Review of Love for Now and Riddance

Tomorrow the Church Times publishes a combined review of my memoir of cancer Love for Now and Riddance, my … More

Lifesaving Poems: Billy Collins’s ‘Morning’

In February, 1999 I was sitting in a car park with Naomi Jaffa when she asked me what I … More

It was great to hear the BBC’s Deputy Political Editor James Landale’s interview about his experience of treatment for cancer … More

I have been thinking a lot recently about the career trajectory of poets, including my own, whose work briefly becomes visible … More

I wrote recently about poets who disappear from view, specifically Susannah Amoore, from Faber’s Poetry Introduction 6. My point is far … More

I treated myself to Seth Godin‘s newish book The Icarus Deception recently. It is both dense and light, profound and easy to … More

I wrote here a couple of days ago about my aversion to using war metaphor to describe cancer. Judging from … More

A friend of mine drew my attention via Twitter this week to an article detailing Robert Peston’s thoughts on his … More

I want to live – Sharon Olds The most intense reading group I ever belonged to wasn’t really a reading … More

Seven years ago this is what happened halfway through my treatment for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I went for a midway scan … More

Today is the seventh anniversary of my diagnosis with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL), an aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system. I … More

As I say in my full length review of Jo Shapcott’s Of Mutability, really good books about cancer are rare. Really … More

Seven years ago today, the date in the photograph above was the day I knew had cancer. By this … More

I have written before that there are a wide range of reasons for including the poems I have in my … More

The Next Big Thing I have been been tagged by poet and blogger Abegail Morley to answer set questions relating to my memoir … More

When I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma nearly seven years ago the aspect of telling people I dreaded most was … 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