Category: this is london
-
This afternoon, my friend sent me this — a view from the window:
-
Today, my friend sent me a smiley fox:
-
This post was originally written on 24th January, 2010. When we were having dinner with our friend Jonathan (also the prose guest editor of the second anniversary issue of Cha) in a Sichuan restaurant in Soho, London (by the way,…
-
Parts of this post were first written on 28th January and 1st May, 2010. Updated and expanded on 18th November, 2010.Adam and Eve This is an image from the wonderful Ebstorf Mappamundi, a Medieval European map of the world created in…
-
This post was originally written on 5th March, 2010. Last week, we went to see the West End transfer of Enron. The play, which was written by the promising young playwright Lucy Prebble and directed by the current it-boy of…
-
Parts of this post were first written in March this year (9th March and 11th March). Revised on 17th November, 2010. Recently, I read Melanie Benjamin‘s Alice I Have Been (2009), which is a fictional account of the life of…
-
This post was originally written on 6th March, 2010. One good thing living in London is that you can just take fancy and go to any number of museums, galleries, theatres whenever you want. Last Sunday, we went to the…
-
This post was originally written on 20th September, 2009. Today, thanks to Sunday Times, we got free tickets to watch The Crimson Wing, a documentary about the lives of a million East Africa’s lesser flamingos. The film will be released…
-
This post was originally posted on 18th July, 2009. – Today we went shopping in the upmarket neighbourhood of Chelsea. Our first stop was the famous John Sandoe Bookstore. The store, which sells new books, is absolutely packed, much more…
-
Picture source Last night we went to see Tribes (written by Nina Raine – Craig Raine‘s daughter) at the Royal Court. I was glad to finally get a chance to go to this near-legendary theatre, which is a leading spot…
-
Benedict Cumberbatch (the new Sherlock) will be featured in Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of War Horse (source). Today, the play is under the limelight again: in an Observer article, it is revealed that racism and bullying plague the production backstage. Horrible.My review…
-
This post was originally posted on 31st October, 2009. Tonight, we went to watch the terrific An Education, starring Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard. The film was adapted by Nick Hornby from Lynn Barber’s memoir, originally published in Granta (maybe…
-
This post was originally written on 17th June, 2009.– Tonight we went to watch Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, a tragi-comedy. (Also see my review of Krapp’s Last Tape.) The production stars Ian McKellen (Estragon) and Patrick Stewart (Vladimir). I…
-
, This post was originally posted on 7th November, 2009. –Last night, we went to watch Jane Campion’s luscious Bright Star, the story of the doomed relationship between John Keats (played by Ben Whishaw) and his muse, Fanny Brawne (played…
-
The inimitable Gambon plays Krapp It is my birthday tomorrow and therefore it is perhaps fitting that we went to watch Krapp’s Last Tape (full text), a work which portrays an ageing writer’s birthday. (Also read my brief review of Waiting…
-
This post was originally written on 8th November, 2009. On Saturday, we went to the British Museum to see the special exhibition “Moctezuma: Aztec Ruler”. The display is about Moctezuma, the last real leader of the Mexica Empire. Despite the title,…
-
This post was originally written on 11th May, 2010. BBC is currently running a series called “Modern Masters”, presented and narrated by the enthusiastic art journalist Alastair Sooke. The first episode was on Andy Warhol, whose life story, repeated so…
-
In May 2008, Florence Bamberger, a then second-year illustration student from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, contacted me and said she would like to illustrate some of my poems for her final-year project. In the…
-
My little poem about waiting for the train at the Charing Cross Station one afternoon in March is published on the lovely A Handful of Stones today (Tuesday 4th May, 2010). According to editor Fiona Robyn, ‘a small stone is…
-
Originally posted here. Bathing in a Ski-Suit: Writing in a Second Language Background: On 30th April, 2010, I gave a speech at the official launch of VAANI, a group of Asian women writers and artists based in London. The launch…
-
We are pleased to announce that a feature article on Cha is now published in Time Out Hong Kong. You can read it here.
-
The current issue of Cha features a review of Todd Swift’s latest poetry collection, Seaway: New and Selected Poetry. One of the poems in the book, “Kanada Post”, offers this meditation on the expatriate experience. I remember some other life…
Cha 