In a recent Red Hand Files entry, Nick Cave does what he does best: disarms with devastating clarity.
Cave has always been more than just a musician. He’s someone who’s spent his life writing through grief, love, and the fragile moments in between.
In a letter to two fans asking how grief has changed over the ten years since his son Arthur passed, Cave responds with care and clarity.
His reply isn’t just thoughtful, it’s a deeply human reflection on loss, memory, and how we carry the people we’ve lost with us.
“The pain remains,” he writes, “but I have found that it evolves over time.”
He describes grief not as something to overcome, but something that deepens and shifts, becoming more textured, even creative, over time.
Susie, his wife, still dreams of Arthur. But the dreams are softer now. In them, Arthur is about ten years old. Sometimes he just sits beside her. Sometimes she ties his shoelaces or brushes his hair.
There’s no anguish, just a quiet kind of peace.
As if this deeply personal reflection wasn’t enough, Cave also donated 2,000 books from his own collection to an Oxfam store in Hove.
The donation made headlines and quickly drew in fans eager to see what treasures were inside.
The collection includes everything from classic philosophy and fiction to a first edition of Johnny Cash’s Man In White, plus a cookbook on aphrodisiacs.
Some books even contained personal items, an old plane ticket to Amsterdam, a map of the US, empty cigarette packets, and an envelope marked “Luke’s tooth” in Cave’s handwriting.
Staff at the store called it a “very interesting” donation, which feels like putting it lightly.
It’s rare to see someone share so much of themselves, through words, memories, and now books.
Grief, God, stories, and a few quiet surprises. Just another week with Nick Cave.
You can read the full letter over at The Red Hand Files.
