OK to talk about cancer

‘I heard the most amazing thing today. It was a bloke off the radio, don’t remember his name, does that…

The echo chamber

‘It gets harder.’ ‘What does?’ ‘It. Everything. Teaching. Writing. Listening to you.’ ‘I didn’t see that coming.’ ‘You never do.’…

What people say they have been up to on Twitter

‘I’m tired.’ ‘You said,’ says the book. ‘No, I mean, I’m tired. Of my handwriting.’ ‘What’s wrong with it? It’s…

The way I felt when I first heard Public Enemy

‘You look tired.’ ‘I am tired,’ I say. ‘But term hasn’t even started yet. You’re not match fit. Just you…

Alone, by Tomas Tranströmer

Alone I One evening in February I came near to dying here.The car skidded sideways on the ice, outon the…

Moral ethics

‘I’m tired.’ ‘Go to sleep then,’ the book says. ‘There’s plenty for me to be getting on with while you’re…

No one you know

‘You look upset.’ ‘I am upset,’ I say. ‘Well, not so much upset as disappointed.’ ‘Want to talk about it?’…

The point is the silence

  ‘I’ve stopped listening to the radio!’ ‘What, completely?’ the book says. ‘Not completely, I’m not an idiot,’ I say.…

Gazing out of someone else’s window

‘Where have you been?’ the book says. ‘Where have you been?’ ‘Here, waiting for you,’ the book says. ‘Working.’ ‘Same…

Breathing Space July, by Tomas Tranströmer

Breathing Space July   The man who lies on his back under huge trees is also up in them. He…

I hope your new book is a disaster

‘How’s it going then?’ ‘What going?’ ‘Your ‘New Book’,’ says the book. ‘Fine, thanks,’ I say. ‘No early difficulties with…

Starting a new book

‘Where have you been?’ ‘Out,’ I say. ‘You were out for a long time,’ the book says. ‘Days.’ ‘I was…

Lifesaving Poems: Marie Howe’s ‘Prayer’

Concluding this mini-series of poems I shared in my reading at the Greenbelt festival last weekend, here is Prayer by Marie…

Lifesaving Poems: WN Herbert’s ‘The Black Wet’

Continuing in this mini-series of poems I shared in my reading at the Greenbelt festival last weekend, here is The…

Lifesaving Poems: Ann Gray’s ‘mercifully ordain that we may become aged together’

It was such a privilege to read from the cornucopia of talent assembled in Lifesaving Poems at the Greenbelt Festival over…

Suit. A new poem at Simon Parke’s blog

I am delighted to have Suit, a new poem published on Simon Parke’s blog, in his poem of the week…

Lifesaving Poems: Christopher Southgate’s ‘High Fidelity’

To celebrate the appearance of my dear friend Christopher Southgate at this year’s Greenbelt Festival, I am republishing my Lifesaving…

All of The Book blog posts in one place

Thank you to all my readers who have been asking to see a page with all of The Book blog…