Poetry, prostate cancer and the power of research

Acclaimed Welsh writer Ifor Thomas captivated the audience at the tenth Health and Care Research Wales conference, blending creativity, artistry and rhythm as he shared poetry reflecting on life, illness and survival.

Ifor spoke candidly about being diagnosed with prostate cancer nearly twenty years ago. He participated in a major UK clinical trial in Bristol comparing outcomes for men receiving surgery, radiotherapy or active monitoring.

He said: “I’m firmly of the belief that the research group I joined, led by Professors Jenny Donovan and Freddie Hamdy, saved my life. 

So when people ask if the money spent on research is worth it, I say yes. Without it, I’d be dead now.”

Reflecting on his experience, he compared the diagnosis to facing an impossible exam in My Recurring Nightmare is Trigonometry:

“Once again, I’m sitting at a small desk,
the single unblinking eye of a blank paper…
Why am I doing the trigonometry paper?
I own my house, my children are gone —
but still, the paper demands a question.”

“The question set for me was prostate cancer —
and that was the trigonometry I had to answer.”

His next poems, Sister Vivienne and Scribbles, captured the world of research through a patient’s eyes, from consent forms to the randomness of treatment allocation:

“I tell her to spin the wheel —
or in this case, phone a computer in Bristol.
Surgery, watchful waiting, X-rays.
She looks down and scribbles a flower.
It’s not a flower, but a lucky four-leaf clover.”

In Gutted, he paid tribute to a nurse and the shared humanity that crosses borders:

“She says ‘gutted’ in a soft Zambian voice…
Her touch lingers, but her eyes remember
a freshwater lake near her village.”

He closed with The Undertaker’s Invoice from his forthcoming book:

“Clean the body, water and bleach, five to one.
Plug the orifices — cotton wool will do.
…Now, my father, you are ready to be kissed.”

Ifor reminded the audience that behind every research statistic is a life. He said: 

I’m living proof that research works.”

With eight published books to his name, Ifor Thomas has been shortlisted for the Welsh Book of the Year and has won the British Airways Travel Writer of the Year. His work has been featured on the BBC and his collection Body Beautiful recounts his personal journey of diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer.

For the full programme and revisit highlights from the conference, please visit the conference page on our website.

Watch Ifor speak at the conference below: