Layla Halabian & Sophia June, Language Arts
š Thoughts on DIY media & publishing, Marissa Zappasā fragrance line, and the best advice from Kim Cattrall.
Layla Halabian and Sophia June are writers and the co-founders of Language Arts, a new literary Substack about books you actually want to read. The pair met in 2021 when Layla hired Sophia to be her culture writer at NYLON. Their boss/employee relationship soon turned to a real friendship strengthened over their love of Lana Del Rey, weird books, and shared values around not taking anything too seriously.
šÆ Current focus
Weāre excited about our newsletter Language Arts. We both left media to work on something free from the tyranny of SEO and misguided egos. Language Arts focuses on author interviews, book recommendations, and party dispatches from literary events. We've been doing book coverage at NYLON for the last three years, and are excited to be going out on our own ā itās a whole new kind of freedom thatās intoxicating. We constantly look at each other and say: We can do whatever we want? What?!Ā
Some other things on our minds right now are: invisible ink, martini innovations, the Challengers score, and that one windy scene.
š¶ āToughā by Quavo & Lana Del Rey
Weāre obsessed with āToughā by Quavo and Lana Del Rey. Itās an unbelievably sexy track. Both of their verses, the trap beat, the āGrandpaās glass!ā ad-lib, Lanaās giggle ā itās perfect. And donāt even get us started on their chemistry in the music videoā¦
Ā āØ The best advice from Kim Cattrall
Our guiding mantra comes from the one and only Kim Cattrall: āI donāt want to be in a situation for even an hour where Iām not enjoying myself.ā Thatās why we started Language Arts.Ā
š DIY Media & Publishing
We are inspired by anyone who is shirking the mainstream for something more DIY, especially in media and publishing. We adore Chelsea Hodson, a cult-favorite writer who started the indie press Rose Books, which has put out titles from musician Geoff Rickley and Kendall Jennerās modeling agent Ashleah Gonzales (who has famously good taste in literature).
š Marissa Zappas
The namesake fragrance line by Marissa Zappas is one of the most exciting in the game right now. Everything she creates feels luxurious, moving, and romantic.Ā
š The āi ain't reading all thatā meme
One thing we canāt live without is the meme āi ain't reading all that iām happy for you tho or sorry that happened.ā Some people need to learn the art of discretion.Ā
Follow Layla & Sophiaās new literary Substack here.
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Iām #f*cking with this