Narrative Magazine | Writers, Fiction, Poetry, Storytelling, Nonfiction, Art

STORY OF THE WEEK

Coyotes

By Carrie Brown

Mostly the animals kept their distance, nothing more than menacing shapes glimpsed at dawn or dusk when they came out to hunt.

POEM OF THE WEEK

The Buried Coal Miners at Sipesville

By John Glowney

A bewilderment of tunnels sings the men into looted ballrooms of coal to shovel themselves into rock.

FALL STORY CONTEST

We’re looking for short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, and excerpts from long fiction and nonfiction.

Please see the Guidelines.

FROM THE LIBRARY

The Woman in the Rose-Colored Dress

By Gina Berriault

I can see myself in memory as if I were observing another girl from a corner of a room. I can hear a fragment of her voice.

NARRATIVE PRIZE WINNER

FICTION

NARRATIVE PRIZE WINNER

October Phone Call and Other Poems

By Madeleine Cravens

My loneliness is not less because I understand it more, or because I have condoned it. Mist and roads in all directions.

FICTION

Any Good Child

By Tryphena L. Yeboah

I’m convinced that Ma wants me to see, needs me to step into her world and learn its songs but never actually dance to its tune until it’s time.

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Dead Man’s Run, a story

By Olufunke Ogundimu
Introduced by Tryphena L. Yeboah

One of the ghosts I walk with is me. It lives the life I left and continues to thrive as if I did not leave.

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Pa’ la Calle, a story

By Lily Philpott
Introduced by Morgan Talty

I knew in the dream that I was a condor in the shape of a girl, and I drank in the thin mountain air until my human lungs ached with it.

NONFICTION

WRITERS’ RESOURCES

NONFICTION

The Art of Becoming a Citizen

By Gail Godwin

One of the perks of living a long life is that you get to drop down and look around and see what happened afterward.

WRITERS’ RESOURCES

Looking for an MFA program or a writing conference to attend? Seeking sage advice or a good book on writing?

Don’t miss our curated list of Writer’s Resources.

NARRATIVE OUTLOUD

NARRATIVE 10

NARRATIVE OUTLOUD

The Transit of Venus

By Shirley Hazzard

An exclusive excerpt of actor Juliet Stevenson reading Shirley Hazzard’s The Transit of Venus with an introduction from our own Carol Edgarian.

NARRATIVE 10

Narrative 10

By Matthew Zapruder

I actually remember writing in a green diary I had when I was thirteen: “When you get older, don’t forget how bad it feels when adults don’t listen to kids.”

CARTOONS

Cartoon Art Volume 2024-09

By Various Artists

New laughs with an uncertain generation, an unexpected promotion, a revelation at the pearly gates, and more.

CARTOONS

Cartoon Art Volume 2024-08

By Various Artists

New laughs with a fishily amorous reflection, the persistence an old habit, an impressively singular bookshelf, and more.

POETRY

Anniversary of You

By Mark Kyungsoo Bias

I’ve taken in the highway and the see-through reflection of my own face. It’s funny watching the people pass through it.

POETRY

That

By Chris Dombrowski

That we have tea to drink. That late-winter sunlight streams through the living room windows. That the dog has a bed to sleep on or a couch if he prefers.

POETRY

Hunan Wishes

By Daniel Halpern

With the moon half in shadow we spin these inner moons of the earth on the sprigs of fire focused under the tempered carbon steel of the wok.

POETRY

The Free Tower

By Ted Kooser

Behind her I slowly climbed, passing through a life’s history of all her odors, those years now happening all over again as I climbed through them.

POETRY

Brothel

By Edward Salem

I walked to the olive grove and stood among the trees, trying to memorize my awe. I stood among them as if in a brothel and inhaled the wind.

POETRY

Still Life with a Seashell and Dr. Caligari

By Alex Tretbar

Say I were to say, “Say something.” Or, “It’s blue, the shape of the air unable to escape.”