What is a lifesaving poem?

Tomorrow I will be taking part at the Wenlock Poetry Festival in an event with Roz Goddard. We will be … More

Nine years ago today

Nine years ago today I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells. Even though I have … More

Reading Arthur W. Frank’s astonishing At the Will of the Body recently has given me pause to reflect on the relationship … More

Dear Arthur Frank I’m writing to say thank you for your extraordinary book At the Will of the Body. It is … More

The other day I was asked what I look for in poetry. Needing to give a quick answer I said: I … More

I am not at a thing. The things have dried up (or I have stopped going). I am thingless. I … More

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

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

This is the day we go the hospital as usual. We have banter with Jörn and Nadine while they inject … More

Dear Anthony Two cycles down, just six more to go. You are not looking bad, considering. The belligerent doctor who … More

Dear Ant So you’ve had your first chemotherapy treatment. That first night, when you came home and carried the sick … More

We walked into the brunt light, towards the hospital. The air was dry, February-cold. Traffic was going about its … More

Riddance has been reviewed by cancer patients, and former patients, under the aegis of Macmillan Cancer Support. You can find out … More

One year go I celebrated with friends the publication of Love for Now, my journal-memoir of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of … More

Dear Anthony I’m writing to let you know what you already know in your bones, as you put it much … More

My memoir of cancer, Love for Now, has been reviewed by cancer patients, and former patients, under the aegis of Macmillan … More

This is the recording of my reading ‘Life Begins With Cancer’, recorded at the Greenbelt Festival on Sunday 25th August, … More

A year ago I published Riddance, a book of poems, with Worple Press. It concerns my diagnosis and experience of cancer … More

Today is the seventh anniversary of the day I was told I was officially in remission from cancer. The popular … More

Thank you to Julia McGuinness for posting this interview with me on her Creative Connections blog. In it I discuss … More