Poetry Masterclass with Caleb Femi

Join Caleb Femi for a 2-hour poetry masterclass.

Bad Betty masterclasses take place in the afternoon prior to each Bad Betty Live show, and offer a chance to work closely with one of the featured acts. Join in person at Waterstones Nottingham, or online via Zoom. Get 50% off when bought with a ticket to Bad Betty Live.

About the workshop:

Details of the workshop theme and planned activities will be shared here in the weeks prior to the event. 

About your facilitator:

Caleb Femi is a writer, director and photographer, and was featured in the Dazed 100 list of the next generation shaping youth culture. His award-winning debut poetry collection, Poor, was published in 2020 by Penguin Press. His next work, The Wickedest, will publish in 2024 with 4th Estate.

Caleb has directed TV episodes for HBO, BBC and Netflix, as well as commercials and high-fashion films for brands such as Louis Vuitton, TikTok, Bottega Veneta and NCS.

Between 2016-2018 he was the Young People’s Laureate for London, working with young people on a city, national and global level. His poems have been added to the national curriculum for English GCSE (AQA).

About Bad Betty:

Bad Betty Press is an award-winning independent poetry publisher, and curator of live literature events taking place across the UK. London-born, Nottingham-based, Bad Betty was set up in 2017 with the aim of showcasing risk-taking poetry, supporting poets’ artistic development and celebrating stories less often told.
Bad Betty is a British Book Awards Small Press of the Year Finalist (2024, 2023), a Michael Marks Publishers' Award winner (2022), and the parent of pamphlet imprint, Little Betty.

Access information:

In-person:

The Sillitoe Room is on the 4th floor of Waterstones, and is accessible by lift. There is an accessible toilet on the 3rd floor, as well as staff toilets on the 4th floor which masterclass attendees can use. There is not a separate, quiet room available. The room itself, however, is large, so it is possible to move to a corner of the room if you need time away from the group. If you need to leave the room at any point, please feel free to do so, with no explanation necessary. If you have any issues or require support during the workshop, please speak to Jake Wild Hall, who will be in the room.

Online:

Poems and content to be discussed during the class will be shared in advance via email, and on screen during the Zoom. We use a Meeting Owl camera and microphone system and high-speed internet, to offer the best sound possible (although connection speeds may affect this), and auto-captioning provided by Otter.ai. If possible and comfortable for you, we welcome vocal participation from online participants, and comments in the chat window. If you need to engage in a different way, or simply to keep your camera and microphone off, please feel free to do so. For this, or any other access needs you have, please drop us a line in advance of the workshop at [email protected], so we can ensure the event works for you. If you have any issues or require support during the workshop, please send a chat message to Bridie Squires, who will be running the Zoom.

Host or Publisher Bad Betty Press