“I looked for the truth about cancer in many different places. Like a good patient I scoured the internet, read up on my disease, and invested in various books. Oddly, none of this really satisfied my craving. The truth about cancer is often found in more unexpected places: a nurse’s joke as she begins to inject you; a tin of brownies left on the doorstep by a friend; the offer of a lift by a neighbour. None of these things seemed to appear in the accounts of cancer I was reading.” Successful treatment and remission, he has just published The Year of Drinking Water, a direct and humane account of what living with cancer and its treatment is like, told with a clarifying insight and wit. It is published by the Exeter Leukaemia Fund (ELF) to raise funds for the charity and awareness about cancer. All proceeds from the book will go to ELF. Exalted manna: Raymond Carver, Thomas Transtromer and Jaan Kaplinski Discover three poets who, despite their excellence, should be better known, in the genial company of poet Anthony Wilson, who himself returns to them again and again for inspiration.