The Year of Living Deeply 15: You don’t have that kind of time

About a month before my friend Pammy died, she said something that may have permanently changed me. We had … More

Grandmaman

A few words about the piece below. I wrote the first draft of it in 1989, a year after the … More

Dear Mark I am sorry it has taken so long to getting round to writing to you, not least because … More

I was saddened to hear of the death of the Australian poet Les Murray yesterday. In the autumn of 1997, … More

I have been thinking a lot about habits recently. The unconscious, unthinking ones which, as Sylvia Plath said about words, … More

I have just started reading Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit: Learn it and use it for life. Like those other classics … More

Dear Alicia I can’t believe it is three years since I got to hang out with you at Totleigh … More

after Shawna Lemay Write a poem about the rain. Or the wind. Write about what you learned at university. … More

Anne Lamott suggests an index card, and I have used these, but they suggest something pre-planned, organised. The envelope, especially … More

It isn’t often that you read something that you know as soon as you read it has the capacity to … More

‘I’m trying again. A man has to begin over and over – to try to think and feel only in … More

I always think of myself as working at a rock face. Ninety days out of ninety five, it’s just a … More

After Charles Wright Strives for perfection-Thursday Is begun day after votings Old envelope from the hospital) Will … More

When I began blogging almost ten years ago, I felt as though I had been let into the shiny, sugar-scented … More

‘You good?’ says the book. ‘Yup,’ I say. ‘Good, thanks. All good.’ ‘You’re good. So you’re good,’ the book says. … More

I am not sure how this is going to turn out. It was something somebody said in response to my … More

Dear Facebook I thought I would write to let you know that after years of thinking (and even talking) … More

Going There is an evening coming in Across the fields, one never seen before, That lights no lamps. Silken … More