Packing to leave

‘Passport?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Flight info?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Euros?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Underpants?’ The book glares at me. ‘What do you take me for?’ ‘It … More

In the waiting room

The book has had a fall, and now we are sitting in a waiting room, waiting to be seen. This … More

Recently I have been reading the exquisite prose of Janna Malamud Smith, in her book-length meditation on creativity: An Absorbing Errand: … More

We have left the house. At first our walking is clumsy, comical, even. The book is three yards ahead of … More

Yesterday I listened to a dialogue between Debbie Millman and Seth Godin on art-making, resistance, anxiety, how the internet has changed … More

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

It’s hard to describe. One day your are fine, not quite the same (age will do this to you), then … More

The book and I are passing each other messages through a third party. Neither of us bothers with the niceties … More

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

I am visiting the book. We have already been through a lot together, including the part where I killed it and … More

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

I have murdered my darling. Like a bird of a certain blue vintage, it is ex, dead, kaput, finished. The … More

One of my personal, private highlights of last year’s Aldeburgh Poetry Festival was a Sunday morning breakfast hosted by The … More

My first reader was a man called Fergus. A friend of a flatmate at university, I never got to … More

Cut through to what happens when you listen. Cut through to making it happen, listening for it, failing, then doing … More

Dear Ant Looking forward to 2015 it’s tempting to think it will never reach the heights of 2014. Big mistake. Huge. … More

The poem and I are best friends. For ever. We hold hands in public and spend every spare minute with … More

By the time you read this I will be far away from here. It has not happened yet, but I … More