Small Plates by Chris Cambell & Jem Henderson Broken Sleep Books

Small Plates is a fine dining, poetic experience, challenging conventional conception on what food is and how we interact with it. Here, Chris Cambell and Jem Henderson present food as medicine, food as home, food as a global shared experience in myriad forms. They examine the role food plays in a fine dining establishment far removed from home cooking and the liminal spaces between different socioeconomic classes, the different stages of their lives, and the differences in each others’ experiences. This is a beautiful, unnerving, and exciting show, as tender and poignant as it is innovative and unabashedly experimental.

PRAISE for Small Plates:

Small Plates by Chris Cambell and Jem Henderson is a humorous and forward-thinking pamphlet from two poets, one whom describes himself as ‘non-binary’ the other who describes themself as ‘Gender Queer’. The poems flow in a stream of consciousness style with a pleasantly daft understanding of reality. ‘is that it?’ ask the two poets in the standout poem ‘Like Your Last Dollars Week After Payday’. In the immortal words of Julian Casablancas: This is it
—  Charlie Baylis, a fondness for the colour green

Cambell and Henderson cook up a sumptuous tasting menu of a collaboration worthy of recognition by Michelin… All flavours of the human experience are present and in expert balance, served in refreshing and vibrant ways throughout. Just delicious.
— Rick Dove, Supervillain Origin Story

A rich, sensual, and heartbreaking exploration of how tangible the poverty gap is. Immaculately considered and assembled with all the precision and intricacy of a five star meal. The juxtaposition will leave you spellbound and melancholy in equal turns.
— King Stammers

This innovative collection is as lovingly crafted as the dishes described! Small Plates had me feeling invested, protective, claustrophobic and free all at the same time. The Cyclical Natures of Sestina and Trauma is an unsettling masterpiece. They never let you stop long enough to process the trauma alongside the poets. Yet somehow Cambell and Henderson make you feel held and safe all the way through. Go eat with them. Order from the Small Plates section and don’t let anyone else tell you when you’re finished.
— Dee Dickens, Fear of drowning

ABOUT Chris Cambell & Jem Henderson:

Chris Cambell (he/they) is a nonbinary, Native American immigrant with ADHD. He writes poetry for performance and publication. His work examines the stories society overlooks, highlights the inequality that this demonstrates, and explores how we can use our creativity to break this cycle. Chris is a slam champion, has been published in anthologies internationally, and has competed in the UK National Poetry Slam finals twice, so far.

Jem Henderson (they/them) is a genderqueer poet from Leeds, winner of a Creative Future award for underrepresented writers. genderfux, their first collaboration came out February 2022. an othered mother, their first pamphlet, is out now from Nine Pens.

Broken Sleep Books