Salena Godden is an English poet, author, activist, broadcaster, memoirist and essayist. Born in the UK, Salena Godden is of Jamaican-Irish heritage and based in London. Widely anthologised, she has published several books. She has also written for

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

and radio and has released four studio albums to date.

Biography

Her published books include poetry volumes ''Under The Pier'' (Nasty Little Press), ''Fishing in the Aftermath: Poems 1994–2014'' (Burning Eye), and literary childhood memoir ''Springfield Road'' (Unbound Books). Her latest publication, ''Pessimism Is For Lightweights – 13 pieces of Courage and Resistance'', was published by Rough Trade Books in July 2018 in the first Rough Trade Editions series. The poem "Pessimism is for Lightweights" was a public poetry art piece on display outside the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol for more than 18 months. The title of the poem was originally written by the author

John Higgs John Higgs is an English writer, novelist, journalist and cultural historian. The work of Higgs has been published in the form of novels (under the pseudonym JMR Higgs), biographies and works of cultural history. In particular, Higgs has writt ...

as part of a talk he gave at the launch of the play ''Cosmic Trigger''. Higgs later commissioned Godden to write the poem as part of the podcast to mark the publication of his book

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...

. Now in her third decade producing work, Godden is the author of powerful comic poetry anthems: ''My Tits Are More Feminist Than your Tits'', ''Imagine If You Had To Lick It'' and ''Can't Be Bovvered''. Throughout September 2019 her period-politics piece ''RED'' was included as an art installation for a women-led exhibition ''The Most Powerful Woman In The Universe'' curated by artist and painter Kelly-Anne Davitt at Gallery 46, Whitechapel. Essays have included ''Shade'' published in award-winning anthology ''The Good Immigrant (Unbound)'' edited by Nikesh Shukla''; Skin'' broadcast on ''The Essay'', BBC Radio 3; ''We are The Champions'' published in ''Others'' (Unbound); And most recently ''Broken Biscuits'' edited by Sabrina Mahfouz and published in ''Smashing it! Working class artists on life, art and making it happen'' (Saqi). Her first solo poetry album, ''LIVEwire'' was released in 2017/2018 on CD, vinyl 2LP and in print with indie spoken-word label Nymphs and Thugs. This work was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award. Godden's ''Live at Byline Festival EP'' was released October 2018 also with Nymphs and Thugs. New work, the short film ''Is There Anybody Out There?'' (Back of the internet), was commissioned by

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and

BBC Arts #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

as part of their ''Rhyme and Reason'' BBC Arts programme, which aired in October 2019 and is currently on BBC Four, BBC iPlayer. Her debut novel is ''Mrs Death Misses Death''. A BBC Radio 4 documentary about the writing of ''Mrs Death Misses Death'' was broadcast throughout December 2018. The programme followed the work-in-progress over 12 months. The novel is described by the publisher,

Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner ''Life of Pi''. Canongate was n ...

, as an "electrifying genre- and form-defying firestarter" and was published in January 2021. ''Mrs Death Misses Death'' has been longlisted fo
the Gordon Burn Prize
2021. Godden's live poetry performances include: March For Women, Trafalgar Square; HUH at the LSO with the London Symphony Orchestra; Superjam at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

with The Last Poets; the Stoke Newington Literary Festival; Festival of Debate with Helen Pankhurst; The Women's March, Parliament Square; Port Eliot Festival; Green Gathering; Curator of the LIVEwire stage and Poet Laureate at Byline Festival; The Women's Peace Council, Parliament Square;

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square in the centre of Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. Billed as ''The largest festival of its k ...

; Out-Spoken, The Purcell Room, Southbank; and Writers Rebellion, Trafalgar Square. Godden is represented by OWN IT!, a literary, film and TV agency.

Film credits

Cahier Africain (, "African Notebook") is a 2016 documentary film by Heidi Specogna, a Swiss filmmaker. Beginning in 2008, Specogna's long-term observation follows the lives of two young Central African woman, ''Amzine'' and ''Arlette''. The film was prompted by ...

'' – a feature film documentary about the humanitarian crisis in Central Africa Republic produced by award-winning German director Heidi Specogna with English narration by Salena Godden. The film was awarded the Premio Zonta Club Locarno award by the jury of the Semaine de la critique - Locarno for its humanitarian value and the Silver Dove. ''Brakes'' – premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival, ''Brakes'' is an independent UK debut, a dark improvised comedy directed and written by Mercedes Grower. It stars Noel Fielding, Julia Davis and Julian Barratt and many familiar faces of British comedy. Its UK television premiere was on Film4 in 2018.

Radio highlights

*BBC Radio 4 - ''Stir it up'' documentary *BBC Radio 4 - ''Little Miss Cornshucks'' documentary *BBC Radio 4 - ''A Valentine at Waterloo'' radio play *BBC Radio 3 - 'Skin' The Essay *BBC Radio 4 - ''Loose Ends'' with Clive Anderson *BBC Radio 3 - ''The Verb'' with Ian McMilan *BBC Radio 4 - ''Poetry Please'' with

Roger McGough Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one o ...

*BBC Radio 2 - ''Jonathan Ross Show'' *BBC Radio 4 - ''Mrs Death Mrs Death'' documentary *Soho Radio - ''Morning Glory'' with James Endeacott *BBC Radio 4xtra - ''Telling Tales'' *BBC Radio 4xtra - ''Comedy Club''

Selected publishing: books and anthologies

Salena Godden books

*2021: ''Mrs Death Misses Death'' - Canongate Books * 2018: ''Pessimism is for Lightweights - 13 pieces of courage and resistance''
Rough Trade Books
* 2017: ''LIVEwire'' - album and book - Nymphs and Thugs * 2014: ''Springfield Road'' - a childhood memoir - Unbound Books * 2014: ''Fishing In The Aftermath Poems 1994–2014'' - Burning Eye * 2011: ''Under The Pier'' - Nasty Little Press

Poetry anthologies

* 2020: "Galway Dreaming" - ''She Will Soar'' - Pan Macmilian * 2020: "It isn't pirate to seek permission" - ''HOW TO: Be More Pirate'' - OWN IT! *2019: ''Poems For A Green and Blue Planet''- Hachette Publishing *2019: ''Midnight Feasts'' - Bloomsbury *2019: ''What is Masculinity? Why does it matter? And other big questions'' - Hachette Publishing *2019: ''Eighty Four'' - Verve Press *2018: ''The Dizziness of Freedom'' - Bad Betty Press *2016: ''Untitled Two'' - Neu Reekie - Polygon Books *2013: ''Bang Said The Gun'' - Burning Eye *2012: ''Liminal Animal'' - Tongue Fu *2011: ''Raconteur'' - Parthian Books *2009: ''Dwang 1, 2 & 3'' - Tangerine Press *2006: ''The Salzberg Review'' - Salzberg Review *2003: ''Velocity'' - Black Spring Press *2000: ''IC3 - New Black Writing'' - Penguin *1998: ''The Fire People'' - Payback Books / Canongate

Short fiction and essay anthologies

* 2019: ''Smashing It: Working Class Artists on life, art and making it happen'' - Saqi, Westbourne Press * 2019: ''Others'' - Unbound Books, London * 2017: ''Bare Lit Anthology'' - Brain Mill Press * 2016: ''The Good Immigrant'' - Unbound Books * 2016: ''The Unreliable Guide to London'' -

Influx Press Influx Press is an independent British publishing company, based in north London, founded in 2012 by Gary Budden and Kit Caless. They are known for publishing "innovative and challenging fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction from across the UK ...

* 2013: ''Connecting Nothing With Something'' - Influx Press * 2012: ''Too Much Too Young Anthology'' - Bookslam * 2011: ''Sixty-Six Books'' - Oberon Books * 2010: ''MIR Review'' 7 - Birkbeck University * 2009: ''Punk Fiction'' - Portico * 2006: ''The Decadent Handbook'' - Dedalus Books * 2005: ''Croatian Nights'' - Serpent's Tail * 2004: ''Tell Tales'' - Tell Tales * 2001: ''Vox n Roll'' - Serpent's Tail

Discography

* 2018: Salena Godden / ''Live at Byline Festival EP'', Nymphs & Thugs *2017: Salena Godden / ''LIVEwire'' (live spoken word album), Nymphs and Thugs * 2007: Salena Godden/ ''Promise Of Gold'' TwoFive,

Apples & Snakes Apples and Snakes, based at the Albany Theatre in Deptford, south-east London, is an organisation for performance poetry and the spoken word in England. It has been described as the main organisation promoting performance poetry in Britain. Se ...

* 2007: SaltPeter/ ''Hunger’s The Best Sauce'' album, FRED Records * 2007: SaltPeter/ ''I’m Not Gay But…'' EP, FRED Records * 2006: SaltPeter/ ''Everybody Back To Mine'' EP, FRED Records * 2006: Coldcut/ DVD, Ninja Tune Records * 2005: SaltPeter/ ''SaltPervert'' EP, Saltpetre Records: * 2005: Alabama 3 feat Salena ''Saliva/Boots'', One Little Indian * 2004: ''Going Down Swinging''/ compilation/Australia, GDS * 2003: SaltPervert/5AM/single re-mix, OXYD Records. * 2003: Gargoyle Spoken Word CD/ compilation/USA, Gargoyle * 2003: ''Perfecto Presents''...Seb Fontaine/ compilation, Perfecto * 2003: ''Flat Pack Antenna''/ Resonance FM compilation, Resonance FM * 2000: SS&PC/ ''Egg Yolk Planet Fried'' debut album, Saltpetre Records * 1999: Saltpetre CD/Volume One, Saltpetre Records * 1999: Coldcut/Let Us Replay/ ''Virginia Epitome'', Ninja Tune Records (credited as Salena Saliva) * 1997: Coldcut/Let Us Play/ ''Noah’s Toilet'', Ninja Tune Records (credited as Salena Saliva)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Godden, Salena Living people English women poets Black British women writers Year of birth missing (living people)