The great Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli has died, and I am sad. He was 58 and had … More
Tag: Cancer
Lifesaving Lines: Pobble, by Heather Trickey
Heather Trickey was a social research scientist, charity worker, Quaker and poet. In 2020, during the first Covid lockdown, she … More
A new review of Riddance… from 2013
A huge thank you to Ken Head and Helen Ivory at Ink Sweat & Tears for this review of Riddance … More
Lifesaving Lines: What the Living Do, by Marie Howe
Two great lines for the price of one (it is Christmas, after all) this week, from Marie Howe’s extraordinary poem … More
Lifesaving Lines: Indelible, Miraculous, by Julia Darling
I have been thinking a lot about the poetry of Julia Darling this week. Her work became essential to me … More
Lifesaving Lines
Thank you to everyone who has commented to me either publicly or in private about my new series of blog … More
Lifesaving Lines: The Gift, by Brendan Kennelly
I was at a thing. Very rarely for me, it was my own thing, only my second in front of … More
Summer reading
To continue this season of not, where I have been reposting old blog posts and links to some others, I … More
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
Some rainbows
It wasn’t all rain. There were rainbows among which Shawna has blogged about fountain pens again. Honestly, she could do … 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
Poem of the year?
Before I start, I want to say that this is not about stats. This is not about stats. What this … 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
Courage
Courage It is in the small things we see it. The child’s first step, as awesome as an earthquake. … More
The Year of Living Deeply 28: The Toffee Crisp Mystery
Phil has been round. I know this because we came home the other night to find a pack of Toffee … More
The how of it
A little taster for you. This is an essay from my forthcoming book Deck Shoes. – I was having … More