Poetry and illness

Medicine The black hair of my Chinese doctor gleams like combed ink as he leans over his desk, with quick … More

Influences: Jörn Cann’s art

This is Jörn Cann. He was my ward doctor at the haematology unit where I was treated for non-Hodgkin’s … More

The ward is a void without him. Football blares in the corner, the monotonous roar of the crowd unleavened by … More

Today is the seventh anniversary of the day I was told I was officially in remission from cancer. The popular … More

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

On Valentine’s Day, 2006, I was was formally diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Riddance is … More

To My Cancer When you left me I did not say goodbye. I kissed you then carried you outside. You … More