I’m a writer. My debut novel, Psychomachia is out now (Wrecking Ball Press, 2021). It explores the 90s from a female perspective. I started writing professionally as a teenager on magazines, initially as trainee journalist on Loaded, the best-selling and era-defining magazine, where, post-acid house, Laddism gave a sense of identity after the disappointment of the government taking away our sound systems, with the Criminal Justice Ace 1994, replacing our culture with superclubs, alcopops, The Spice Girls and Britpop. I was getting sent a lot of records, which I started learning how to play. In the day I was coining phrases like ‘Shock Artists’ for Scene magazine, writing for Elle, NME, Mixmag, and was given a column on The Daily Star, which I resigned from on a DJ residency in Ibiza after my copy was changed one too many times. I’ve since received awards for BBC radio, indie film, copywriting, and was honoured to be the final editor of the legendary British arts publication, Ambit. My proudest moment there was presenting my ‘War Issue’ in Beirut, c/o The British Council.
The first book I had published was for Red Gallery in 2014 (which explored Ivan Chtcheglov’s idea around ‘the hacienda must be built’, I presented this textbook on regeneration, sponsored by Stirling Ackroyd, printed by a legend (who taught me all about paper) to the London Mayor’s office. I wrote about this in The Guardian.
My second book was a collection of my lyrics and poetry since 2007, Now is Now (Cold Lips, 2020). This expanded on chapbooks I’d sell at gigs doing poetry, often with the drummer Dave Barbarossa. I’m fortunate to have performed internationally, have had records out as Vagrant Lovers, but have currently retreated to a cave in Andalusia, because I needed to expand my head. I’ve been working on a screenplay with Bill Drummond and am working on other books, but I share ideas here.
I keep on saying I’ll be sharing an audio version of Psychomachia to paying subscribers here soon, where I also share poems, essays, short stories, recordings, thoughts, and news, radio, podcasts, tours and publishing I do as Cold Lips, which grew out from the old Sylvia Plath Fan Club nights I used to run above a stripjoint in Shoreditch, London, which explored the space between lyric and poetry.
Thanks for reading. x
