Cal Wensley is a writer and performer from Bristol. They have an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa, a BA(Hons) in Drama with Creative Writing from UWE. They have been running and hosting poetry events in Bristol since 2017 (Hammer & Tongue; Craftwords; Bristol Tonic; and Satellite of Love.) They have also been a regular host of the Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival Slam since its inception.

Cal has spent the last four years writing and shouting about the death of their dad. Prior to the death of their dad they predominantly wrote about mental illness awareness, family, alcoholism, and gender. It is a fair comment to say that Cal has always been a little bit depressing in their writing, but they make up for it with a comedic flair that some* have described as, “a jarring difference from the tone of their work that makes it difficult to know when it is okay to laugh.” Cal has responded to this by saying that they also do not know when it is okay to laugh but their dad is dead so if we aren’t all laughing they will just cry on stage.

Cal has featured and headlined in venues throughout England including The Royal Albert Hall, The Birmingham Hippodrome, The Bristol Old Vic, as well as various festival stages including NozStock, Shindig, and GlasDenbury. They have also been a regular guest on BBC Radio Bristol’s Upload with Adam Crowther.

*no one has ever described Cal’s work like that, they are lying to you.