Performing with my old N&T family at LIVEWIRE in Yorkshire, alongside gorgeous Toria Garbutt and Matt Abbott, it will be wonderful and this one is free entry too! #supportlibraries
MARCH 12 - MANCHESTER, SOUNDS OF SOLIDARITY - Hurricane Melissa Fundraiser for Jamaica with the beautiful talents of J Chambers, Lisa Moorish, Genesis Elijah, Tsana, and many, many more, come along to Band On The Wall, help us help Jamaica!! #HurricaneMelissa
We return to the Hackney Empire alongside Hollie McNish, supporting the release of Hollie’s brilliant new poetry book VIRGIN with the spectacular Michael Pedersen,come and watch LIVE, glorious venue, big stage, it’s gonna be epic.
These are my first gigs for 2026: Catch me if you can, please come, say hello. Not long now, spring soon come, soon come. I sense a big shift for all of us in March. I can feel it, taste it, the world is turning, changing, the universe is shifting. I know this dark shadow will pass, winter will end, so for now please keep on keeping on, keep reaching for the light, and remember to eat your greens and lead with love, always, lots of love xxsg
APRIL 30 - QEH, SOUTHBANK - SYMPOESIA
The London Sinfonietta and London’s premier live poetry night Out-Spoken come together for a raw, unflinching meditation on the state of the world. Poets including Jay Bernard, Salena Godden and Out-Spoken’s Anthony Anaxagorou and Joelle Taylor are joined by the contemporary chamber orchestra in a performance that weaves together poetry and music. Featuring a brand-new commission alongside notable modern works, this is an evening of urgent storytelling and virtuosic performance.
It is a wonderful surprise and a huge honour to find my latest work With Love, Grief and Fury shortlisted for the Book Are My Bag Readers Awards and to see this book part of a list that is voted for by the people who love books for the people who love books and that means the world to me. I’m genuinely humbled and sending BIGlove and heartfelt thanks to book sellers and book lovers. Congratulations to all the other poets and authors and beautiful books. Thank you.
The Books Are My Bag Readers Awards are one of a kind. They're the only book awards curated by bookshops and chosen by readers. The Books Are My Bag Readers Awards include seven shortlists which are chosen by booksellers across the UK and Ireland, while the Readers' Choice Award – nominated and chosen entirely by readers – completes the set. The Books Are My Bag Readers Awards launched in 2016, in partnership with and sponsored by National Book Tokens
The Poetry Book Society(PBS) is delighted to announce their exciting Winter 2025 Selections. Founded by T.S. Eliot to share the joy of poetry, the Poetry Book Society leads the way in championing inclusive and innovative poetries. Curated by a panel of expert-poets, Yomi Ṣode, Victoria Kennefick, Shivanee Ramlochan, Alycia Pirmohamed and Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, the PBS Selections are a highly sought-after accolade marking the very best in contemporary poetry.
Special Commendation goes to Salena Godden’s With Love, Grief and Fury which PBS Selector Yomi Ṣode described as a timely “invitation to remember that whatever divides us, our humanity must never be forgotten” I'm a huge fan of PBS, it’s a beautiful list, I am in such glorious company here. I post this sending love and congratulations to all the poets and thank you so much topoetrybooks.co.uk
Thanks to Bad Betty Pressfor submitting a video of my performance with the Bad Betty crew in Nottingham. Check out the whole list, my poem is in great company, and I’m sending congratulations and appreciation to all. Thanks especially to the judges for sharing this undiluted fury, it is one of the most fierce protest poems in theWith Love, Grief and Furycollection. Huge thanks to Bad Betty, Amy and Jake, for this surprise, for their support and outstanding contribution to poetry as a whole.
On a personal note - I feel heavy-hearted taking any praise and applause for this particular poem. It was written a while back now, however, today we see the dirtiest of Dirty Old Men gaining more power, wealth, votes and momentum, whilst lying to our faces, stripping human rights and profiteering in the deaths of people and planet.
The Forward Prizes for Poetry are the most influential awards for new poetry in the UK and Ireland, honouring fresh voices alongside internationally established names. The judges of the 2025 Prize are delighted to announce the Highly Commended poets for Best Single Poem – Performed Category.
Thank you for seeing me, hearing me, reading me, for voting for me. Thank you so much for coming with me on my poetry adventures. We are suddenly in the 2020’s and such a long way from my first gigs and early days and humble beginnings in the 1990’s and my first gigs, my home-made zines and poetry on cassette tapes.
I’m officially back on tour again now, the dates I have confirmed so far are below. My next two poetry shows are paperback launches in London at two very cool and beautiful venues. For east Londoners, tonight, Thursday October 9th, we will be at Libreria Bookshop, off Brick Lane, sharing poetry and conversations with poetry goddess Nikita Gill. Then for the Sohemians and west Londoners, we are having a poetry party with the gorgeous Poetry Pharmacy on Thursday October 16th. I reckon the Libreria show is sold out but there are a handful of spaces left for the Poetry Pharmacy bash, so join us for poems, cake and bubbles and Soho mischief there. Hope to see you soon, thank you for sharing this happy moment, it is a bit like buses, you wait years, then you get three in a row... See you here, see you there, thank you,
‘October Tape Experiment’ is a gentle mediation on October nostalgia, memory and timelessness, sensing the years passing us by ... seasons changing and the times changing, but some things never changing. This brand new poetry-film is made in collaboration with my dear friend, film maker and artist Wolfgang Dubieniec.
This is our third poetry-film collaboration, following on from earlier pieces we shared last summer, ‘While Justice Waits’ and ‘2084’ - Looking for something soft, pour some tea and enjoy a slow read and watch at - salenagodden.substack.com/
Poets Read for Hurricane Melissa Relief Fundraiser
With the recent devastation brought by Hurricane Melissa, please join us along with a stellar lineup of poets for an online fundraiser aimed at raising money to help those who have been affected by the damage.
The evening will be raising funds for the Jamaican Official Disaster Relief & Recovery Fund. This event is organised by Out-Spoken Press.
The evening will take place November 19th, 7-9pm UK and 2-4pm EST.
Please donate what you can - All donations will be split equally between the funds.
The evening will be hosted by Leone Ross, with an introduction from Akala, a piano recital from Karim Kamar and readers will include: Anthony Vahni Capildeo / Casey Bailey / Courtney Conrad / Courttia Newland / Dzifa Benson / Isabelle Baafi / Karen McCarthy Woolf / Keith Jarrett / Malika Booker / Muni Pilgrim / Raymond Antrobus / Richard Georges / Roger Robinson / Safiya Sinclair / Salena Godden / Shannon Smith-Meekings
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