SAXON HENRY

I dreamed of living a writing life for so long I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t a quest. The acts of storytelling and weaving words together are sacred acts that make my days satisfying and challenging. This is where I present my creative writing, blog posts that become essays in my books. If you are looking for my journalism clips, click on Journalism in the navigation bar above or click to see my Architizer digital clips. If you are looking for my content strategy services, click on Content Strategy above. If you want to see what I have been up to creatively, click through to my blog or on any of the highlighted posts above to explore the essays I enjoy writing.

I have four books in print, which you will find in the sidebar, the latest of which is The Modern Salonnière, a collection of essays that combines my passions of traveling, reading, and creative nonfiction. Locale by locale and book by book, I bring the historical figures I have chosen as my subjects to life. Stroll through Paris while imagining the era when the Emperor Julian the Apostate ruled Lutetia, parts of which still stand at the Thermes de Cluny. Walk London’s streets in search of the fin-de-siècle haunts where the Decadents were determined to turn convention on its ear.

Trek to Croton-on-Hudson, New York, where Edna St-Vincent Millay summered with her avant-garde chums. Follow Peggy Guggenheim in Venice, Jim Morrison in Paris, Denys Finch-Hatton in Africa, Ottoline Morrell in Oxford, and Henry James in a string of Italian towns in Tuscany. These and many other characters who were inspiring enough that their stories continue to provoke curiosity people the narratives in The Modern Salonnière.

I am currently writing the next collection of essays with similar themes, though the people who take the stage in them are different. I am blessed to be able to spend my life immersed in writing.

Here are a few testimonials the speak to the quality of my work:

“Saxon you have done it again – you bring everything to life so vividly!” —Pippa Roberts, Pippa Roberts Publicity and Communications, Hertfordshire, UK

“You are the best writer of descriptive narrative for inanimate objects I’ve ever read. You give things a soul through your words. You just do.” —Gerard McLean, author and cofounder Sharktooth Press

“You sprinkled some very amazing magic dust on our community. We loved having you and you were extremely highly rated. Love you in our world.” —Adam Japko, Founder and CEO Esteem Media and Design Bloggers Conference

“Your writing skills are indeed a blessing in the décor market, outstanding and a joy to read.” —Sandy Callahan, Barrymore Furniture

And I am blessed to have enthusiastic readers who honor my work with their responses. You can see most of the reviews below on Amazon:

Reading Saxon Henry’s new book feels like a best friend just took me by the hand to time-travel through history, alighting on the lives of fascinating creators; artists, poets, musicians, and writers. The tone of this lovely, intimate book is one of wonder and intrigue. The experiences that the author explores come from her deeply rooted belief in mining history for inspiration. Many of the brilliant people that Saxon writes about are familiar names and yet in every single essay there are expressive nuggets of information that only someone who was genuinely immersed in their lives would know. The book is not only a panoply of captivating characters, but it is also a journey with literary stops in France, England, Italy, Africa, and Argentina. Saxon Henry also travels within the US, frequenting the libraries and museums where historic source material weaves its magically authentic spell. The author mentions that not unlike Edna St. Vincent Millay, there is not a train she wouldn’t take, especially if it led her into the past. We can only hope that she keeps traveling and will continue to write for her provocative modern salonnière. – JoAnn Locktov

WOW! An amazing collection of essays from Saxon Henry! If you are a lover of travel (armchair or IRL), a lover of historical characters, or a lover of the written word, this book is for you! Saxon is a writer’s writer. She brings each location and each infamous personality of the past to life with her poetic descriptions, her exhaustive research, and her apt reflections on each time, place, and relationship. I loved reading this collection! I am not usually a good student of history, but Saxon’s latest work made me want to know more and to do my own research before the next time I find myself at the departure gate. Thank you for the well-written time travel to look at those writers and artists who came before us, Saxon. There is so much to learn from them—and this book holds the most fabulous lessons. What a treat! – Lacey N. Howard

Dear Saxon~ I’m reading your book The Modern Salonnière as I sit on the veranda of our tent set up on the fringe of the Serengeti. I am only one third through it and I greedily want to own every story for myself. Hildebrandt starlings are chirping, flies are buzz buzzing, the cool breeze is brushing my face and monkeys are playing on the canvas roof as I savor every word. Thank you so much. Your book is like a rich satisfying cup of rooibos tea and I just wanted to let you know. – Michael Berman

A map will take you far, but a story will take you farther. Pair a story with a map and you will get lost in the most delightful places. In her latest collection of essays, The Modern Salonnière, Saxon Henry leads you beyond the places pinned on the maps, into stories and places that were always there for you to discover, hidden in plain sight. Henry has a flair for description that plunges the reader into a visceral experience — the rolling motion of a train as it lumbers upstate, the wafting scent of baking bread and brewing coffee just inside the door of a cafe in Paris, the hot nights of an African plain, the thrill of discovery from a stolen dalliance — you literarily feel these on your skin, in the recesses of your chest and the swelling of your veins. As you turn the last page, you’ll realize you got lost in time and space, having walked forty leagues through literary history without leaving your chair. You will be exhausted, but ache to board Henry’s next book. – Gerard McLean

Hi Saxon, I just want you to know that your book has been my constant friend through the last few at-home months. I‘ve soooo enjoyed virtually every one of your essays. They have often taken me to places I’ve been before, but seeing them through your eyes and tales has made them really come alive. And I can’t wait to walk some of those same locations again. I find even just one or perhaps two at a sitting is plenty to digest, as they are sooo well written, with picturesque descriptions and sophisticated word use. And I’ve found myself frequently reading one through twice in a sitting, to fully enjoy it. I’m about 2/3rds of the way through at this point, and reading slowly by purpose to savor every word. It’s a brilliant work: Congratulations! I just had to write and tell you how really rare and special I find it. – Dixon Bartlett

Thank you, Saxon Henry, for sharing your dreams and your imagination with us in your new book, “The Modern Salonnière.” I am savoring each word! – Justin Shaulis

Saxon Henry, I stumbled across “Calamities of the Heart” quite by chance and boy am I glad I did. I ordered the book and I can’t express what a wonderful romp it’s been. Nikki Giovanni, in “Kidnap Poem” wrote-
Ever been kidnapped
by a poet
if i were a poet
i’d kidnap you
put you in my phrases and meter
You to jones beach
or maybe coney island
or maybe just to my house
lyric you in lilacs
dash you in the rain
blend into the beach
to complement my see
Play the lyre for you
ode you with my love song
anything to win you
wrap you in the red Black green
show you off to mama
yeah if i were a poet i’d kid
nap you
you have kidnapped me and whisked me off on a magical ride through space and time. Leonardo, Homer, Petrarch, Peggy Guggenheim, Dylan Thomas, it’s as if I’ve known them and spent a day with each one. I’m getting near the end and getting scared. I don’t want it to end!!! I can only use your words when quoting Edna St Vincent Millay, “there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take, No matter where it’s going.” I would have to agree, though I prefer the ones I take to be leading me back in time so I can mine history for inspiration.” I could say your book was my “train’ but I think I prefer to think it was a magic carpet ride!!! – Nesti Mendoza