On boarding schools and cancer

Two big stories in the media this week, neither of which I wanted to write about, but which now seem … More

The poetry of Gianluca Vialli

The great Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli has died, and I am sad. He was 58 and had … More

Heather Trickey was a social research scientist, charity worker, Quaker and poet. In 2020, during the first Covid lockdown, she … More

A huge thank you to Ken Head and Helen Ivory at Ink Sweat & Tears for this review of Riddance … More

Two great lines for the price of one (it is Christmas, after all) this week, from Marie Howe’s extraordinary poem … More

I have been thinking a lot about the poetry of Julia Darling this week. Her work became essential to me … More

Thank you to everyone who has commented to me either publicly or in private about my new series of blog … More

I was at a thing. Very rarely for me, it was my own thing, only my second in front of … More

To continue this season of not, where I have been reposting old blog posts and links to some others, I … More

There were just a few of us in the room, gathered round a table. I had been invited to speak. … More

I had bumped into a friend at the cash machine. We greeted each other, as we always do, with a … More

It wasn’t all rain. There were rainbows among which Shawna has blogged about fountain pens again. Honestly, she could do … More

Dear Cancer It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Fifteen years, to be precise. To the day. Amazing to realise it … More

Before I start, I want to say that this is not about stats. This is not about stats. What this … More

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

Courage It is in the small things we see it. The child’s first step, as awesome as an earthquake. … More

Phil has been round. I know this because we came home the other night to find a pack of Toffee … More

A little taster for you. This is an essay from my forthcoming book Deck Shoes. – I was having … More