Inside a Woman-Led Literary Salon in the Heart of Harlem
By Wim Langedijk for HURS
Inside a Woman-Led Literary Salon in the Heart of Harlem
HUR Reads is our definitive shortlist of the most prominent articles from around the web.
By HURS Team
1
For Years, She Has Hosted a Legendary African Artists Salon
For nearly six decades, writer and poet Rashidah Ismaili has hosted Salon d’Afrique, an intimate literary gathering in her Harlem apartment that brings together African and diasporic artists, writers and musicians. Born in Benin and living in New York since 1957, Ismaili has created a lasting hub for Pan-African dialogue, community and cultural preservation. Her salon continues the tradition of Harlem’s historic Black intellectual circles, offering conversation, meals and connection across generations and continents.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis transforms light into sculptural works of glass, resin, and stone that feel both elemental and otherworldly. Guided by experimentation rather than sketches, she pushes materials to technical extremes while maintaining a minimalist sensibility. Raised in New Zealand with a deeply hands-on upbringing, Marcelis approaches design with equal parts rigor and curiosity. From Ikea collaborations to monumental public installations, her work balances precision and a fascination with how natural phenomena can be translated into objects.
FAMILY STYLE
For more than 40 years, photographer Nancy Honey has documented womanhood with warmth and intimacy. Her recent exhibition at Claire de Rouen in London brought together works spanning decades, including portraits of adolescent girls and her landmark series Woman to Woman. Drawing from her vast archive, Honey’s images explore memory, identity, and the shared textures of female experience, balancing deeply personal moments with a universality that continues to resonate across generations.
ANOTHER MAGAZINE
In her new Whitworth Art Gallery exhibition, The Practice of Liberation, London artist Michaela Yearwood-Dan revisits her Catholic upbringing through layered paintings and handwritten text. Using diary excerpts alongside religious imagery, the queer artist reflects on faith with equal parts skepticism and tenderness. The show’s cathedral-like atmosphere echoes her desire to rethink spirituality on her own terms, resulting in immersive works that feel intimate and emotionally charged.
T MAGAZINE
In a biting satire for The Atlantic, Alexandra Petri skewers the erosion of women’s rights by imagining “girl rights” as a flimsy, pinkened version of real autonomy. Using absurd humor and sharp political commentary, she critiques threats to reproductive freedom, voting access, and gender equality in post-Roe America. Petri’s essay turns internet language like “girl math” into a vehicle for exposing how sexism is repackaged as culture, and even nostalgia.