Salena Godden: With Love, Grief and Fury 

Join Salena Godden for an intimate evening of readings and captivating conversation, discussing her latest collection, With Love, Grief and Fury.

Three decades since her groundbreaking debut on the UK poetry scene Salena Godden unveils her boldest and most definitive collection yet.  

With Love, Grief and Fury contains love poems for people and the planet, poems of grief brimming with compassion, and poems of fire and fury that kick some ass.  

Salena Godden is an award-winning author, poet and broadcaster of Jamaican-mixed heritage based in London. Her debut novel Mrs Death Misses Death won the Indie Book Award for Fiction and the People’s Book Prize, and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards and the Gordon Burn Prize. Salena’s work has been shortlisted for the 4thWrite short story prize and the Ted Hughes Prize, and has been widely anthologised and broadcast on radio, TV and film. Her poem Pessimism is for Lightweights is on permanent display at the People’s History Museum, Manchester. She was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2022. 

Supporting Salena will be Liverpool born poet and playwright, Paul Birtill. Paul has published a number of books and pamphlets with Hearing Eye Press, including ‘Collected Poems 1987-2010’ and ‘New and Selected Poems’. Several of his plays have been staged at London theatres, including Squalor which was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award and he has published over three-hundred individual poems in magazines and newspapers. His most recent poetry collections are ‘Bad News’ and ‘All’s Well That Ends’, both published by Wrecking Ball Press.

Hosting the event will be Natalie Denny. Natalie is the award-winning force behind Skywriters Ltd, a creative education social enterprise. Her roles include writer, activist, and EDI Consultant for Anthony Walker Foundation. KEISHA JONES TAKES ON THE WORLD was Natalie’s debut book and published on 3rd August 2023 with Little Tiger UK. Her second book, KEISHA JONES IS A FORCE OF NATURE, published 1st February 2024. Natalie is also chair of The Period Project Merseyside and co-founder of The Goddess Projects, an organisation with the mission to empower, inspire and assist Black women and women of colour to develop and achieve in their communities.

Saturday 11th May, 7pm  

The Bluecoat, 8 School Lane, Liverpool, L1 3BX 

Ticket price: £10 

*These are difficult times. We know some people may struggle to afford full price tickets. If you would like to attend this event but can’t afford to, please contact info@writingonthewall.org.uk. All queries will be treated in confidence.   

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