Megan wrote an evocative poem about the arrival of spring bluebells in Kentish woodlands. It is one of my favourite poems. So simple, so observant, and – as was so often the case with Megan’s poetry – hinting at a spiritual awareness. It was written only a few months before the symptoms of her cancer began to be felt. This and other poems are published in the memoir I created following her death from cancer of unknown primary (CUP). She was 32. Wordsmith: The Gift of a Soul is a celebration of Megan’s life.

Giving Comfort and Inspiration to Others Megan’s poetry has struck a chord with so many people over the past 18 months since I published her poems in Wordsmith: The Gift of a Soul. Some people contact me to tell me so and I take great pleasure from knowing that Megan’s poetry is helping and pleasing others. Sometimes it brings comfort. Sometimes it is inspiration. Sometimes it is sheer pleasure in the beauty of her words. But there must be many others out there who I do not know about who have been affected by reading Megan’s poetry. One such that … Read more …

The significance of remembering those who have died This has been a summer of remembering. As a nation, we have been remembering the young men who lost their lives in the First World War. We have come together to do this. But it is what we, as individuals, do all the time for those we love who have died. We remember them, create memorials for them, simply talk about them. And in this way, they live on. I have often wondered over the past four and a half years since my daughter Megan died about the extent to which our … Read more …

Time stands still for a parent when a child dies. However much life moves on, as it inevitably does, there is a part of that parent which stops, and remains stopped, at that time when the child died. The way in which life – time – is measured alters. Without conscious thought, my memories are slotted into two different boxes – when Megan was alive and after she had died. These thoughts were reawakened recently when I read a most heartfelt and moving letter in a national newspaper from a woman whose young daughter had died more than 20 years … Read more …

Just over a month ago, five young poets took part in the final of the Megan Young Poetry Prize. At an evening called A Celebration of Poetry, they read their contributions and the winner was announced by the former poet laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, who also presented the award. The event had been organised by the Stephen Perse Foundation school in Cambridge (formerly known as The Perse School for Girls). This was the school attended by my daughter Megan in the 1990s. Just before Christmas I had sent a copy of Wordsmith: The Gift of a Soul, to the school. … Read more …