Oof look what came in the post today . . .
Today’s the day: It’s like a glint of sunlight catching the tip of the fin of a mighty whale on the horizon, the shimmer of something shiny and new, I’m delighted to share the gorgeous artwork of my 2nd novel The Life Of Life. This glorious swirl of golden yellow and moss green, of jungle and ocean, land and sea, sea shells and flowers, Hummingbird, Cat and Whale, all designed by the brilliant Gill Heeley who also designed the artwork for my debut, Mrs Death Misses Death. Thank you so much to Gill and the Canongate Art Department and all at the Canongate HQ.
It has been quite a few years now that I’ve been quietly working inside these pages and diving into the multitudes, the many layers and worlds of the sisters Life and Death. I’m excited that this new novel set in the MDMD universe will be published by Canongate Books with this stunning cover, in hardback, ebook and audiobook next year, around the Spring Equinox and Full Crow Moon, 25th March 2027, save the date!
I’m look forward to sharing this new work in future times, written by me in a past which is now already gone and behind us. Art is time travel. Hope is an energy. Passing some of this magic and BIGlove to you who find this post, please see it, feel it, share it. I don’t have my snappy one-line elevator pitch rehearsed for Life’s story yet, but simply put, this book imagines that Life herself hosts a Midsummers gathering every 1000 years and you, my dear readers, you’re all invited. This book is a call to save Life, keep loving and giving, keep going, keep going, keep going, we need you, you need you, the future you will look back and thank you for your courage, perseverance and your whole and generous heart.
Preorder Available from today
order now from your favourite Bookshops!
PRAISE FOR MRS DEATH MISSES DEATH
Mrs Death Misses Death has been described as “intoxicating and life-affirming” and in The Bookseller as “an original, exuberant novel, freewheeling from prose to poetry to non fiction, truly one of a kind.” A documentary following the work-in-progress over a year was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Canongate published the hardback of Mrs Death Misses Death in January 2021 to high acclaim. It won the Indie Book Awards and The Peoples Book Prize and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards and the Gordon Burn Prize.
A modern-day Pilgrim’s Progress leavened with caustic wit. This is not light-hearted stuff, yet Godden has produced a miraculously light-hearted novel, an elegant, occasionally uproarious, danse macabre - Guardian / A thought-provoking novel that travels across time and place to question the value of life, the experiences of womanhood, and grief in all its forms. - Observer / Celebratory and life-affirming, aglow with love, fortitude and compassion. - Mail on Sunday / Mrs Death Misses Death is both a balm to a bad year and a reassuring accompaniment to a new one. - Irish Times / Unlike any other book I’ve ever read … I will be shouting from my window to anyone who can hear me; Mrs Death Misses Death is a masterpiece of modern literature. - The F-Word / Exquisite. A daring, poetic offering that establishes Godden as one of our most exciting voices. I loved it - Irenosen Okojie / A rhythmic and powerful poetic meditation on death, life and love and the hidden mysteries of the universe; both playful and sombre, hilarious and human - Nikesh Shukla / this astounding novel, as profound as Cohen, as playful as Brautigan. -Alan Moore / It’s light, it’s dark, it’s twisted and it’s brilliant. As we all encounter life, so too we should all encounter Mrs Death. Poetry, prose, life and death. Salena Godden is a wordsmith of the highest order - Benjamin Zephaniah / It is an assured debut by a poet whom I hold in the highest regard - Lemn Sissay / A fantastically imaginative story about life, death and everything in between – a potent reminder that life is short and every second should be cherished - Idris Elba
Oct 24: Birmingham Town Hall, John Cooper Clarke & friends
Oct 29: FRQNCY LDN 'Unwellness'
Oct 31: Tales of the Weird, The British Library
Nov 6-8: Bristol, Weekend Writing Retreat, Raise The Bar
Nov 14: Newham Poetry Festival
Nov 21: Warwick Arts Centre, The Good Immigrant
Nov 25: Leicester, De Montfort Hall, John Cooper Clarke & friends
