey towards joy, The Wickedest pulses with Rhythm and Poetry at its most penetrating and picturesque. Caleb has constructed a jewel of a jam; glimmering, sweaty, sensual, unforgettable." —Inua Ellams, author of The Half-God of Rainfall

"The Wickedest by the young British Nigerian poet-filmmaker Caleb Femi is a mesmerizing journey through the different moments of one night’s revelry. A heady mix of the formal and urbane, the sacred and mundane, the collection keeps you in suspense, making you question whether you’re counting down to something or have left something significant behind. The time signatures dance unpredictably, heightening the anticipation and intrigue. The vivid pictures punctuating the book lend it a cinematic scope, immersing you in a unique cultural experience. The Wickedest is a hypnotic, experiential happening of a book—essential reading for all." —Roger Robinson, T. S. Eliot Prize-winning author of A Portable Paradise

"In The Wickedest, Caleb Femi renders thrillingly tangible a world of moments in which the relationship between the DJ the riddim and the dancer is a kind of sacrament, a form of collective healing in the face of life's manifold threats to black life." —Kayo Chingonyi, author of A Blood Condition

"From its first word this is poetry that moves and is felt in the body; the poem taken from the page to the dance floor of the club. 'I’ve been eating sound since ice-cream van melodies,' writes Femi. Those sounds, that movement, fill this collection." —Andrew McMillan, author of Pity

"Immersive, rapturous writing that truly transports. The Wickedest is a joyous, lyrical read that I won't soon forget, and Caleb Femi, an exceptionally talented poet." —Yomi Adegoke, author of The List