Author Talk: Shana Novak, "The Heirloomist"

Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore welcome author, Shana Novak, who will discuss her new book, The Heirloomist: 100 Treasures and the Stories They Tell. 

An heirloom can be anything, as long as it tells your story,” says photographer Shana Novak. This she learned from her grandmother, who stored entire sets of fine sterling silverware right next to a metal plate implanted in her leg after she was run over by a golf cart in Palm Springs. It didn’t matter if an object was precious or priceless—the value was always in the memory it held. This lesson, and the death of her grandmother, inspired The Heirloomist, a photography project designed to visually preserve and artfully celebrate our belongings and the stories they hold. Within a year of its founding, Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop gift guide listed The Heirloomist as the season’s hot new personalized gift. To date, The Heirloomist has worked with nearly 1500 clients from across the country.

In her first book, The Heirloomist: 100 Treasures and the Stories They Tell, Shana Novak showcases a collection of keepsakes belonging to cultural icons and everyday folks alike, all carrying one common thread: the objects are treasured for deeply personal and often surprising reasons. Their corresponding stories range from romantic to wistful, from hilarious to powerfully affecting. Through Novak’s heartfelt writing style and gift with a camera, every belonging comes to life on the page as a unique work of art.

About the Author

Shana Novak, also known as the Heirloomist, draws her spirited story telling abilities from an early career in fashion and advertising. She has been working as a still life photographer in New York City for more than 10 years and has collaborated with brands such as Coca Cola and Procter & Gamble. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, O, The Oprah Magazine, Rolling Stone, and goop, among others, on CBS Mornings, and in The Fuller Museum. She writes a monthly column, “Everyday Heirlooms,” for Country Living magazine.