Friends sharing stories. That’s where Narrative began a short decade ago, and in celebration of ten years of friendship, stories, and poems, we recently gathered to mark the moment at Narrative Night in San Francisco. And, oh, what an evening!
Our great friend Traci Des Jardins, famed owner and chef of Jardinière, offered to host the party, and quickly other friends joined in. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Leah Garchik emceed the night and reminded everyone of Narrative’s extraordinary accomplishments in bringing stories to readers all over the world, from San Francisco to Yemen, from Orlando to Kabul—and all of it for free. Joyce Carol Oates and Tobias Wolff, whose stories graced Narrative’s very first issue, mesmerized a sold-out house of revelers. Ann Packer read a few pages from her much-anticipated novel in progress, and Narrative prize winners Natalie Diaz and Anthony Marra rocked the room with their talent and exuberance. Dan Gerber talked of love. Lynn Freed, down with the flu, sent a hilarious tribute. Dinner was a poem unto itself, the spirits flowed, and Ann Beattie turned our thoughts to the writing life and the enduring power of stories. Cofounders Carol Edgarian and Tom Jenks, having greeted Narrativos old and new, gave a final toast “to stories: the ones that made us, and the ones between us, the funnies and the achers; and to storytellers everywhere.”
