writing by moonlight

Archive

let's get doomscrolling on monday!

Hello!

Happy Saturday :) To readers in the south of England: yay it's stopped raining for the first time in about 12 hours!

I've got the first outing of my new WIP Doomscrolling on Monday! It's part of Mark Watson's brilliant online Access Festival with NextUp Comedy.

#130
January 14, 2023
Read more

doomscrolling as winter comes to naples (aka hello 2023)

Hi there,

Hope you're enjoying the most wonderful time of year, Betwixtmas / Liminal Week / the perineum of the year [sorry]! I do love glorious, empty London between the 26th December and 2nd January. I do sincerely hope that the festive season has been what you need it to be.

If you'd like to see my WIP in its early stages, you can - all the details are in this Twitter thread. If you're no longer dealing with Twitter - a very rational decision - follow me over on Insta / TikTok/ LinkedIn.

#129
December 29, 2022
Read more

Oops - left off the bit about WIPs from today's newsletter



Dates for WIPs of my second Edinburgh show! • Buttondown

Hi all, I’ve got some dates booked in for Work-In-Progress* performances of my next Edinburgh show, Reunion/Afterparty! It’s about the news, nostalgia and a…

HUGE apologies for the double email!

Here's the missing bit:

I've got some dates booked in for Work-In-Progress* performances of my next Edinburgh show, Reunion/Afterparty! It's about the news, nostalgia and a secret third thing!!

#128
November 24, 2022
Read more

Dates for WIPs of my second Edinburgh show!

Hi all,

I've got some dates booked in for Work-In-Progress* performances of my next Edinburgh show, Reunion/Afterparty! It's about the news, nostalgia and a secret third thing!!

*If you're not familiar with the term, calling a live comedy special a WIP can mean anything from "this isn't ready to be reviewed," to "here's me and a notebook full of jokes that I've never tried out before," it's rough, let's call it that, first draft stuff.

#127
November 24, 2022
Read more

See I Miss Amy Winehouse this Friday in London!

i miss amy winehouse.png

⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Leaves you with a smile on your face"

- Theatre and Other Things LDN

"Vulnerable, poignant and hilarious"

#124
September 20, 2022
Read more

I'm Missing Amy Winehouse all next week!

smol Lion & Unicorn Insta copy.png

I'm doing 5 nights of previews next week in north London, I'm excited and scared, do come!

Sending out a really quick missive with what I've been up to and what I'm getting up to.

I'm onstage at 21Soho on Weds 27th April for the Comedians' Workshop Show

#117
March 18, 2022
Read more

notes written from inside the storm eunice croissant

0_Photographer-captures-incredible-moment-wave-forms-croissant-during-Storm-Eunice.jpeg


0_Photographer-captures-incredible-moment-wave-forms-croissant-during-Storm-Eunice.jpeg


#116
February 18, 2022
Read more

you went back to what you know

i3gwnrplbzxz.jpeg

Ronnie Spector, who died this week aged 78, with David Bowie and Iggy Pop in 1976 (her expression!!!)

Ronnie Spector sings 'Back to Black' in tribute to Amy Winehouse, in 2019.

#115
January 14, 2022
Read more

ghostly presences of something strange in a familiar environment

Screen Shot 2021-10-28 at 20.53.44.png

#114
October 29, 2021
Read more

I remember firelight / And you remember smoke

tears-dry-on-their-own.jpeg

A still from the video for the Amy Winehouse single (my favourite) Tears Dry On Their Own (2006)

#113
October 7, 2021
Read more

what is going on with pandas

Screen Shot 2021-09-24 at 04.33.48.png

------------------------------------------------------------------

This week's subject line is a sincere question from me - listen to the latest episode for more

#112
September 24, 2021
Read more

our dreams feel real while we're in them

rs_1024x759-210913182611-1024-kim-kardashian-kendall-jenner-2021-met-gala.jpeg

Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian at the Met Gala in New York this week

#111
September 16, 2021
Read more

there comes a time when every summer will have something of autumn about it

Goodbye summer. I'm going to miss iced coffees the most

#110
September 2, 2021
Read more

you are connected to every other station, every person, subject to the same forces personal and impersonal

Cm_KFp9VIAEnpvF.jpeg

Photograph of Brenda Frazier in 1966 by Diane Arbus - more context in links of the week below

#109
August 26, 2021
Read more

what's nameless inside our veins fluoresces, fluoresces in the rain

Screen Shot 2021-08-19 at 19.15.16.png

Thank you to Anne-Charlotte Gerbaud for taking this picture of me during my Friday 13th August performance of

#108
August 19, 2021
Read more

we feel the same emotions for our ideas as we do for the real world, which is why we can cry while reading a book, or fall in love with movie stars

Solaris 11.jpeg

Still from Andrei Tarkovksky’s (1972)

#107
August 12, 2021
Read more

I can’t let my alligator attack consume me

Wallygator.jpeg


Hi there,

#106
August 6, 2021
Read more

I tend to learn as much as I forget

CF - Twitter - text.jpg


This issue’s subject line “I tend to learn as much as I forget” is from Amy Winehouse’s 2006 single

#105
August 1, 2021
Read more

tears dry on their own

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 18.31.45.png

  • From the last set of paparazzi shots of Amy Winehouse, taken on 21st July 2010
#104
July 23, 2021
Read more

shouting back and leaning out

E6X1HgYWUAQD-CQ.jpeg

The late journalist and commentator Dawn Foster on Sky’s paper review, in an image that was shared widely on Twitter last night at age 33

#103
July 16, 2021
Read more

hurt people hurt people (who like or have cats)

190517103414-01-grumpy-cat-file-restricted.jpeg

The late, great Grumpy Cat

#102
July 9, 2021
Read more

go into yourself and test the deeps in which your life takes rise

Screen Shot 2021-06-17 at 10.58.21.png (Screenshot from the 2015 documentary Amy, directed by Asif Kapadia)

#101
June 18, 2021
Read more

trust comes from placing that tender beautiful heart in the other’s gentle keeping

Screen Shot 2021-06-04 at 11.18.36.png

  • Part of a photo I took during the Amy Winehouse gig at London’s Hammersmith Apollo in November 2007 (see for more)
#100
June 4, 2021
Read more

your art is the dignified display of the heartbreak that is the debt of living

A screenshot from the music video of Sinéad O’Connor’s hit cover of Prince’s song ‘Nothing Compares 2U‘ (1990)

#99
May 28, 2021
Read more

my work is loving the world

Amy Winehouse and Popworld presenter Simon Amstell in a 2004 segment about her BRIT Award nominations

(Imagine 17 years ago, a time when Amy couldn’t get recognised on the streets of London!)*

#98
May 21, 2021
Read more

every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen

(Illustration from GQ magazine)

#97
May 14, 2021
Read more

while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves

(The view from my desk. L: Graffiti Amy Winehouse, artist unknown; R: Vogue cover, March 1919, ‘A Woman and Cherry Blossoms’, illustrated by Helen Dryden

#96
May 7, 2021
Read more

birthday week and the summer of 2021

Hi there,

The gorgeous artwork at the top of this edition is by the artist , and is on the side of The Caxton Arms in Brighton. The person behind their Instagram pointed me towards the mural because I’m doing a show about Amy Winehouse there - it feels like serendipity. 8/9th June, 6:45pm if you’re interested.

#95
April 30, 2021
Read more

slowly emerging, blinking, from lockdown; then, a birthday

Hi there,

Bit of Freelance Pod news - I’m recording two more episodes to hit the big 5-0 before reassessing what I do with the podcast in the future.

The two new episodes are going to be interviews with comedians, and I’m recording the first one later today. Very excited!! Both should be really fun listens.

#94
April 23, 2021
Read more

the caterpillar cakes aren't coming for you

Hi there,

While on the latest The Week Unwrapped, we argue that the underreported stories of the week that could have lasting impacts on our lives are global human rights, Russia-Ukraine the possible rematch and… silly place names…

But there’s no denying that , claiming that the latter’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake is too close to their own iconic Colin the C feels important to those of us who worked in offices, if only because it feels like another nail in the coffin of shared workplaces.

#93
April 16, 2021
Read more

tomorrow is today’s dream

Hi there,

London is enjoying a strange, snowy / sunny spring that I’m just fully enjoying no matter how cold it actually is out there. Sunshine! Blossom! Long evenings! Bring them on.

Like last week, the subject line of this email is from Kahlil Gibran’s beautiful poem ‘’; in fact, it’s the second half of the line:

#92
April 8, 2021
Read more

yesterday is but today's memory

Hi there,

I’ve moved from Substack to Buttondown Email.

Hopefully nothing’s changed for you!

Will write properly soon,

#91
April 1, 2021
Read more

somehow, suddenly, it's spring again

Hi there,

Reader, I’ve been sneezing, just a little bit. It’s not a cold (I yearn for the levels of human contact required to get one of those, but I fear them too), it’s… a touch of hayfever. I don’t get it too badly, just a bit, that worsens year on year. Poor me!

The start of hayfever season is the start of the best season of the year though; yes, it’s spring. After 100 years of lockdown, it’s finally spring!

#90
March 26, 2021
Read more

the ear of someone you love

Hi there,

What are the podcasts and audiobooks that have helped you get through a year of lockdowns and silly little walks?

i tell them the microphone is the ear of someone they love
#89
March 19, 2021
Read more

the crown and the thick of it

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

#88
March 12, 2021
Read more

mini-newsletter: i've got a gig tomorrow

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

#87
March 5, 2021
Read more

these irreplaceable days (part 2)

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

#86
February 27, 2021
Read more

these irreplaceable days (part 1)

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

#85
February 20, 2021
Read more

images that shimmer around the edges

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

#84
February 6, 2021
Read more

weekend thread: holiday nostalgia

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

#83
January 30, 2021
Read more

the power to author a new chapter

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

#82
January 23, 2021
Read more

we long to stop longing

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

#81
January 16, 2021
Read more

we walked enchanted & nothing held us back

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

#80
December 18, 2020
Read more

we didn't take enough photos

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

I’m a freelance journalist,  and  based in London, England.

#79
December 11, 2020
Read more

London Writers' Salon masterclass on personal essays

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

I’m a freelance journalist,  and  based in London, England.

#78
December 8, 2020
Read more

a tall, pleasant englishman, currently living in islington

Hi there,

Just a quick one from me today.

Enjoy this vintage Neil Gaiman-Douglas Adams interview! It popped up on Twitter thanks to a fan account, which I can’t now find, sadly.

In this magazine article, Neil Gaiman interviews Douglas Adams just after he finished writing (the second book I read, the first being - yes, I was confused. My own fault for raiding my brother’s shelves while he was out…!), so 1983 or 84, I think.

#77
December 4, 2020
Read more

some instants are electric

Hi there,

One of my favourite poems, Summing Up by Claribel Alegria, popped up on social media this week. I’ve been thinking about personal essays a lot recently (and working on something I can hopefully announce soon). This is a poem that looks back over a life in the same kind of way, but only at the pivotal moments:

#76
November 27, 2020
Read more

give me your childhood in all its aching glory

Hi there,

A (somewhat) calmer week for news has got me thinking about hometowns. The title of this week’s newsletter is from the poem Lessons on Longing, by Emily Yin, which I think is about trying to understand another person’s childhood, to figure out what made them who they are.

#75
November 20, 2020
Read more

hope for all four seasons total landscaping

Hi there,

What a week for hope! And, of course, for Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

#74
November 13, 2020
Read more

the many layers of a life lived

Hi there,

Colbert’s emotional monologue about Trump and the election says more than I could, so here it is:

"If you did not know that Joe Biden was getting close to 270, Donald Trump just provided all the proof you will ever need."
#73
November 6, 2020
Read more
 
Older archives
Brought to you by Buttondown, the easiest way to start and grow your newsletter.