Books by Rob Godfrey

 
When I Went Out One Summer's Morn
From California to communist eastern Europe, from Alaska to Arabia, from Paris to Peking, these travel tales span the globe and contain both high drama and small moments. A Red Army soldier pulls a knife on the Trans-Siberian Railway. A foggy evening in San Francisco and an arguement about what the word 'penultimate' means. A voyage across the Atlantic Ocean on a cargo ship. A girl met on a train while crossing the Iron Curtain. A record-breaking drive up to the Arctic Ocean in Alaska. Bicycling in Beijing. Arrest and interrogation by the Stasi in East Berlin. A Polish princess hitchhiking in the south of France. All this and more is recounted in When I Went Out One Summer's Morn, Rob Godfrey's memoir of 20 years of travels.

When I Went Out One Summer's Morn is available as both an ebook and a paperback from Amazon. See here.


 
I've just had a brilliant idea!
One Englishman, one Dutch woman and two clapped-out Citroen 2CVs set out on an incredible journey of do-daring and fortitude and other very macho things...         je ne regrette rien

In July 1999 the good ship Marie Anne sailed from Rotterdam, bound for the USA. On board this creaking cargo ship were Rob Godfrey and two Citroen 2CVs. This voyage was the first leg of an epic journey to Prudhoe Bay, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, a journey that took Rob Godfrey and Jose Oostveen 8000 road miles across North America.

The 2CV Alaska Challenge was not only the first time a 2CV had been driven up to the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, it was also the first time that charity fundraising had been attempted entirely via the internet, and also the first time that an ongoing travelogue had been posted as 'almost live' reportage - the only things that weren't cutting edge about the 2CV Alaska Challenge were the cars.

Delay, deviation and danger while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, breakdowns, bust-ups and bacchanalia during the road journey to Alaska, and lots and lots of pissed-off grizzly bears were all part of what beforehand had seemed like a good idea.

I've just had a brilliant idea! is not only an account of Rob's travels, it's also a quirky history of Canada and the Pacific Northwest, including the Yukon gold rush, the Alaskan gold rush, the building of the Alaska Highway and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The book runs to approx. 67,000 words and has 26 photos

I've just had a brilliant idea! is available as an ebook from Amazon. See here.


Sex and other kinds of poems
In 1996 I wrote a collection of poetry called Sex, which consisted of 69 poems that covered every aspect of sex you could imagine, and probably quite a lot you couldn't imagine (doing the research was interesting). Sex never got published. This collection contains many of the Sex poems, along with other pieces I've written over the years, including some of my London Sonnets.

The earliest poem in this collection, a free verse piece called The Miami, dates from 1987, when I was 23 years old. The most recent poem, a Spenserian sonnet called Perihelion, was written in 2009. I dislike the divide between free verse and formal poetry and you'll find that reflected here. I'm also no fan of the seriousness which inhabits much of the poetry world. Sex and other kinds of poems contains both humorous and serious poetry. I can only hope that the reader finds this collection interesting; and needless to say, many of these poems are not suitable for children.

Sex and other kinds of poems is available as an ebook from Amazon. See here.


Rob Godfrey was born in London on March 21st 1964. After travelling the world and having various adventures he is now pausing in a quiet part of south west France.

e-mail: rob@spiderbomb.com