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Thursday, March 30, 2023

SAXON HENRY

Author | Journalist | Content Strategist | The Modern Salonnière
SAXON HENRY
Author | Journalist | Content Strategist | The Modern Salonnière
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Category: Literature

I cover a broad sweep of literature here on The Diary of an Improvateur. I return to the writings of my literary heroes time and again, and they never disappoint.

I don’t stop at the obvious—the novels of Henry James and Edith Wharton for instance. They were both avid travel writers and I enjoy their musings on their wanderings just as much as their fiction. In my diary entry The Red Carpet Treatment, I sit in The National Arts Club, where I stay when I travel to New York City on business, and channel Wharton’s era given the interiors reflect Old New York sensibilities. In fact, a scene from The Age of Innocence was filmed at NAC. Every time I walk up the steps to the bar, I think of Daniel Day Lewis, who ascended the same stairs!

If you haven’t read Jane Austen’s novels, you might think that set decorators are able to draw the décor surrounding the actors in films based upon her books but it’s far from true. Austen rarely “set the scene” in her fiction, concentrating instead of the dialogue that would bring the relationships in her books to life. I explore the novel and the film Emma to present examples, offering a number of suggestions from Might & Magnificence: Silver in the Georgian Age, a sale at The London Silver Vaults for items that would have decorated her table.

I also take a train with Edna St Vincent Millay, leaving New York City to Croton-on-Hudson where she would summer with her friends. I channel her poem, “There Isn’t a Train I Wouldn’t Take” as I trundle along the hem of the Hudson River and visit the library to read her collected letters in a town that would be an important one in her life—it’s where she met her husband Eugen. If you didn’t know Vincent van Gogh was an avid reader, you might want to read his letters to his brother Theo. The scope of his reading was awe-inspiring so to press upon my readers just how vast the subjects he covered was, I put together a summer reading list that sprung right from his missives. In Vincent van Gogh was an avid reader, another entry featuring the painter, I shared a poem I wrote to highlight the publication of my first book of poetry Anywhere But Here.

Sir Thomas More
Cultural Explorations Literature Travel

The Utopia of Sir Thomas More

Saxon Henry April 21, 2022 Anne BoleynCardinal WoolseyEnglandHans Holbein the YoungerHenry VIIIHouse of TudorMedieval TimesRoyal CourtiersTudor Era

This essay exploring the physical utopia of Sir Thomas More is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…

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Milan Duomo
Creative Writing Literature Travel

Percy Bysshe Shelley in Milan

Saxon Henry February 10, 2022 books of letterscathedrals to exploreDante Alighierifamous writersItalypoetryRome

This essay channeling Percy Bysshe Shelley in Milan is included in my book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book feature similar literary…

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Petrarch's former residence in Italy
Books Creative Writing Literature

Treasures According to Petrarch

Saxon Henry July 20, 2021 Beinecke LibraryDante Alighierifamous writerslibrariesMedieval TimesPetrarchphilosopherspoetryRenaissance

This essay defining what Petrarch saw as treasures is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book feature…

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Ernest Hemingway in Paris
Creative Writing Literature Travel

Life Lessons from a Research Library

Saxon Henry November 17, 2020 American poetsBeinecke LibraryEdith Whartonfamous writersGertrude Steinkeeping diarieslibrariesLost Generationnovelistssummer reading list

This essay exploring the life lessons I have learned from a research library is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…

View More Life Lessons from a Research Library
Welsh Poet Thomas in nature
Books Creative Writing Literature

Dylan Thomas in America

Saxon Henry July 14, 2020 authenticityfamous writersNew York Citypoetrypopular moviessummer reading list

This essay exploring the downward spiral of Dylan Thomas during tours of America is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…

View More Dylan Thomas in America
Books Literature Travel

The Train Leading to Millay

Saxon Henry July 7, 2020 American poetsBeinecke Librarybooks of lettersNew York Citypoetrysummer reading list

This essay following Edna St. Vincent Millay to Croton-on-Hudson by train is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…

View More The Train Leading to Millay
When Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael to paint his personal library, one of the four frescoes he completed, The School of Athens, includes Michelangelo leaning on a makeshift table writing poetry. Image courtesy WikiMedia.
Books Literature Travel

Saluting the Renaissance Book Club

Saxon Henry June 11, 2020 books of lettersdead poets societyfamous writersFlorenceItalyMichelangeloPetrarchphilosophersRenaissanceWashington DC

This essay celebrating the first printing presses during the Renaissance in Florence, Italy, is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…

View More Saluting the Renaissance Book Club
Edgar Allan Poe
Creative Writing Literature Travel

It All Leads Back to Poe

Saxon Henry June 5, 2020 American poetsauthenticityfamous writerslibrariesNew York Citynovelistspoetrysummer reading list

This essay highlighting the influence that Edgar Allan Poe had on American literature is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…

View More It All Leads Back to Poe
Aubrey Beardsley
Art Cultural Explorations Literature Travel

A Decadently Yellow London

Saxon Henry May 22, 2020 British poetsEnglandEzra Poundfamous writersLondonnonfiction writerspoetry

This essay channeling the Decadents and Aesthetes in London when it was decadently yellow is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34…

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The Ponte d’Augusto at Narni.
Literature Nature Writing Travel

Traveling Italy with Henry James

Saxon Henry May 15, 2020 cathedrals to exploreHenry JamesItalykeeping diariesnovelistsVenice

This essay following Henry James through Italy is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book feature…

View More Traveling Italy with Henry James

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Stranded on the Road to Promise

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Anywhere But Here

Anywhere but Here, one of Saxon Henry's newest books

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