“I grew up going to the cinema at least once a week, and I watched older films at home. That’s not because I was following an independently curious streak; it’s just what my parents did with their time, and I followed. Along the way, a handful of films made an indelible impression: (Douglas Sirk’s) Imitation of Life, Vertigo, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Klute, The Conversation, Alien, Kramer vs Kramer, The Silence of the Lambs, The Ice Storm, Jackie Brown, Eyes Wide Shut, The Insider. It’s an interest I carried into adulthood. This will sound silly, or implausible even, but for me, going to the cinema—to see stories made through image—is partly what makes life meaningful.”
“I recently found myself looking over the first issue of The Happy Reader again. The introductory letter I wrote for that issue drew on a time in which I was working as an office temp in the pharmacy department of a London hospital. Each day I was entitled to a lunch break of precisely one hour, as well as two fifteen-minute tea breaks, and I would spend part of that time pelting down a maze of corridors to an obscure corner of the hospital where I knew I could read a book in peace. Reading this account again, it struck me that these were probably the happiest reading experiences of my life. To have been employed to turn my love of books into a magazine, was, of course, a dream job.”
“I was just in Finland for a month and a half recently and I feel like I was able to create as much as I probably did in a year spent only working in Paris. There is something about this special time you are granted just for your practice, you are taken care of, even offered funding sometimes and you finally feel you can focus on your practice as a priority. These precious periods of time also allow me to discover literature and worlds I wouldn’t have otherwise. I read a lot of Finnish poetry while I was there, I read everything I could find in translation actually. One book stayed quite strongly with me: poems/runoja by Anselm Hollo. He translated some of his own poetry!”
I grew up in Paris, Rive Gauche. Many great writers lived or spent time in the places I would often visit. [As a kid] I saw commemorative plaques [on the walls of buildings] so I was [aware of] historic French writers at a very young age. I read their books at school since they were part of the curriculum, but I don’t recall being sensitive to them. I think my strong interest in literature started with reading Just Kids by Patti Smith. I was in awe of her. I was amazed by how she lived her life by being such a wild card. Reading her felt like, suddenly, everything was possible, achievable.
“I grew up with my mom in a little Greenwich Village apartment. She was always blasting Bob Dylan and Neil Young and dressing up and putting on lipstick and rehearsing lines. We were surrounded by her books and plays, many of which, by chance, I have in my apartment now. We’re very different people, but it’s amazing how much our interests overlap. More than once, I’ve told her about an old book that I discovered and she’ll pull out the first edition and tell me how much she used to love it.”
“I grew up going to the cinema at least once a week, and I watched older films at home. That’s not because I was following an independently curious streak; it’s just what my parents did with their time, and I followed. Along the way, a handful of films made an indelible impression: (Douglas Sirk’s) Imitation of Life, Vertigo, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Klute, The Conversation, Alien, Kramer vs Kramer, The Silence of the Lambs, The Ice Storm, Jackie Brown, Eyes Wide Shut, The Insider. It’s an interest I carried into adulthood. This will sound silly, or implausible even, but for me, going to the cinema—to see stories made through image—is partly what makes life meaningful.”
Emma Paterson
“I grew up going to the cinema at least once a week, and I watched older films at home. That’s not because I was following an independently curious streak; it’s just what my parents did with their time, and I followed. Along the way, a handful of films made an indelible impression: (Douglas Sirk’s) Imitation of Life, Vertigo, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Klute, The Conversation, Alien, Kramer vs Kramer, The Silence of the Lambs, The Ice Storm, Jackie Brown, Eyes Wide Shut, The Insider. It’s an interest I carried into adulthood. This will sound silly, or implausible even, but for me, going to the cinema—to see stories made through image—is partly what makes life meaningful.”
Seb Emina
“I recently found myself looking over the first issue of The Happy Reader again. The introductory letter I wrote for that issue drew on a time in which I was working as an office temp in the pharmacy department of a London hospital. Each day I was entitled to a lunch break of precisely one hour, as well as two fifteen-minute tea breaks, and I would spend part of that time pelting down a maze of corridors to an obscure corner of the hospital where I knew I could read a book in peace. Reading this account again, it struck me that these were probably the happiest reading experiences of my life. To have been employed to turn my love of books into a magazine, was, of course, a dream job. But as I thought back I found myself yearning for the purity of the way I used to read, back before I had skin in the game, meaning I was always taking notes, reading to a deadline, looking for something I can use, back when it was just about unstructured inspiration and pleasure.”
Haydée Touitou
“I was just in Finland for a month and a half recently and I feel like I was able to create as much as I probably did in a year spent only working in Paris. There is something about this special time you are granted just for your practice, you are taken care of, even offered funding sometimes and you finally feel you can focus on your practice as a priority. These precious periods of time also allow me to discover literature and worlds I wouldn’t have otherwise. I read a lot of Finnish poetry while I was there, I read everything I could find in translation actually. One book stayed quite strongly with me: poems/runoja by Anselm Hollo. He translated some of his own poetry!”
Anaïs Ngbanzo
I grew up in Paris, Rive Gauche. Many great writers lived or spent time in the places I would often visit. [As a kid] I saw commemorative plaques [on the walls of buildings] so I was [aware of] historic French writers at a very young age. I read their books at school since they were part of the curriculum, but I don’t recall being sensitive to them. I think my strong interest in literature started with reading Just Kids by Patti Smith. I was in awe of her. I was amazed by how she lived her life by being such a wild card. Reading her felt like, suddenly, everything was possible, achievable.
Zoe Ruffner
“I grew up with my mom in a little Greenwich Village apartment. She was always blasting Bob Dylan and Neil Young and dressing up and putting on lipstick and rehearsing lines. We were surrounded by her books and plays, many of which, by chance, I have in my apartment now. We’re very different people, but it’s amazing how much our interests overlap. More than once, I’ve told her about an old book that I discovered and she’ll pull out the first edition and tell me how much she used to love it.”
Emme Parsons
“My name is Emme Parsons and I have a line of eponymous footwear that launched in 2017. It was a farfetched dream of mine to create sandals for years and I started the line when my son was a baby because I wanted to be a good role model for him never be afraid to follow his dreams.”
Chelsea Mak
“Each segment of my life has had some sort of cross-cultural clash—Western culture vs. Eastern, buttoned-up vs. my rebellious youth, highbrow vs. lowbrow, or at least that’s how I experienced it. That has been a huge influence, as my aesthetic is always some juxtaposition of opposing qualities. I think the swirl of these experiences has cultivated an appreciation and longing for the old world, so I’m always interested in reading books, watching films, or listening to music that might take me back to another time.”
Philo Cohen
“As an artist today, I draw from my inner world and the surreal. There are worlds inside me that have sprouted from the outside world, yet only exist because of speculation, or imagination. That is what I’ve always enjoyed the most in literature. Being able to escape the rational, to go on a journey somewhere I’ve never been, with someone I’ve never seen.”
Sara Lopez
“I’ve been making small books, typically tangible, for friends and lovers over the years, sometimes just to share what I’ve been reading, and other times to communicate through images. It’s a simple and funny gesture, really, kind of like scanning in all my dog ears and underlined notes. They come together instinctually when I see overlaps or interesting connections between all the books on my table. I like the tactility of booklets, the way you can start in the middle, flip backwards and through. The linearity can be disrupted, which is exciting and not as easily possible through digital forms.”
Tiana Marie Combes
“I love to peruse ancient objects to reflect on what I find that is timeless and still resonating today. My work comes from a place of passion, the main objective being to share beautiful things that I really love and think that others will too. It's a means for connection and a much slower and meaningful process than what has become the standard for creation / consumption these days. I think longevity and true appreciation is most important for my pieces and I create very slowly to not compromise these values.”