Black
skin. White skin. There is a skin on everything and it stops the
light getting in. You are living in here, in there, inside your skin.
You grow into your skin. You get comfortable in your own skin. Black
skin. White skin. Hard skin. Soft skin. Skin as tight as the skin of
a drum. Skin that gives, a skin that yields. The first thing we see
when we meet someone is the face, the face they use to face us. And
when you think about it we are all here by luck ... by the skin of
our teeth. We camouflage our skin, chameleon inside our skin. We
paint our faces and perfect our masks.
There
is a skin on everything and it stops the light getting in. There is a
membrane on the eyes, so you look but don't see. A skin that acts as
a filter, a magnifying glass, a mirror, so you see your perspective
up close, so you see what you want to see, and what you choose to
accept … because seeing is believing. We mute or block the things
we don't want to see. The truth is often hidden, blinkered, fact and
fiction. The new alternative truth. We hide in the hide - We hide in
the skin of the animal we truly are. But we cannot ever hide from our
true colours, true nature and true spirit.
January
20th 2017: The Hague.
I
type these thoughts in my hotel room. I’m here in Holland as a
guest speaker at The Writers Unlimited Festival - Winternachten.
Sometimes
you have to go outside to go inside. I switch off this computer and
take a walk around this beautiful Dutch city. I am thinking about
this essay, the theme of skin. Black skin. White skin. I have the
words of Leonard Cohen’s 'Anthem' in my headphones, there
is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.
I take my title for this essay from that beautiful song. It makes me
recall the flaw in every story that reveals the truth, the words
beneath the words. It makes me think of the charm of our
imperfections. And there is a skin on everything that stops the light
getting in, a wallpaper of doubt or fear that covers over those
cracks and stops the magic happening, the light getting through.
Last
night the winternachten festival opened with a ceremony for the Oxfam
Novid Pen awards for freedom of expression. The winners were two
courageous
writers: The Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh who is currently serving
an eight-year prison sentence in Saudi Arabia accused of renouncing
Islam. And Indian investigative journalist Malini Subramaniam who was
forced to leave her home after death threats following her outspoken
reports on human rights abuse and sexual violence against women. Her
humility and courage as a woman and as a writer, a shining example to
us all.
Later during the ceremony, the Booker Prize winning author Michail
Shishkin delivered a keynote speech, his words moved me. The theatre
was so silent you could hear a pin drop, a stifled sniff and tear
fall. His deep voice resounded in his native Russian and above his
head the English translation scrolled on huge screens. He began by
describing the famous protests of human rights organisations in Red
Square. Then he spoke of lesser known protests, the names that nobody
knows, the writers and protesters that have been tortured and
murdered, quietly, out of sight, and out of the public eye. Shishkin
asked us to consider why they protested? Listening to Shishkin I was
reminded of the power of freedom of speech, how important it is as a
writer to speak up and to live true rather than to stay quiet and
live safe. The meaning of life, Shishkin continued, lies not in
survival, but in the preservation of dignity.
Keep
silent: And when they come for you tomorrow the next person will be
silent.
His
warning sent a chill up my spine, his voice resonating around the
room, bold and clear. Perhaps now more than ever, because this was
the weekend of the Women's March, and all over the world millions of
people took to the streets to march in the name of women's rights,
human rights, for peace, choice, humanity and equality. I want to
break through the skin, our complacency, and challenge the barriers
that allow us to be silent.
There
is a skin on everything and it stops the light getting in. Stops the
truth getting through. There is a skin over your ear, that filters
the words so you don't hear. I am learning to listen. I hope you hear
this, this is the song I sing, love is the answer to everything. The
skin of love is durable, made strong with tolerance, empathy and
kindness. Everybody counts, not one person gets left behind. We are
living in here, in there, inside our skin. You grow into your skin.
You get comfortable in your own skin. Now is the time to speak up and
to live lively, to be your true colours and see the whole panorama
and let the light in.
(c)
Salena Godden / London, February 2017
'There is a skin on everything and it stops the light getting in'
broadcast February 3rd 2017, hear the full essay on BBC iPlayer, click here
'There is a skin on everything and it stops the light getting in'
broadcast February 3rd 2017, hear the full essay on BBC iPlayer, click here
LIVEwire CD's, T-shirts, badges and book bags
Salena
Godden - winter 2017
Author
of literary memoir Springfield
Road and
poetry books Fishing
In The Aftermath
and Under
The Pier -
Salena Godden is one of Britain's foremost poets and a regular
headliner at literary and music festivals, nationally and
internationally. Short-fiction Blue
Cornflowers
was shortlisted for the Guardian short story prize in June 2016 and a
performance of her poem Titanic
was aired in BBC poetry programme We
Belong Here throughout
October 2016.
Most
recently her live spoken word album LIVEwire
has
attracted 5 star rave reviews since it's launch with indie poetry
label Nymphs and Thugs. The
LIVEwire
tour begins in April 2017. Salena's essay Shade
was
published in 2016's literary sensation The
Good Immigrant, which
was crowdfunded in record time, championed by JK Rowling and
published with Unbound. The paperback edition of The
Good Immigrant will
be published in May 2017. Salena Godden's new work will be revealed
with a special one-off debut reading and performance on June 1st 2017
at The Roundhouse in London as part of The Last Word Festival.
"A
spoken word album that truly is electric." The
iPaper
"An
important and timely read" JK
Rowling
"She
is at the vanguard of this particular publishing moment" WovenTale Press
"Go
see this girl - she's an angel in boxing gloves." Mike
Garry
"She
is everything the Daily Mail is terrified of."
Kerrang Magazine
TOUR & FESTIVAL DATES
SPRING 2017
MARCH 4: NORTHAMPTON, ARTS LAB POETRY JAM
MARCH 13: LONDON, BOOK SLAM, WELLCOME BOOK PRIZE
MARCH 8: LONDON, INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY W/ LISA LUXX
MARCH 24: LONDON, RED RAW, W/ SOPHIE CAMERON
MARCH 30: DORSET, DOUBLE BILL W/ ELVIS MCGONAGALL
APRIL 1: LIVERPOOL, 14 HOUR SUPER WEIRD HAPPENING
APRIL 26: LONDON, NEU REEKIE, HEAVENLY SOCIAL
APRIL 29-30: CHIPPING NORTON LITERARY FESTIVAL
MAY 6: LONDON, COSMIC TRIGGER, COCKPIT THEATRE
JUNE 1: LONDON, ROUNDHOUSE, LAST WORD FESTIVAL
JUNE 2-4: EAST SUSSEX, BYLINE FESTIVAL
THE NYMPHS & THUGS 'SUMMER OF LOVEwire' UK TOUR
LIVEwire VINYL LAUNCH PARTY & TOUR DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED
FOLLOW NYMPHS & THUGS FOR MORE DETAILS
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