A huge thank you to Ken Head and Helen Ivory at Ink Sweat & Tears for this review of Riddance … More
Tag: Blood Cancer
On Being Chipper
There were just a few of us in the room, gathered round a table. I had been invited to speak. … More
Standing up to cancer?
I am not completely stupid. I know celebrity culture is here to stay. As my children frequently remind me, ‘It … More
A day he won’t have
I had bumped into a friend at the cash machine. We greeted each other, as we always do, with a … More
Dear Cancer
Dear Cancer It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Fifteen years, to be precise. To the day. Amazing to realise it … More
Open letter to Arthur Frank (on reading At the Will of the Body)
Dear Arthur Frank I’m writing to say thank you for your extraordinary book At the Will of the Body. It is … More
Lifesaving Poems: Tom Andrews’s ‘Reading Frank O’Hara in the Hospital’
Reading Frank O’Hara in the Hospital 1 The IV drips its slow news. So long, lean and turbulent morning! … More
On Being Chipper
There were just a few of us in the room, gathered round a table. I had been invited to … More
Cured
A Tuesday, appropriately. (Tuesday being the day I was formally diagnosed.) Poetic, it strikes me now. But at the time, … More
#NaBloPoMo 18 – Afterwards
After they left, the house went very quiet. No one really knew about the quietness but me. I played a … More
Tracks, by Tomas Tranströmer
Tracks 2 am: moonlight. The train has stopped out in the middle of the plain. Far away, points of … More
Remission anniversary ten
The way I found out, just as with my diagnosis, was via a segment of a conversation about other things. … More
OK to talk about cancer
‘I heard the most amazing thing today. It was a bloke off the radio, don’t remember his name, does that … More
On not having cancer
On certain afternoons I am certain it has come back. A twinge in my right side, where the pain … More
Walking into the light
We walked into the brunt light, towards the hospital. The air was dry, February-cold. Traffic was going about its business. … More
Things people said when I had cancer
‘I am so, so sorry.’ ‘You’re going to be fine.’ ‘Fight it, you know you’re a fighter.’ ‘Are we going … More
Ten years today
This is a momentous week. It marks the tenth anniversary of the day I was told I had cancer. To … More
A day he won’t have
I had bumped into a friend at the cash machine. We greeted each other, as we always do, with a … More