Books, Books, Books . . .

Hello book lovers

‘Tis the season to hibernate in a book and share books, so I thought I’d make a Substack post of twelve of the books I have written and published or that I’ve featured in most recently. A dozen books to give you some ideas for gifts for you and your loved ones, a selection of my most recent projects, for those that are new to my work, plus some new books and anthologies that feature my writing, poetry, memoir, essays and prose.

The last book on this lovely list is Poet Town which is not published until next year, but I thought I would add it here with the Patreon link for your perusal, something joyful and community spirited to share in 2025. Please buy local, please support small businesses, indie bookshops and independent publishing.

Thank you! Happy reading!

Xxsg

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Cold War Steve - Christmas Annual

BACK WITH ANOTHER ANNUAL OF FUTURE SATIRICAL CLASSICS FROM THE DESK OF ARTIST COLD WAR STEVE —

The end of the world is nigh! Enclosed is a critical document of our final days for future civilisations. Charting twelve months of pathetic party politics, farcical electioneering, corporate and industrial ecocide, the sickening rise of the far right even here in the UK, and never-ending age of mega-crisis worldwide.

Featuring all of Cold War Steve's largest - and most sardonic - artworks, as well as insightful and excoriating contributions from Ian Dunt, Jeremy Deller, Jools Holland, Nihal Arthanayake, Dr Rebecca Anne Barr, Salena Godden and Roy — Out now, published by Little Brown, available in hardback.

Poems As Friends - The Poetry Exchange 10th Anniversary Anthology

The Poetry Exchange is an award-winning podcast and project that celebrates the role poetry plays in people's lives. In their first anthology, Fiona Bennett and Michael Shaeffer draw on ten years of archival material to bring together a collection of poems chosen by readers that know them as friends, presented alongside their personal stories of connection.

Featuring Brian Cox on John Clare, Andrew Scott on George Herbert, Maxine Peake on Tony Harrison, Salena Godden on Kim Addonizio and many more, in this gathering of poems you can reacquaint yourself with old friends, perhaps make some new ones, and enjoy the companionship poetry can offer us. Out now, published by Quercus publishing, available in hardback.

Death in the 21st Century

In the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, death has become an all too familiar feature of the early 2020s.The 21st century has in fact produced a singular historical moment with its unique intersection of popular politics, environmental extremes, globalisation and technological innovation, which has correspondingly created distinctive expressions of death, as well. This companion reveals our visions of death in the 21st century and what they say about us and the times we live in.

Organised into sections on the war on terror, technology, climate change, extremism and global pandemics, the short, reader-friendly essays in this volume highlight crucial encounters with death in the contemporary period. — Edited by Simon Bacon, published by Peter Lang, available in paperback, special thanks to The Death Studies Podcast for their chapter on my debut novel ‘Mrs Death Misses Death’.

My Life In Beer - A Collection of Essays

My Life In Beer is a book that celebrates the first ten years in the life of Verdant Brewing, an independent brewery with an astonishing record for producing and reinventing beer. A collaboration with innovative publisher White Rabbit Books, this anthology celebrates beer in all its guises. There are essays here by some of the finest writers of the twenty-first century: poets, novelists, emerging talents, Booker Prize-winners, artists, publishers, musicians, writers on music, ex-drinkers and sometime-drinkers . . . and a solitary brewer.

These essays go back into the Proustian memories, returning to the way markers, formative moments, celebrations, travels, turning-points and chance meetings that make up a life. The result is a creative, thoughtful and often euphoric gathering, all raising a glass to beer as it has mattered to them. Features essays by award-winning writers like Adelle Stripe, Richard Milward, DBC Pierre, Martha Sprackland, Will Burns, Stu Hennigan and Salena Godden and many more. Out now, published with Verdant Brewing and White Rabbit, available in paperback.

With Love, Grief and Fury

With Love, Grief and Fury contains love poems, for people and the planet. Grief poems brimming with compassion, mourning what was and contemplating what could be. And poems of fire and fury that will kick some ass, tell the truth and inspire change and hope. Over eighty new poems in total, this collection celebrates over thirty years since she first stormed the UK poetry scene.

Trailblazing and award-winning writer Salena Godden has produced her most audacious and definitive collection to date. Like a big sister's arm around your shoulder, With Love, Grief and Fury is important and nourishing for the soul. Published May 2024 by Canongate, available in hardback, ebook and audiobook read by author.

Springfield Road - A Poets Childhood Revisited

This is the story of a home. A story rooted in love. The story of a poet born of an Irish jazz musician and a Jamaican go-go dancer, an absent father and a resilient mother. In Springfield Road, Salena Godden evokes an era when oranges seemed bigger and summers were longer, a world of half-penny sweets, free school milk, hand-me-downs and Thatcher's Britain, for those too young to remember and for those old enough to know.

For Salena, it was a time for learning that life can be brutal with first betrayals and first losses, but also that there are endless riches to uncover in the world. In equal parts powerful, tender and fearless, Springfield Road shows us where, in a world full of shadows, hope is to be found. Published May 2024 by Canongate, available in paperback.

Mrs Death Misses Death

Mrs Death tells her intoxicating story in this life-affirming fire-starter of a debut novel by Salena Godden. Mrs Death has had enough. She is exhausted by her job and now seeks someone to unburden her conscience to. She meets Wolf, a troubled young writer, who - enthralled by her stories - begins to write Mrs Death's memoirs. As the two reflect on the losses they have experienced their friendship flourishes. All the while, despite her world-weariness, Death must continue to hold humans' fates in her hands, appearing in our lives when we least expect her.

Published by Canongate Books, available in hardback, paperback, ebook and audiobook read by author.

Pessimism is for Lightweights - 30 Pieces of Courage and Resistance

One of the very first publications to come off the Rough Trade Books press, Pessimism is for Lightweights began life as thirteen poems of courage and resistance from the pen of the one and only Salena Godden. These are poems written for the women's march, poems that salute peaceful protest, poems on sexism and racism, class discrimination, poverty, homelessness, immigration and identity.

This new hardback edition expands the collection to full book length and shows Godden at her inimitable best-deft technique and powerful emotional heft, with additional new poems reflecting on our fast- changing world with her trademark humour and resilience. With a new foreword by John Higgs and an Old English translation by Emily Cotman this is a book full of light, courage and most of all hope. Published by Rough Trade Books, available in hardback.

A History Of Women in 101 Objects by Annabelle Hirsch

Not a sweeping, definitive, exhaustive history of the world but something quieter, more intimate and particular. A single journey, picked out in 101 objects, through the fascinating, too-often-overlooked, manifold histories of women.

Open up this cabinet of curiosities and you'll find objects that have been highly esteemed - even, like the Bayeux tapestry, fought over by nations - and others that are humble and domestic. Some (like a sixteenth century glass dildo) are objects of female pleasure, some (a thumbscrew) of female subjugation. There are artefacts of women celebrated by history and of women unfairly forgotten by it; examples of female rebellion and of self-revelation; objects that are inspiring, curious or (like radium-laced chocolate) just fundamentally ill-conceived.

Through the variety and nuance in all these 101 objects, Annabelle Hirsch has created a new history - teeming, unexpected, witty and always illuminating. Published in the UK by Canongate, available in hardback plus an incredible audiobook which features a myriad of women reading a chapter each, voices include Gillian Anderson, Anita Rani, Jackie Kay, Len Pennie, Salena Godden, Shirley Manson, Rebecca Solnit, Sandi Tokswig and many more…

The Fire People

This seminal collection of Black British poets ignited a movement when it was first published in 1998. It celebrated the rising stars of the time, many of whom have since become established names. Inspired and influenced by roots, reggae and hip-hop, this award-winning anthology is edited by number one bestselling author and poet Lemn Sissay.

Including work from: Chris Abani, Patience Agbabi, Malika Booker, John Citizen, Salena Godden, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jackie Kay, Parm Kaur, Shamshad Khan, Raman Mundair, Roger Robinson, Kadija Sesay, John Siddique, Labi Siffre, Lemn Sissay, Dorothea Smartt, Tricky and many more… Published by Canongate, available in hardback and paperback.

The Forward Book of Poetry 2024

Poetry for our times. The Forward Book of Poetry is the indispensable annual guide to contemporary poetry. In bringing together the best new work published in the UK and Ireland, as chosen by the jury of the annual Forward Prizes, this anthology offers a vital overview of the literary landscape to seasoned poetry lovers and new readers alike. Published by Faber and available in paperback.

Poet Town

Hastings UK is a seaside resort with an illustrious poetic history. Once a haven for Pre-Raphaelite poets and Victorian authors, it is still a hub of creativity today and home to artists, musicians and renowned contemporary writers

In Summer 2025 Poet Town: Poets & Poetry of Hastings & Thereabouts will be released: an anthology that brings together the very best classic, modern and spoken word poets linked to this uniquely creative coastal town. Poet Town is a community funded project, the anthology will be published next year, plus there will be readings, events and a photography exhibition too. Edited by Richard Newham-Sullivan with an introduction by Salena Godden. You can join for free and get all the latest news on the Poet Town Patreon page below.

patreon.com/PoetTown