HENRY REVIEW

Authors’ lives can veer exhaustingly between extreme exposure and near anonymity. This is a byproduct of their creative process and an outcome of its finished form. Even a story narrated through a wide lens—stretching wildly, in turn, across time and space—has the impact of exposing its author’s own history. And yet, in most cases, they pass almost invisibly down a city street, a disconnect between writer and reader that, when bridged, can strengthen their bond.

Shayne Barr believes something is lost in this unrecognizability—in short, the transformative impact of seeing an author share his or her own work. Two summers ago, Barr and his girlfriend, writer Katherine Bernard, had the experience of seeing author Gary Lutz read his work in Brooklyn. Drawn as readers to Lutz’s “ability to inspire visceral dread through his stories that usually dwell on the bleakness of domestic and office life,” the pair were dismantled by the way in which the author would “sporadically laugh as he read ‘devastating’ prose.”

“We realized that many lovers of Lutz’s prose—specifically, those who live in parts of the country where Lutz would not likely read—would forever overlook the undercurrent of humor coursing through seemingly grim fiction,” Barr, who contributed a short story to the latest issue of The Last Magazine, says. “The experience emphasized the transformative impact a reading can affect.” In response, Barr, Bernard, and Prime Produce-founder Jerone Hsu launched HENRY Review, a literary video symposium that connects authors to readers through original films, a particularly tangible accompaniment to the reading of the featured authors’ work.

What viewers will find on the site, though, which launched last week after nine months of development, is that the strength of HENRY is not simply in the founders’ selection of film as a medium that can be easily shared. Instead, it’s in their ability to harness the artistic strength of that medium and to use it to empower their subjects. We’re able to see the authors, of course, just as we’re able to finally hear their voices, but we’re also given a glimpse at their personal environments, the manner in which they move within them, and, perhaps most interestingly so, the feeling that they, too, see this approach as a new pathway to readers.

Take, for example, Christopher Shinn, a playwright whose seminal work Now or Later is a political thriller revolving around the US presidential election. On HENRY, we see Shinn at his lightest, disarmingly so, seemingly as comfortable onstage as he is behind it. Christine Schutt, on the other hand, is as Faulkner-esque as her most applauded work, Florida. As she reads somberly within her apartment, stark in the blue light pouring through the window, a cat and dog roam freely around her. The setting is personal—her own, in the way a bar or bookstore is not—but the viewpoint feels almost invasive, an outcome of the personality of the subject.

While HENRY’s founders chose the medium, the contributors are ultimately in control of the content. “If contributors are writers, we urge them to read their own work,” Barr says of their process. “Every HENRY participant, however, is at liberty to select the content that they read for the site. We ask that they choose a piece that has inspired their own creative work, or that has impacted them personally.” The strength of literature, then, is not lost even when the subject is not a writer, as is the case with chef Frankie Celenza, who leads viewers through breakfast preparation while quoting Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. “When selecting non-writers,” Barr explains, “we consider creatives whose work is influenced by literature.”

Going forward, the flexibility of film—empowered further by the limitlessness of the Internet—will be exploited, propelling the profile of literature forward by highlighting its influence on other creative forms. “Readings will be accompanied by special features such as writers discussing their process, introductions to pets, and many contextualizing histories, as well as an array of interesting sets such as the oldest whiskey distillery in Brooklyn,” Barr says. The result will be multi-faceted, but the purpose, still rooted in that original viewing of Lutz, will remain the same. “It’s a privilege to live in a city where writers constantly present their work,” Barr says. “We hope to extend this access comprehensively.”

For more information, please visit HENRYReview.org.

Prabal Gurung's New Book

The Nepalese designer celebrates a decade of championing diversity, inclusion, and a world made “stronger through color” with his vibrant clothing in his first monograph.

Avan Jogia Follows Wherever His Curiosity Leads

With roles in Gregg Araki’s new series Now Apocalypse and this week’s Shaft reboot along with a forthcoming book of poetry and directorial début, the former Nickelodeon star continues to celebrate the freedom to explore and experiment creatively.

Tonne Goodman Shares Her 'Point of View'

In her new book, the celebrated former Vogue fashion director shares images from her childhood, her modeling career, and her family life, along with the countless editorials, advertisements, and covers to which she has lent her crisp eye over the years.

Ethan James Green Photographs 'Young New York'

In his first book, the young photographer shares a personal project of eloquent black-and-white portraits of New York’s trans, non-binary, and queer community.

Lola & Pani Find Brotherhood in 'Northern Rivers'

In their new book, the London-based photographer duo capture a crew of lifelong friends over the course of a seemingly endless summer in Australia.

FUMI NAGASAKA STARTS A 'TEENAGE RIOT'

In her second book, the Japanese photographer captures the individual personalities and æsthetics of four adolescent girls in their hometowns in a collection that is both intimate and anthropological.

RO KWON ON CULTS AND YOUNG LOVE IN 'THE INCENDIARIES'

In her propulsive début novel, ten years in the making, the author ponders the unfathomability of others in the tale of a young woman who joins a cult.

MARTIN ZÄHRINGER GOES FISHING WITH JOHN BAKER

In his first book, the London-based photographer documents every facet of the life of a Barbadian fisherman with whom he felt an immediate kinship, acting as both visitor and companion.

MARIO SORRENTI SHOWS A NEW SIDE OF KATE MOSS

In a new book of previously unreleased photographs, the famed photographer spotlights the iconic model’s innocence from their days of youthful love.

SEBASTIAN BECKWITH DEMYSTIFIES TEA

In his first book, the In Pursuit of Tea founder shares twenty-plus years of experience in a mix of history, cultural study, and instruction manual.

SKATER-SLASH-PHOTOGRAPHER IAN KENNETH BIRD HEADS INTO THE STUDIO

After making his name capturing his friends skating around East London, the British photographer opts for the purity of a white studio for his latest book, Untitled Portraits.

PHOTOGRAPHER NICOLAS KERN CAPTURES THE "CONSTANT NOW" IN HIS BOOK 'ZEITGEISTER'

The photographer finds intimate moments in the juxtaposition between the soon-to-be-extinct medium of large-format instant photography and over sixty new faces shot over just four days.

TYLER WETHERALL TURNS HISTORY INTO MEMORY IN HER MEMOR 'NO WAY HOME'

In her début memoir, the young author recounts a life growing up the child of a convicted pot smuggler and fugitive from the law, reinforcing her relationship with her father and exploring the process of alchemizing her own past into memory.

ADRIAN GAUT PHOTOGRAPHS ALONG WILSHIRE BOULEVARD

In his first book, the photographer captures one of Los Angeles’s iconic thoroughfares with an eye to abstract imagery, finding coherence in Southern California’s diverse sprawl.

MATS GUSTAFSON ILLUSTRATES THE BODY'S FRAGILITY IN 'NUDE'

In a book of watercolors, the Swedish artist and illustrator turns away from his fashion work for more intimate portraits that reflect the fragility of the human body as a protest against the slow response to the AIDS crisis.

NEW YORK BY THE LAST MAGAZINE: AUTHOR ALEXANDRA KLEEMAN SAYS WRITING IS LIKE PLAYING A VIDEO GAME

In her novel and short stories, the Staten Island-based author probes the border between science and literature with discomfiting tales about the body and its relationship to the perilous world around it.

HERMIONE HOBY'S 'NEON IN DAYLIGHT' REINVENTS THE NEW YORK NOVEL FOR A NEW AGE

In her début novel, the young British author ponders questions of selfhood and power dynamics in a thoughtful bildungsroman set during a sweltering New York summer.

SALLY ROONEY TALKS TO HER FRIENDS

In her sparkling début novel, the Irish author questions power dynamics and imbalances of privilege while reflecting on communication in the digital age.