It’s not about you, it’s me: on saying goodbye to Twitter

What I want is to – to be present. That’s what I’ve learned. I want to strive for presence, now, … More

Lifesaving Poems interview podcast

This is the link to the podcast of the interview I gave yesterday on the Arena programme, RTE, about … More

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

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

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

I am not completely stupid. I know celebrity culture is here to stay. As my children frequently remind me, ‘It … More

Medicine The black hair of my Chinese doctor gleams like combed ink as he leans over his desk, with quick … More

A year ago I had a relapse of my cancer. Except I didn’t. For a week or so I knew … More

This is Jörn Cann. He was my ward doctor at the haematology unit where I was treated for non-Hodgkin’s … More

Seven years ago I published The Year of Drinking Water, a pamphlet of poems, about my experience of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (Exeter … More

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

The ward is a void without him. Football blares in the corner, the monotonous roar of the crowd unleavened by … More

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

The way it starts. With an ending. Just before our love got lost. We have all been here: the wit … More

The room is small, the size of a student bedsit. An enormous grey sofa takes up most of the space. … More

I am completely torn apart -Rupert Loydell When I first read Raymond Carver’s Fires I loved and understood all of it, … More

Don’t forget, this is inside us every day -Stephen Berg This is not happening. It happened. Past tense. One … More