Salena Godden

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 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.

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 Google and BBC Arts 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, as an "electrifying genre- and form-defying firestarter"[1] and was published in January 2021.[2] Mrs Death Misses Death was longlisted for the 2021 Gordon Burn Prize.

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 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; Out-Spoken, The Purcell Room, Southbank; and Writers Rebellion, Trafalgar Square.

Godden is represented by OWN IT!, a literary, film and TV agency.[3]

Salena Godden is known for the graphic power of her work and, over time, she has fostered a reputation as one of the foremost performance poets in the UK. She crowdfunded and published Springfield Road, a memoir of her childhood, with Unbound in 2014. In addition to this, she has released two poetry collections: Fishing In The Aftermath (Burning Eye Books, 2014) and Under The Pier (Nasty Little Press, 2011). Her essay "Shade" featured in the 2016 anthology The Good Immigrant (Unbound) which won the 2016 Book of the Year’s Readers' Choice Award. Her performance of her poem 'Titanic' was featured in the critically acclaimed BBC spoken word programme We Belong Here, and in 2017 her album LIVEwire was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award for new work in poetry. A very active writer, and a dedicated mentor, Godden regularly advises and coaches poets who are new to the spoken-word scene, while also teaching writing in schools.

— Poetry International Web, July 2017[4]

• 2018: Salena Godden / Live at Byline Festival EP, Nymphs and Thugs[7]
• 2017: Salena Godden / LIVEwire (live spoken-word album), Nymphs and Thugs[5]
• 2007: Salena Godden/ Promise Of Gold TwoFive, Apples & Snakes
• 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)

• Official website
• Salena Godden's channel on YouTube
• "BBC Radio 4 - Verse Illustrated".