ghostly presences of something strange in a familiar environment
Stevie Nicks in the official video for her 1981 single 'Edge of Seventeen', an absolute banger that caps her concerts; it's resurging in popularity thanks to this now-pulled John Lewis advert
Destiny's Child sampled the famous opening riff for their 2002 song 'Bootylicious', and Stevie's there in the video, on guitar:
It deserves a spot on my Soho Radio playlist, which is all about covers and samples
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This edition's subject line, "ghostly presences of something strange in a familiar environment," could be about songs sampling each other, but it is in fact about the beauty of accents, and the power that they can give you (or steal from you)
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Links of the week
Modernism was a movement of resonant rupture. It grappled with war, sickness, institutional breakdown, individual despair, and the bleak notion that problems might be solved if people could only be persuaded to buy the right stuff. Its concerns are intensely familiar. But modernism was also a movement of exposure. It arose with the camera, and the motion picture. It was invested in finding new ways of seeing—other people, the world, the human soul.
A human being is a haunted animal.
We live in the knowledge that we will die, and we interpret everything that happens to us through the lens of something past. Ghosts walk our halls and materialize in the dusty sunlight of a lonely midday; they speak to us from the dark at night. We leave memories in everything we touch. If I pick up a pebble, I put it down haunted.
Every Bengali child has a nickname, a diminutive, like a Russian character in a novel, a term of endearment. In Anna Karenina, there is Dolly and Kitty. Levin’s nickname is Kostya. Levin broods, but shrugs off his slump with a laugh and goes hunting, his boots creaking.
Bengali nicknames often end in ‘i’ or ‘u’, to make the person smaller, cuter, dearer.
Yet much of the capital for the industrialization of Britain and the USA came from a drug, opium, grown mainly by the British Raj in India: through much of the 19th-century opium was the single most valuable trade commodity. In 1839 the British Empire even went to war against China to force it to go on importing opium. In the West, the opium wars were regarded as minor events, whereas in China they were seen as historical watersheds.
My main fear in terms of self-promotion was what other people would think of me for doing it. It’s ridiculous. If you enjoy writing, write. If you want to improve, read more. If you want to share your work, on whatever platform you choose, share it. Promote it. Wanting to promote your work does not make you an arrogant arsehole. Whether that means sending poems into literary magazines or attending an open mic to read something you’ve written or starting your own Instagram page. It’s ok to share. It’s a human joy to share.
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What I've been up to
I've written a chapter for a book that's out in May 2022 and I can't wait to share more details with you!
I've been arranging a bit of a tour for my hour-long show 'I Miss Amy Winehouse' in 2022, starting in February - will share the links when I can!
I was 26's writer-in-residence for one day of the Bloomsbury Festival last week
The 6th episode of But Is It Funny? is out, with special guest Abdul Tahhan - he tells us about the time Princess Eugenie was in the audience for a gig, so he did as he was told and cut the Royal Family jokes...
I'm on the latest episode of The Week Unwrapped, which is about women in the military, deflecting asteroids and diversifying statues
What I'm getting up to (all the comedy will be *new* material!)
6/1/21: 5 mins at Quantum Leopard @ 2Northdown
15/11/21: 15 mins (I'm essentially writing a new mini-show) at Factually Incorrect Stand-Up @ The Miller
18/11/21: The online personal essays masterclass with London Writer's Salon returns
22/11/21 & 1/12/21: 5 mins at Angel Comedy RAW @ Camden Head, N1
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That’s all from me! Thank you for reading, I’ve been and continue to be Suchandrika Chakrabarti.
I plan to keep this newsletter free, but it does take time to write and curate. If you fancy buying me a Ko-fi I’d be eternally grateful, and will thank you in the next newsletter <3
Stevie Nicks at the end of the 'Edge of Seventeen' video, displaying the gifts that the front rows of the audience hold up for her - she donates everything to local children's hospitals