Need a start? The Narrative Archive offers thousands of stories, poems, and essays, free of charge. We invite you to gather inspiration by getting lost in our stacks.
Essays
“Snapshots of My Brother” by Lynn Ahrens
“Whale Shark” by Rick Bass
“My Daughter and God” by Justin Cronin
“Catching Out” by Charles D’Ambrosio
“Sparrow” by Maria Hummel
“When You Can No Longer Talk about It, You Have to Sing” by Irene Keliher
“The Lost Sister: An Elegy” by Joyce Carol Oates
“Real People” by Jayne Anne Phillips
“Blue Lake” by Laura Rose
“At Lee” by Jack Schiff
“Mysteries of Love and Grief” by Sandra Scofield
Fiction
“Hands” by Sherwood Anderson
“The Woman in the Rose-Colored Dress” by Gina Berriault
“Araby” by James Joyce
“The Treatment of Bibi Halder” by Jhumpa Lahiri
“Red Dress–1946” by Alice Munro
“The Man Arguing in the Kitchen” by Gina Ochsner
“Friday Night Fish Fry” by Austin Smith
“In the Water” by Brenden Willey
“Übermensch” by Tobias Wolff
Poetry
“Los Angeles” by Chris Abani
“How to Be a Real Indian” by Kenzie Allen
“How to Live in an American Town” by Jennifer Chang
“night vision” and “it was a dream” by Lucille Clifton
“somewhere I have never travelled,gladly beyond” by E. E. Cummings
“Slow Dance” by Matthew Dickman
“Weak Winter Sun” by Jim Harrison
“English” by Yusef Komunyakaa
“To the New Year” by W. S. Merwin
“A Small Motor” by Alberto Álvaro Ríos
“What We Have” by Ruth Stone
“Trojan” by Ocean Vuong
“Put This Book Down” by Javier Zamora
“Poem for Americans” by Matthew Zapruder
Best Advice
“Letters to a Young Writer” by Julianna Baggott
“Letters to a Young Writer” by Richard Bausch
“Letters to a Young Writer” by Ann Beattie
“Letters to a Young Writer” by T. Coraghessan Boyle
“Letters to a Young Writer” by Robert Olen Butler
“Letters to a Young Writer” by Lan Samantha Chang
“Letters to a Young Writer” by Carol Edgarian
“Letters to a Young Writer” by Louis Menand
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Additional Information:
Welcome | For Teachers | For Students | “Tell Me a Story”
High School Contest | Video Tutorials with Carol Edgarian
