Bad Betty’s second season of pamphlets opens with The Death of a Clown by Tom Bland—an audacious and essential take on authenticity, alienation and sexuality that simultaenously estranges itself from and relates to its audience. Audience, rather than readers—like the life within, this book is performance, mask, role play, seminar, B movie and YouTube clip. A peep hole into the most shocking of all our roles: human.

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“Clowns, ketamine, erotic asphyxia—there’s something for everyone. These poems, sometimes shocking, often hilarious, frequently touching and always entertaining, describe a world where something true and liberating might emerge out of the extremes of experience. If the word “confession” suggests an admittance of guilt then these poems aren’t confessional, they don’t seek absolution. They do though, want to let the light in. Reading them it’s as though the poems pull back the curtains on a bright sunny morning after a debauched and only partly-remembered party.”  Mark Waldron

“Tom’s poems are a joy to read. Unsettling, engaging, and often profound, they are incisive and surprise with sharp pivots and stark imagery. At times this work exposes unspeakable corners of experience. The mask the clown wears here, allows the poet, who is both mask, clown and audience, to take us into the surreal and at times warped darkness at the underside of what it means to be human.”  Anthony Joseph

Shortlisted for London’s BIG READ 2019

Fifty of contemporary poetry’s most exciting voices speak out about mental health in this groundbreaking anthology. Edited by Amy Acre and Jake Wild Hall. Foreword by Melissa Lee-Houghton. Supported by Arts Council England.

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Featuring work from Amy Acre, Raymond Antrobus, Mona Arshi, Dean Atta, Joel Auterson, Rob Auton, Dominic Berry, Mary Jean Chan, Sean Colletti, Iris Colomb, Jasmine Cooray, Dizraeli, Caleb Femi, Maria Ferguson, Kat François, Anne Gill, Salena Godden, Jackie Hagan, Jake Wild Hall, Emily Harrison, Nicki Heinen, Gabriel Jones, Anna Kahn, Malaika Kegode, Luke Kennard, Sean Wai Keung, Cecilia Knapp, Melissa Lee-Houghton, Amy León, Fran Lock, Rachel Long, Roddy Lumsden, Katie Metcalfe, Rachel Nwokoro, Kathryn O’Driscoll, Gboyega Odubanjo, Jolade Olusanya, Abi Palmer, Bobby Parker, Deanna Rodger, C.E. Shue, Lemn Sissay MBE, Ruth Sutoyé, Rebecca Tamás, Joelle Taylor, Claire Trévien, David Turner, R A Villanueva, Byron Vincent, Pascal Vine, Antosh Wojcik and Reuben Woolley.

‘This brilliant, inspiring collection not only illuminates the richness and variety of human pain, sexuality and embodiment better than any clinical text, but also shows us what language is for. Rather than labelling and imposing psychiatric categories, words here give a voice to each person’s experience, challenging and questioning what we are supposed to feel, say and be.’ Darian Leader

‘A brave and vital anthology by some of this country’s most exciting voices.’ Rae Earl

‘A vital anthology with too many constellations of brilliant poets and poems to pick out individuals; these are important poems of witness, to one’s own body and mind, to institutions, to society which is failing those who need it most. Ultimately, there is a hope here, whatever the body has endured, whatever the mind has seen, there is still poetry where things might be reported or made sense of, or redeemed.’ Andrew McMillan

‘Packed full of the greatest poetic minds you could ever wish to read, in a moment of need. Anything with Byron Vincent AND Lemn Sissay is a collection worth keeping close.’ Jack Rooke

‘The Dizziness of Freedom is a thought-provoking and challenging take on mental health conditions. It approaches the subject with honesty, providing an important contribution to challenging the stigma around mental health.’ Barbara Keeley, Shadow Minister for Social Care and Mental Health

ATTEND THE LAUNCH EVENTS

20th Sept: Rich Mix, London TICKETS
with Joelle Taylor, Dean Atta, Salena Godden, Byron Vincent & special guests

24th Sept: Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol TICKETS
with Deanna Rodger, Rachel Long, Jolade Olusanya, Kathryn O’Driscoll & special guests, in partnership with Milk Poetry

3rd Oct: Waterstones, Birmingham TICKETS
with Luke Kennard, Mary Jean Chan, Antosh Wojcik, Anne Gill & special guests, in partnership with Verve Poetry Fest

9th Oct: All Saints Church, York TICKETS
with Rob Auton, Jackie Hagan, Kat Francois & Maria Ferguson, in partnership with Say Owt

Trespass across the human landscape of Setareh Ebrahimi’s world. You’ll find yourself a willing voyeur of stolen moments between the intrepid and humanely flawed figures who populate her poems: mothers, lovers, lost siblings, corrupted angels, nurses and ghosts. Leave your faint heart at home: these poems are set in extremes, either frozen or desert-hot. They dance and skip to a musicality that seems to come from the land, from the skin.

Ebrahimi’s is an assured voice, both soft and hard, ruthless and seductive. Line by line, she layers imagery as if pouring a glass of water to the brim: full enough to satisfy great thirst, without spilling over.

“The debut pamphlet from Setareh Ebrahimi announces a new talent for a new era in spoken word and live literature. The ‘secret weight’ of this book is its ability to fuse surreal lyricism and powerful imagery. A book to read and speak in equal measure.”  Joelle Taylor

“In the hands of Setareh Ebrahimi, everyday words catch the light at just the right angle. She produces x-rays of the spirit within, sending a shiver of recognition down the spine.”  Barry Fentiman Hall

“Ebrahimi’s pamphlet paints a picture of a woman drawing lines between herself and her surroundings, her lovers and her family. My favourite poem is ‘Wandering Rocks’, where you ‘almost forget to be’ and rather envision the scene displayed between words.”  Katrine Lyn Solvaag

“Both erotic and macabre all at once, Setareh seems to delight in perverting the everyday, and I would more than happily let her.”  Connor Sansby

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When your child is born, the world changes before your eyes. You learn to know yourself anew: as both parent and child, resilient and fragile, powerful and flawed. It’s this context that frames Solomon’s World – Jake Wild Hall’s compassionate and acutely honest debut.

Hall invites you in for a cup of tea, then opens a door to the edge of the world, via prisons and pixie godmothers, giants and fireworks, AT-AT walkers, hospital wards. Against a backdrop of addiction and loss, moments of brittle beauty and unconditional love prevail, represented by a rich cast of both literal and honorary family. This is a voice reaching out to bridge gaps, pulling you in from the cold.

“Jake Hall is a writer of depth and elegance. A book of beauty, of small moments and imagined tomorrows. A book of becoming. This is the sound a heart makes when it heals.” Joelle Taylor

“Already known as a passionate performer, the way Jake pours his personality out on the page means the moment you finish you want to start all over again.”  Harry Baker

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