The Year of Drinking Water, seven years on (free download)

Seven years ago I published The Year of Drinking Water, a pamphlet of poems, about my experience of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (Exeter…

The power of poetry (free download) #NATEconf

Here are the text and ppt presentations of my NATE Conference 2014 keynote speech on The Power of Poetry. PDF…

A scan, with different initials. The train journey to it, biting nails; the one back pretending not to be radioactive.…

Groundsmen The pile of cuttings puts on dreadful weight, swelters in the season, and leaks treacle. Beside it, the…

Father’s Day 1970 This is the day my father lets us sleep, then brings us tea in bed. The sun…

I am in the pub with Rupert. We are talking about planning a thing. It’s definitely going to happen. A…

I am at a thing. It is my thing, contributing to the thing of others, who I do not know.…

Ink Sweat & Tears have published a new poem, ‘Hymn of Rain’. Here’s to another barbecue summer!

The ward is a void without him. Football blares in the corner, the monotonous roar of the crowd unleavened by…

I met the furniture designer Duncan Kramer at summer camp. Not as kids but as what we laughingly called leaders.…

The book is not in love with me. I shower it with love and promises of more stationery, but all…

When the Holy Spirit Danced With Me in My Kitchen the first thing I noticed was his arms,…

I’m talking about real influence now –Raymond Carver This is the first in a new series of blog posts about people…

Jörn Cann wasn’t my friend. He was my doctor. He was famous before we even met him as the doctor…

The way it starts. With an ending. Just before our love got lost. We have all been here: the wit…

The room is small, the size of a student bedsit. An enormous grey sofa takes up most of the space.…

I have not read a book in six months -Raymond Carver, ‘Drinking While Driving’ I can still remember the shock…

Sugar in Banana Sandwiches ‘Still something of the child in you’ she says. I find that hard to swallow…