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

Some of you will have seen this blog post before. It is a taster of some of the contents … More

Dear John Smith I was deeply saddened to hear that you died earlier this year in March. I am told … More

This being a Saturday in Lent, I am reposting a favourite blog post from my archives. See you after the … More

I am really bad at doing one thing. If I am chopping an onion, I am listening to the radio. … More

I am delighted to be publishing Deck Shoes, a book of enthusiasms, influences and memoir, with Impress Books, next year. … More

Next year is going to be a big year for me. I am going to have two new books out … More

Reading Frank O’Hara in the Hospital 1 The IV drips its slow news. So long, lean and turbulent morning! … More

Towards the end of my treatment for cancer in 2006 I had one of the most profound conversations of … More

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

I was having a coffee with a new writer friend the other day. Not having known each other for … More

Two successes I can claim as a parent: they both love music and football (even if one of them supports … More

Dear Friends Here are the blog posts which you read most often in 2017, according to my WordPress stats: … More

Yesterday former US President Barack Obama tweeted his support of Senator John McCain who has just been diagnosed with brain … More

Smith Objectionable, mercurial, fierce, wise, bandaged, solitary and irresistible, Phil Smith and I were not close. Only in our … More

Rupert Loydell is shouting at the countryside. I have got up at sparrow-fart to drive him to the Blandford … More

In the dry months after my cancer treatment, when the visitors stopped visiting and I put all the cards … More

The other day I was asked what I look for in poetry. Needing to give a quick answer I … More

After they left, the house went very quiet. No one really knew about the quietness but me. I played a … More

Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of my diagnosis with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL), an aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system. I … More