How strange to imagine himself again running against blue sky. The old world came back, like an old photograph transforming. A pang of recognition hit him. He was nothing if not this.
POEM OF THE WEEK
POEM OF THE WEEK
Georgic: Devotional
By Talia Isaacson
We tend to ourselves, M said, only after everything else. The body, a tool, bent in one long direction. Sweeping the barn floor, again and again.
FINAL TWO WEEKS TO ENTER
FINAL TWO WEEKS TO ENTER
Deadline: Fri., July 18, at 11:59 p.m., PDT.
Poetry is “the eldest sister of all arts, and parent of most,” wrote William Congreve. We agree and are seeking poets and poems to celebrate with prizes and publication.
Please see the Guidelines.
FINAL MONTH TO ENTER
FINAL MONTH TO ENTER
Deadline: Thurs., July 31, at 11:59 p.m., PDT.
Our Spring Story Contest, which offers $5,000 in awards, is now open to all fiction and nonfiction writers.
Please see the Guidelines.
NARRATIVE FIRSTS
NARRATIVE FIRSTS
First-time authors are a regular feature in Narrative. Read the works of some of the remarkable poets and writers who first appeared here.
OUR AUTHORS' RECENT AWARDS
OUR AUTHORS' RECENT AWARDS
Year in and out, many of our authors receive notable awards, including the BASS, Puschart, and O. Henry prizes, as well many others. You can find their works and awards here.
WINTER CONTEST WINNERS
WINTER CONTEST WINNERS
WINTER CONTEST WINNERS
WINTER CONTEST WINNERS
Greetings from the Desert
By Emily Bales
He left me in the Park, the darkness nesting in the tops of trees, sparrows rooting in the leaf litter, the half-moon the amber of a porchlight left on.
WINTER CONTEST WINNERS
Wives
By Kate Cayley
They turned back to look at the wall, the house rising behind it, the upstairs windows showing light in every room. Falling across the stains on the wall from the rotten apples.
WINTER CONTEST WINNERS
How Fish Learned to Sing
By Debra Marquart
I always wanted a saxophone voice—a voice like a growl in the night, like gravel scratching under tires. Instead, by the lottery of birth, I was given a trumpet voice, metallic and piercing.
FICTION
FICTION
FICTION
FICTION
Life with Mme. Colette, Famous Writer, Anti-Semite, Beloved Friend
By Amy Bloom
Madame shakes off a couple of shawls like an old warhorse hearing the bells of battle.
FICTION
FICTION
So Far Gone
By Jess Walter
Books covered every available surface and much of the floor. Leah loved books more than she loved anything in the world, but this . . . this seemed like a sickness, like an infestation of words.
NONFICTION
POETRY
NONFICTION
NONFICTION
The Gambler
By Bill Barich
The sulky drivers ate at the bowling alley, and they’d taken a shine to Eddie and touted him on the horses ready to win. “Rhythm Lad in the sixth,” he confided. “It’s a sure thing.”
POETRY
POETRY
Some Remarks on Humor
By E. B. White
You certainly don’t have to be a humorist to taste the sadness of situation and mood. But there is often a rather fine line between laughing and crying.
CLASSICS
GRAPHIC STORIES
CLASSICS
CLASSICS
Dream Children
By Gail Godwin
And as she floated in this silent world, transparent and buoyed upon the dream layers of the mind, she heard a small rattling sound, like pebbles being shaken in a jar.
GRAPHIC STORIES
GRAPHIC STORIES
Let’s Learn English!
By Tracey K. Berglund
A visual exploration of some amusing homophones and homonyms in the English language.
POETRY
POETRY
POETRY
POETRY
Skylight
By Jaswinder Bolina
Now I’m no longer the buzzards glooming over the mango tree. Now I’m the fuzzy orange sunbeam glazing the buzzards’ shoulders.
POETRY
POETRY
Paean for Dinner Dates with Sarah
By Kerrin McCadden
Isn’t this all one long story of begetting? Forgetting. Whatever. Same thing. Steve comes and Steve goes. We are everlasting.
POETRY
POETRY
POETRY
POETRY
Failure to Appear
By Rosalie Moffett
To be the grass someone’s memory spins its wheels in, the globe brimming with gumballs, or the palm—but I’m not, maybe never.
POETRY
POETRY
Derelict
By Nina Peláez
The sun starts its strain, rupturing through clouds, melting dusts of snow. My shadow appears and disappears in front of me
POETRY
POETRY
POETRY
POETRY
The Baby
By Aaron Poochigian
Her stubbly crown, prodigious forehead, and concern-pursed brow seem those of Socrates, whose unforbearing inquest shamed the wrong.
POETRY
POETRY
Paradise
By Jacob Sheetz-Willard
Lord, bless this land with an abundance of shitty baseball teams and rush-hour traffic. Let minor lament ring out from the top of the tallest landfill.
POETRY
POETRY
POETRY
POETRY
Willamette Shipyard Blues
By Alex Tretbar
Lost when they let me out
Just my welding gun
So I went down to the
shipyard
Where it all began
POETRY
POETRY
Reasons to Go On
By Craig van Rooyen
Because grass sprouts from the stump’s rings like tiny soldiers, lost in a labyrinth. Because this mess I’ve made I haven’t made alone.
CARTOONS
CARTOONS
CARTOONS
CARTOONS
Cartoon Art Volume 2025-05
By Various Artists
Great new toons by Dan Misdea, Theora Kvitka, P. C. Vey, Kyle Bravo, and Chris Weyant.
CARTOONS
CARTOONS
Cartoon Art Volume 2025-06
By Various Artists
Great new toons by Drew Panckeri, Suzy Becker, P.C. Vey, Mick Stevens, and Farley Katz.
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