What do you think?
Rate this book
With Love, Grief and Fury
With Love, Grief and Fury contains love poems, for people and the planet; grief poems brimming with compassion, sharing tears and 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 thirty years after she first stormed the UK poetry scene, the 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.
- GenresPoetryNonfiction
234 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 2, 2024
15 people are currently reading
167 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 7, 2024
Beautiful, angry, raw, emotional, With Love, Grief And Fury is a stunning poetry collection from Salena Godden covering wide rage of topics. It's a thing of absolute beauty and I absolutely loved it.
July 8, 2024
(3.5) “In a time of apathy, / hope is a revolutionary act”. I knew Godden from her hybrid novel Mrs Death Misses Death, but this was my first taste of the poetry for which she is better known. The title gives a flavour of the variety in tone. Poems arise from environmental anxiety; feminist outrage at discrimination and violence towards women; and personal experience of bisexuality, being childfree (“Book Mother” and “Egg and Spoon Race”), and entering perimenopause (“Evergreen Tea”). Solidarity and protest are strategies for dispelling ignorance about all of the above. Godden also marks the rhythms of everyday life for a single artist, and advises taking delight in life’s small pleasures.
The social justice angle made it a perfect book for me to read portions of on the Restore Nature Now march through London in June and while volunteering as an election teller at a polling station last week. It contains 81 poems (many of them overlong prose ones), making for a much lengthier collection than I would usually pick up. The repetition, wordplay and run-on sentences are really meant more for performance than for reading on the page, but if you’re a fan of Hollie McNish or Kae Tempest, you’re likely to enjoy this, too.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
The social justice angle made it a perfect book for me to read portions of on the Restore Nature Now march through London in June and while volunteering as an election teller at a polling station last week. It contains 81 poems (many of them overlong prose ones), making for a much lengthier collection than I would usually pick up. The repetition, wordplay and run-on sentences are really meant more for performance than for reading on the page, but if you’re a fan of Hollie McNish or Kae Tempest, you’re likely to enjoy this, too.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
March 30, 2024
With Love, Grief and Fury is a new collection of poetry by Salena Godden, spanning a huge range of topics from rage at the state of the world to what it is like being a poet. Poems explore love, getting older, injustice, climate, and our collective futures, amongst other things, and there is real variation across the collection. Bringing it together are a sequence of poems with the same title as the collection, exploring the future in various ways.
Perhaps my favourite poem in the collection is 'Wish You Were Here', a poem about climate crisis and the British seaside and Covid-19 all smashed together into a powerful message, picture postcards from the apocalypse. I like that some of the poems take common imagery and ideas and push further into their political implications, like how 'Great-Granddaughters' rethinks ideas of witch heritage in relation to race and class and how 'Dirty Old Men' plays with the contrast between teenagers and the "dirty old men" who hold all the power. The collection is accessible and fast-paced, making it ideal not just for poetry fans, but for people looking for ways to get into poetry (though there are a lot of poems about writing or performing poetry that are perhaps more suited to poets reading the book).
Perhaps my favourite poem in the collection is 'Wish You Were Here', a poem about climate crisis and the British seaside and Covid-19 all smashed together into a powerful message, picture postcards from the apocalypse. I like that some of the poems take common imagery and ideas and push further into their political implications, like how 'Great-Granddaughters' rethinks ideas of witch heritage in relation to race and class and how 'Dirty Old Men' plays with the contrast between teenagers and the "dirty old men" who hold all the power. The collection is accessible and fast-paced, making it ideal not just for poetry fans, but for people looking for ways to get into poetry (though there are a lot of poems about writing or performing poetry that are perhaps more suited to poets reading the book).
April 20, 2024
another delicious book from the talented salena godden. I gotta say I was stunned when netgalley approved this one for me to read, I loved mrs death misses death!
with love, grief and fury paints a very honest picture about todays society and life. I loved the constant stream of consciousness in some of the longer poems, they felt a bit more raw with feelings.
the only reason this wasn’t 5 stars for me as some of the poems came across quite repetitive.
with love, grief and fury paints a very honest picture about todays society and life. I loved the constant stream of consciousness in some of the longer poems, they felt a bit more raw with feelings.
the only reason this wasn’t 5 stars for me as some of the poems came across quite repetitive.
Read
September 17, 2024Some poetry just doesn't resonate and that is A okay.
June 8, 2024
3.5-4⭐️
A wonderful and touching poetry book that skilfully explores themes of love, grief, aging, injustice, climate, futures, amongst many other important things. This collection of poetry paints a very raw picture of society as it is today and encapsulates so many vulnerable elements of living. Not only did the poems touch me emotionally, they also rejuvenated me. I really liked: But First Make Tea, wonderful world, and With Love, Grief and fury.
A wonderful and touching poetry book that skilfully explores themes of love, grief, aging, injustice, climate, futures, amongst many other important things. This collection of poetry paints a very raw picture of society as it is today and encapsulates so many vulnerable elements of living. Not only did the poems touch me emotionally, they also rejuvenated me. I really liked: But First Make Tea, wonderful world, and With Love, Grief and fury.
February 8, 2025
My first poetry read since high school. There were 228 pages of beautiful poetry and I only resonated with these pages. I think poetry was meant for younger me, but nice to change pace!
December 23, 2024
At first, after seeing Salena Godden perform her work, I thought a complete book of poems by her would be too loud and histrionic for me.
But an exuberantly filthy poem called Selinophilia lingered in my mind. Not because it was filthy, I should add, but because of its euphony. It has some really good lines in it. She knows this to be true and even interrupted her performance to congratulate herself on one of them. This seems too self-regarding until you realise that these poems are a way of dealing with some very dark thoughts. She is glorying in the language and using it to fight back not with anger but with joy.
Some of the poems are surprisingly tender and vulnerable. The perspective can be quite complex, using posed photographs, for instance, as a springboard for a meditation on how she might look back and see her former self (Shadow) or what her mother’s inner life might have been like (Umbilical).
There is sometimes too much insistence on a single idea. Lines are repeated again and again, drummed into you. Perhaps this is part of their power and is intrinsic to their purpose. They are not so much poems as incantations. ‘We are the granddaughters of the witches they couldn’t burn,’ she declares in Great-Grandaughters.
Sometimes the repetitions dispel negative emotions, turning an insult into a consoling mantra (My Heart is a Boat), sometimes they mesmerise like an erotic dance (Malasana) and sometimes they are desperate, beseeching, expressing incredulity and shock (Five Words).
But in reading these poems I’m reminded of something Selima Hill said about why she didn’t like to read her own poems in public. In doing so, the poet fixes them as utterances in her own persona, which takes away their universality and makes it hard for different readings to co-exist with the poet’s own.
It’s possible to read Salema Godden’s poems quietly. The repetitions can be softer than they might appear when they are performed on a large empty stage in a theatre, where the poet needs to somehow fill the space.
These are good poems if you are bemused by a lot of modern verse that is difficult to understand and lacks any apparent metre. Even the prose poems in this collection have a strong metre and all the poems have a very clear and obvious meaning. You don’t have to struggle to read them. There are still many varied forms in here with nuances of meaning. Their impact derives as much from their sophistication of thought as from their clarity. But above all they are very direct. It’s their mission to make themselves understood.
In summary, although I have a tall stack of collections and anthologies waiting to be read, I keep coming back to this one and re-reading poems I already know almost by heart, because I am enjoying them so much.
But an exuberantly filthy poem called Selinophilia lingered in my mind. Not because it was filthy, I should add, but because of its euphony. It has some really good lines in it. She knows this to be true and even interrupted her performance to congratulate herself on one of them. This seems too self-regarding until you realise that these poems are a way of dealing with some very dark thoughts. She is glorying in the language and using it to fight back not with anger but with joy.
Some of the poems are surprisingly tender and vulnerable. The perspective can be quite complex, using posed photographs, for instance, as a springboard for a meditation on how she might look back and see her former self (Shadow) or what her mother’s inner life might have been like (Umbilical).
There is sometimes too much insistence on a single idea. Lines are repeated again and again, drummed into you. Perhaps this is part of their power and is intrinsic to their purpose. They are not so much poems as incantations. ‘We are the granddaughters of the witches they couldn’t burn,’ she declares in Great-Grandaughters.
Sometimes the repetitions dispel negative emotions, turning an insult into a consoling mantra (My Heart is a Boat), sometimes they mesmerise like an erotic dance (Malasana) and sometimes they are desperate, beseeching, expressing incredulity and shock (Five Words).
But in reading these poems I’m reminded of something Selima Hill said about why she didn’t like to read her own poems in public. In doing so, the poet fixes them as utterances in her own persona, which takes away their universality and makes it hard for different readings to co-exist with the poet’s own.
It’s possible to read Salema Godden’s poems quietly. The repetitions can be softer than they might appear when they are performed on a large empty stage in a theatre, where the poet needs to somehow fill the space.
These are good poems if you are bemused by a lot of modern verse that is difficult to understand and lacks any apparent metre. Even the prose poems in this collection have a strong metre and all the poems have a very clear and obvious meaning. You don’t have to struggle to read them. There are still many varied forms in here with nuances of meaning. Their impact derives as much from their sophistication of thought as from their clarity. But above all they are very direct. It’s their mission to make themselves understood.
In summary, although I have a tall stack of collections and anthologies waiting to be read, I keep coming back to this one and re-reading poems I already know almost by heart, because I am enjoying them so much.
October 6, 2024
I fell in love with Salena’s writing with ‘Mrs Death Misses Death’ and promptly sought out poetry collection 'Fishing in the Aftermath’ – I’ve never looked back.
Let me just say that ‘with love, grief and fury’ is fabulous.
With 80 poems to choose from you will be spoilt for choice for a favourite but I have a few that were stand outs for me. Sorry, but yours will undoubtedly differ.
Sorry – how many times do you say that word in a day. As many as one hundred times in the space of three hours? Think about it. I just said it in the last paragraph and I’m not sure what I’m apologising for. Do you?
The Then and The Now – is there any better time machine than music. A song that as soon as you hear it you’re transported back to the then of the song. It’s amazing that music can do that, no? This poem delves into music as the ultimate time traveller.
Five Words – I don’t think I’ll ever read a poem that is so thoroughly gut-punching using just five words per line than this. Dedicated to the memory of Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. As someone who had six degrees of separation to one of those souls, it’s a heartbreaking few pages.
On top of those you’ll experience others that tackle social injustice, mental health, the pandemic, nature, global warming and of course – love, grief and fury.
And I know you should never judge a book by its cover but this one IS simply gorgeous. And the typography inside is top notch too.
If you’ve not read any of Salena’s work before please consider picking this up – and prepare to be moved.
Let me just say that ‘with love, grief and fury’ is fabulous.
With 80 poems to choose from you will be spoilt for choice for a favourite but I have a few that were stand outs for me. Sorry, but yours will undoubtedly differ.
Sorry – how many times do you say that word in a day. As many as one hundred times in the space of three hours? Think about it. I just said it in the last paragraph and I’m not sure what I’m apologising for. Do you?
The Then and The Now – is there any better time machine than music. A song that as soon as you hear it you’re transported back to the then of the song. It’s amazing that music can do that, no? This poem delves into music as the ultimate time traveller.
Five Words – I don’t think I’ll ever read a poem that is so thoroughly gut-punching using just five words per line than this. Dedicated to the memory of Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. As someone who had six degrees of separation to one of those souls, it’s a heartbreaking few pages.
On top of those you’ll experience others that tackle social injustice, mental health, the pandemic, nature, global warming and of course – love, grief and fury.
And I know you should never judge a book by its cover but this one IS simply gorgeous. And the typography inside is top notch too.
If you’ve not read any of Salena’s work before please consider picking this up – and prepare to be moved.
May 2, 2024
This is such a wonderful poetry collection, covering so many topics in so much depth.
I would recommend this to lovers of poetry that perfectly encapsulates some of the most vulnerable elements of the human experience.
There were a handful of poems that felt a little repetitive, and some others that felt slightly out of place in this collection. This is the only reason I didn’t give this one 5 stars personally, but I still loved the collection so much.
Selena has such a talent for capturing those types of human experiences that feel unique when you’re in it but really are incredibly relatable and an integral part of the human experience.
With Love, Grief, and Fury felt like a real labor of love. It felt like a true privilege to be able to glimpse into Salena’s world with this collection.
Some of my favorites were: When You Stub Your Toe, But First Make Tea, Wonderful World, and With Love, Grief, and Fury 2 & 5.
Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.
I would recommend this to lovers of poetry that perfectly encapsulates some of the most vulnerable elements of the human experience.
There were a handful of poems that felt a little repetitive, and some others that felt slightly out of place in this collection. This is the only reason I didn’t give this one 5 stars personally, but I still loved the collection so much.
Selena has such a talent for capturing those types of human experiences that feel unique when you’re in it but really are incredibly relatable and an integral part of the human experience.
With Love, Grief, and Fury felt like a real labor of love. It felt like a true privilege to be able to glimpse into Salena’s world with this collection.
Some of my favorites were: When You Stub Your Toe, But First Make Tea, Wonderful World, and With Love, Grief, and Fury 2 & 5.
Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.
July 28, 2024
I sat with this book over two evenings. I think it brought a lot of my own emotions to the surface. I found my eyes stinging and heart swelling as I read, only crying a couple of times but just being so involved in the words.
This anthology covers so much, rage, grief, relationships, injustices, parents, poetry and more. The range means I’d definitely suggest it to people who are new to poetry and just want to explore.
For poets among readers, there are several poems about writing and poetry and words that I think will resonate with them especially.
I rarely do anything to my books but I’ll admit this one is full of tabs, marking spots to go back to or tell certain people to read.
I spent an incredible amount of time going back over ‘Lock, Then and Now and Umbilical’, just gorgeous, in fact I sent Umbilical to my own mother and we both cried because we loved it so much.
This collection is bittersweet but it reminded me to pay attention to everything and take nothing for granted.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This anthology covers so much, rage, grief, relationships, injustices, parents, poetry and more. The range means I’d definitely suggest it to people who are new to poetry and just want to explore.
For poets among readers, there are several poems about writing and poetry and words that I think will resonate with them especially.
I rarely do anything to my books but I’ll admit this one is full of tabs, marking spots to go back to or tell certain people to read.
I spent an incredible amount of time going back over ‘Lock, Then and Now and Umbilical’, just gorgeous, in fact I sent Umbilical to my own mother and we both cried because we loved it so much.
This collection is bittersweet but it reminded me to pay attention to everything and take nothing for granted.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
June 25, 2025
Thoughts:
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a mixed bag of poetry for me. There are some poems such as ‘My Heart is a Boat’, ‘Grandmother’ and ‘Burned’ that struck a chord with me. However, some of the poems felt more like prose or essays with them being very long and the broken lines of some of the poems (one being one word per line) made it more difficult to read and pages longer than felt needed.
Favorite Quote:
“with love, grief and fury
my eyes blurred with tears
I cannot write this page
everywhere, chaos, conflict
the global mourning
can be seen from space
trust your grief
it is trying to
show you the truth
believe your tears
they are crying to
show you your strength”
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a mixed bag of poetry for me. There are some poems such as ‘My Heart is a Boat’, ‘Grandmother’ and ‘Burned’ that struck a chord with me. However, some of the poems felt more like prose or essays with them being very long and the broken lines of some of the poems (one being one word per line) made it more difficult to read and pages longer than felt needed.
Favorite Quote:
“with love, grief and fury
my eyes blurred with tears
I cannot write this page
everywhere, chaos, conflict
the global mourning
can be seen from space
trust your grief
it is trying to
show you the truth
believe your tears
they are crying to
show you your strength”
October 10, 2025
This is what makes us human.
Some absolutely gut raw, heart strong, rage filled and fuelled pieces in here which I will come back to and back to and back to, to soothe the wounds, refill the soul and keep on hoping.
Am aware how lucky I am to live in a time alongside great poets like Salena, to have the feelings and worries and sensations of life made sense of in such a beautifully accessible way. Even luckier to be able to hear her perform and have equivalent of hours and hours of therapy work healing and processing made in an evening.
With love, grief, and fury… I keep on hoping.
Some absolutely gut raw, heart strong, rage filled and fuelled pieces in here which I will come back to and back to and back to, to soothe the wounds, refill the soul and keep on hoping.
Am aware how lucky I am to live in a time alongside great poets like Salena, to have the feelings and worries and sensations of life made sense of in such a beautifully accessible way. Even luckier to be able to hear her perform and have equivalent of hours and hours of therapy work healing and processing made in an evening.
With love, grief, and fury… I keep on hoping.
October 7, 2024
A stunningly bright, memorising collection of poetry, prose, script and short stories. Felt like the author's emotions were pouring onto the page, the title is perfect.
My favourites were Autumn Secretary & Book Mother.
Perfect book to pick up and turn to a piece of prose which reflects your own current emotions, you will feel heard.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eArc.
My favourites were Autumn Secretary & Book Mother.
Perfect book to pick up and turn to a piece of prose which reflects your own current emotions, you will feel heard.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eArc.
April 23, 2024
This is easily in my top 19 reads of 2024!
Another incredible read from the amazing Salena Godden.
It felt like every single poem spoke directly to me, that I had experienced or felt every situation in them.
I cried, I laughed out loud and I loved.
Highly recommend!
Another incredible read from the amazing Salena Godden.
It felt like every single poem spoke directly to me, that I had experienced or felt every situation in them.
I cried, I laughed out loud and I loved.
Highly recommend!
May 19, 2024
An inspiring collection of poetry which reinvigorated my soul. Needed this! ☺️
June 22, 2024
🌟🌟🌟🌟.8
This is a work of art. Beautiful, heartwarming and honest set of poetry that explores grief, trauma, rage, life and injustice.
This was my first by Salena Godden and I loved the writing style and the set of poetry collection includes. An inspirational and powerful read that I highly recommend.
With Love, Grief and Fury contains love poems, for people and the planet; grief poems brimming with compassion, sharing tears and 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.
This is a work of art. Beautiful, heartwarming and honest set of poetry that explores grief, trauma, rage, life and injustice.
This was my first by Salena Godden and I loved the writing style and the set of poetry collection includes. An inspirational and powerful read that I highly recommend.
With Love, Grief and Fury contains love poems, for people and the planet; grief poems brimming with compassion, sharing tears and 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.
July 16, 2024
My new favourite book of poetry. No notes. Loved loved loved.
July 27, 2024
Godden’s writing never fails in making me emotional. This collection is just so good.
February 2, 2025
I think someone really needs to remind Salena Godden that Pessimism is for Lightweights.
I found this really, disappointingly negative.
I found this really, disappointingly negative.
May 27, 2025
i needed some good poetry to cleanse my palate after whatever i just read. this delivered. absolutely beautiful, ms salena godden has done it again
May 21, 2024
Heartfelt poems that not only make you reflect, but they can boost you up too.
A real range of emotions - I really enjoyed this book!
A real range of emotions - I really enjoyed this book!
November 12, 2024
Gorgeous book. Reading more poetry this year as a challenge to myself has been a delight and this adds to the wondrous poetry books I’ve read this year. Glorious. Great gift. Great book.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews