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

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

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