This was a good week

Third Sunday in Advent Today I pause from giving you updates from grief’s front line and take a leaf from … More

Lifesaving Poems: Craig Raine’s ‘Heaven on Earth’

Heaven on Earth Now that it is night, you fetch the wash from outer space, from the frozen … More

because of the words and because of the books because of the woman in the anorak at the swimming baths … More

I have so much to be grateful for in 2014. The year began in one of my temporary fits … More

Here are the most read Lifesaving Poems of 2014. For the first time I have been able to compare last … More

One of the biggest influences on my life, let alone my writing, is Martin Wilson. I should know; he’s my … More

I’m grateful to you, you see. I wanted to tell you. –Raymond Carver (‘For Tess’) A kind, wise man once … More

I wrote here recently about losing my ambition as a writer. In case readers are in any doubt, the stuff … More

Love for Now did not begin with an idea but an illness. As I have written elsewhere, there wasn’t a plan. I … More

The chances are, more of us are mortal than have multiple orgasms -Violet Weingarten, Intimations of Mortality When I was diagnosed … More

I have just been asked by Abegail Morley to send her a list of my poetry books of 2012 for … More

Photo: Andy Oliver In May 2005, the chairman and chief executive of the accountancy giantKPMG was told he had about 100 … More