On writing and illness

Reading Arthur W. Frank’s astonishing At the Will of the Body recently has given me pause to reflect on the relationship … 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

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

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … 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 room is small, the size of a student bedsit. An enormous grey sofa takes up most of the space. … More

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

Then this. We are sitting with hospital mugs of tea, in the Quiet Room. We are all leaning forward, listening … More

This is the day we go the hospital as usual. We have banter with Jörn and Nadine while they inject … More

Dear Anthony Two cycles down, just six more to go. You are not looking bad, considering. The belligerent doctor who … More