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

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

A Tuesday, appropriately. (Tuesday being the day I was formally diagnosed.) Poetic, it strikes me now. But at the time, … More

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

Tracks 2 am: moonlight. The train has stopped out in the middle of the plain. Far away, points of … More

The way I found out, just as with my diagnosis, was via a segment of a conversation about other things. … More

On certain afternoons I am certain it has come back. A twinge in my right side, where the pain … More

We walked into the brunt light, towards the hospital. The air was dry, February-cold. Traffic was going about its business. … More

‘I am so, so sorry.’ ‘You’re going to be fine.’ ‘Fight it, you know you’re a fighter.’ ‘Are we going … More

This is a momentous week. It marks the tenth anniversary of the day I was told I had cancer. To … More

The thing about having cancer was that it was pretty obvious what was going on. I had been feeling fairly … More

The Soho Hospital for Woman (IV) I am out in the supermarket choosing – this very afternoon, this day … More

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

What I want is to – to be present. That’s what I’ve learned. I want to strive for presence, now, … More

This is the link to the podcast of the interview I gave yesterday on the Arena programme, RTE, about … More

Lifesaving Poems has arrived Well, it has finally arrived. The anthology which began life as a blog, which began life as … More

Tomorrow I will be taking part at the Wenlock Poetry Festival in an event with Roz Goddard. We will be … More

It’s hard to describe. One day your are fine, not quite the same (age will do this to you), then … More