My memoir of cancer, Love for Now, has been reviewed by cancer patients, and former patients, under the aegis of Macmillan … More
Tag: NHL
On not being grateful for cancer
An old friend of mine wrote to me the other day, out of the blue, to tell me about … More
Mogwai vs. chemotherapy
On headphones in the day case ward and in my kitchen late at night, Mogwai’s New Paths to the Helicon, … More
Why it’s called Love for Now
Love for Now did not begin with an idea but an illness. As I have written elsewhere, there wasn’t a plan. I … More
Losing my ambition
Towards the end of my treatment for cancer in 2006 I had one of the most profound conversations of my … More
The ‘rollercoaster ride’ of cancer: an Interview with James Landale
It was great to hear the BBC’s Deputy Political Editor James Landale’s interview about his experience of treatment for cancer … More
Diagnosis anniversary 7
Today is the seventh anniversary of my diagnosis with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL), an aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system. I … More
Together we can beat war as a metaphor for cancer
If there is one difference I hope to make with Love for Now book it is to challenge the overwhelming … More
Cancer, I found no poetry in you
I was formally diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, on Valentine’s Day, 2006. I was 42. … More
When Your Friend is Diagnosed with Cancer
If you have a friend who is diagnosed with cancer, the best thing to do in terms of what to … More
Why I wrote Love for Now
I began writing Love for Now, my journal-memoir of diagnosis and treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2006, one week before I … More
Remembering Jörn Cann
To all who knew him, it was a tragedy,one year ago, to lose the life-force that was Jörn Cann. I … More
On Riddance
Riddance is published today. It is my fourth full-length collection of poems and my third with Worple Press. You can … More
On Radiotherapy
This week six years ago I began the course of radiotherapy which was to mark the final chapter of my … More
Life After Chemo
The oddest phase of my experience of cancer six years ago was the period of time after my chemotherapy treatment … More
The Quiet Room
Six years ago today I was told I wasn’t going to die. Those weren’t the words my consultant used, but … More
Lifesaving Poems: Patrick Kavanagh’s ‘Wet Evening in April’
Wet Evening in AprilThe birds sang in the wet treesAnd as I listened to them it was a hundred years … More
Lifesaving Poems 