The Holiday Inn Northerners. But honest. Him, hands like shovels, his eyes brimming and fish-flick. And her, … More
Author: Anthony Wilson
Advent poem 1: Joseph
Joseph They say there are signs. Not with her. I’m no professor but neither am I stupid. … More
Life Begins With Cancer
This is the recording of my reading ‘Life Begins With Cancer’, recorded at the Greenbelt Festival on Sunday 25th August, … More
Waiting to be picked
If you’re not enough without the gold medal, you’ll never be enough with it. – John Candy, Cool Runnings I did not … More
Gratitude
I’m grateful to you, you see. I wanted to tell you. –Raymond Carver (‘For Tess’) A kind, wise man once … More
Lifesaving Poems: Piotr Sommer’s ‘Morning on Earth’
Morning on Earth Morning on earth, light snow, and just when it was so warm, practically spring. But the thermometer … More
Lifesaving Poems: Kate Bingham’s ‘Things I Learned at University’
Things I Learned at University How to bike on cobblestones and where to signal right. How to walk through doors … More
Lifesaving Poems: T.S. Eliot’s ‘Hysteria’
Hysteria As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her … More
Lifesaving Poems: ‘Underneath the mathematics of time’
Phil Bowen gave me this poem, written by a ten-year-old girl, in 1998 to illustrate a writing game he submitted … More
Riddance one year on
A year ago I published Riddance, a book of poems, with Worple Press. It concerns my diagnosis and experience of cancer … More
Remission anniversary seven
Today is the seventh anniversary of the day I was told I was officially in remission from cancer. The popular … More
An interview: Putting Words to Cancer
Thank you to Julia McGuinness for posting this interview with me on her Creative Connections blog. In it I discuss … More
‘I am fragments’: a note from Seamus Heaney
In the spring of 1998 I wrote to Seamus Heaney. I asked him to consider writing a Foreword to the … More
Heaney’s Pedagogy
A comment Mark Robinson made in the days following Seamus Heaney’s death in August resonated with me. He said he … More
Lifesaving Poems: Geoff Hattersley’s ‘The Only Son at the Fish ‘n’ Chip Shop’
The Only Son at the Fish ‘n’ Chip Shop He lived with his mother till he was forty-five … More
Lifesaving Poems: Catherine Smith’s ‘How It All Started’
How It All Started Do you know this dream? An exam room full of neat, serious girls, your lucky gonk … More
Lifesaving Poems: Dorothy Nimmo’s ‘Rondeau Redouble’
Rondeau Redouble There is so little left. The room is bare. She’ll strip his sheets and blankets by and … More
Lifesaving Poems: Wisława Szymborska’s ‘Psalm’
Psalm How leaky are the borders of man-made states! How many clouds float over them scot-free, how much … More