And I went, Yep, I’m sure I can do that. And I put it away. Then this morning I looked at it and it said, “Where did great ideas come from?” And I really haven’t the faintest idea. I got in a bit of a funk and a panic. I felt like, Oh, God. Oh yeah, huge pressure. I mean, this is being filmed, isn’t it? Perhaps because of that] he’s incredibly prolific. But everyone comes up with stuff. It’s like, when you’re in the bath it doesn’t take a lot of effort to daydream, does it? You just imagine. It’s relaxing, when you can get yourself into that state. What a beautiful collection. Thoughtful profound, funny, moving. The religious theme is so perfectly handled. And I adored the art - the whole thing is so charming.’ - Anthony McGowan, author Like the work of a modern-day Chaucer, John-Paul’s poetry in Psalms for The City, contains diverse and colourful vignettes of life in 2022. Inspired by the Luttrell Psalter, a book of illustrated psalms from the late Middle Ages, which includes marginal images showing everyday life from that period, Psalms for The City contains John Paul’s own marginal drawings of urban life in 2022 alongside his psalms, like a modern-day medieval manuscript.

Mr Flintoff drew around 250 pictures in hospital including the view from the window of his hospital room and pictures of his thoughts about what he had imagined doing to himself. After being discharged, despite not being a religious man, Mr Flintoff found solace in going on walks to churches, and his drawings took a biblical turn. The intimate, approachable book provides a collection of day-to-day songs, or psalms, that fit our busy contemporary lives. Always thoughtful, often celebratory, sometimes painful: these rueful verses - and their gorgeous, witty illustrations - build up something both serious and delightful.' - Fiona Sampson, author of Common Prayer and Come Down This book is a delight. Keeping quirky and cheerful, it suggests serious things without taking itself too seriously. It could even make the most complacent sceptic laugh and think again.' - Richard Harries (Lord Harries of Pentregarth) Absolutely gorgeous...a beautiful, quirky, comforting little book.' - Annalisa Barbieri, columnist, The Guardian and The Observer Born out of John-Paul’s recovery from a metal breakdown, Psalms for The City is a love-song to our cities, to the relationship between poetry and prayer, and the fact that we are all beings with spiritual health that deserves tending to.

The editor who commissioned my next book, Elizabeth N., asked if I might record a short video about it, to share at an internal sales meeting. Inspired by the psalms – some of the oldest and most soul-stirring poetry in the world – Flintoff’s fluid style and technical skills take us on a private tour of our most-loved urban landscapes and reveal the spiritual nourishment in some of its most famous sights. In countless churches and sacred spaces, he shows us locations to lament; he teaches us to discover joy in crowded marketplaces; and shares how he found hope searching the horizon atop Hampstead Heath. Emily, second right, with me, Peanut the schnauzer, the editor of my book, Elizabeth N. and marketing wiz Michael B. Mr Flintoff has found particular comfort in the Annunciation, where Mary is told by the angel Gabriel that she's going to have the Son of God as a baby. “When I was not well, I found that a really beautiful thing because there are two parallel stories. Another reason “being creative” is intimidating is because we live in a society that thinks the people who are creative – the ones who do great things and have great ideas – are sort of “those people over there”. They’re geniuses.

Yeah, that’s how I felt this morning and then into the afternoon, and in fact as I cycled to the tube and then got on the tube, and I wrote some notes, and I went, aaaargh. After facing two deaths in two months, and two loved ones having major health scares, Mr Flintoff said he “lost confidence” in himself to cope with his “savagely cruel, self critical thoughts”. Mr Flintoff, a former journalist, had never seen drawing as anything more than a hobby, but his psychiatrist recommended he keep drawing as a way to express his thoughts.Starting with an excursion from North London to Westminster Abbey, Participants will be invited to ‘walk’ with John-Paul all over the UK’s capital, and draw meaningful images onto the city, revealing the hidden treasure of London, the magic of the most seemingly nondescript areas.

Emily B. is doing a brilliant job securing publicity for my book. She got me a commission to write 800 words for the Guardian. Best of all, I wrote a book – about finding peace in the places we call home – and I illustrated it too: 50 full-colour drawings, plus the cover – showing the view from my hospital window. Can you imagine how good that feels? I wanted to make art for a living. Forty years passed. And now I do. Open and honest, these are modern day psalms that chart John-Paul’s discovery that the extraordinary places welcomed the ordinary, and that when we’re looking closely, the ordinary places can become extraordinary. A tougher job than that sounds, to judge by what I once witnessed at the Trafalgar Square branch of Waterstones.I would hate to do that job, and if by making a short video I can help the sales team feel motivated to mention this book – well, I’m delighted. Which is key to improvisation, the willingness to embrace the possibility of failure. You don’t love failure, you love the possibility of failure, because if there’s no possibility of failure, is it really worth doing anything at all?