'This book of poems is for all of us who go through illness, deal with doctors, hospitals, and experiences such as bereavement and ageing, and who struggle to find language to describe the suffering we have to go through. Medical language baffles and alienates us. It's a harsh, unforgiving vocabulary that often seems to bear no relationship to our own emotional predicament. In this uplifting anthology we see how poetry can give us metaphors and images to help us understand our feelings and communicate them to people around us. This is a book that should be in every waiting-room, and should be by the bed of every GP and consultant. It may inspire you to write poetry, and also help you to find order in the chaos of ill health. By giving us words, poetry can help cure us.' - Julia Darling & Cynthia Fuller

Tells the story of Cynthia Fuller's uncle, Jack, who was killed aged 19 on the Western Front during the First World War. These poems are based on real letters written by Jack to his family between February 1917 and April 1918, but not discovered by the poet until 2000.

From Caedmon to Basil Bunting, dialect poets to coalfield poets, the North East of England has a long and distinguished poetic tradition. Today there are probably more published poets living and working in the North East than anywhere else in the UK. The region is home to a number of poets of international reputation, including Tony Harrison, Anne Stevenson, Sean O'Brien, WN Hebert and Gillian Allnutt.