Books published by Bad Betty Press

Hero, nemesis, spy or host?What exactly is an alter ego? In this book, 21 contemporary poets give 21 unique answers; in the process, dissecting our relationships with the self and others. These poems expose our most essential desires and griefs, hidden in the lining between who we are and who we appear to be. Vividly alive, they rise from the page with infectious energy, in prairie boots and fishnet gloves. The writers in this book are a virtuosic breed, spinning truth into glitter and scorpion milk, bending form and language to their whims.

Phoebe Wagner's poetry is a kind of undressing. Offering up the social and sexual uncertainties of our time, she forges these into a bolder understanding of contemporary angst. Language heady as Plath melts into a precise, Carson-like wit. Wagner's voice is a reflexive one, referencing therapists, care plans, bingo tickets, pick-up lines, familial myths: 'Abuela knew I was the devil when I came out like that. / That all of Spain had bled out of me.' Formally inventive, highly visual, these poems ripple through the mind, at once cleansing and intoxicating.

Amy Acre's second pamphlet reaches both arms out to the wild of being woman, the blood of being mother, the tragedy of being human. From deep within the dark of these poems, there is resolve; there is love; there is light.

Tom Bland's The Death of a Clown is an audacious and essential take on authenticity, alienation and sexuality that simultaenously estranges itself from and relates to its audience. Audience, rather than readers-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.

Fifty of contemporary poetry's most exciting voices speak out about mental health, in this groundbreaking anthology from Bad Betty Press. With a foreword by Melissa Lee Houghton. Supported by Arts Council England.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 • Reuben Woolley

Unremember is steeped in the landscape of home. Of early memories, and endings that cannot be resolved by a Pokémon Centre. In these poems, mountains, rivers and dirt are set in opposition to London's bright spots as selves of various ages gather on the page.Joel Auterson unpicks nostalgia and loneliness, illness and modern masculinity with the delicate hand of a heart surgeon. David Bowie sings out from a lighthouse as men cry in posh coffee shops. Beautifully sensitive poems alternate with Auterson's show-stopping 'clunks' in a book that will stay in your head long after the reading is done.

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.