Need a start? The Narrative Library offers thousands of stories, poems, and essays, free of charge. We invite you to gather inspiration by getting lost in our stacks.
Essays
“Dear America” by Scarlett Akeley
“Whale Shark” by Rick Bass
“My Daughter and God” by Justin Cronin
“A Journey along the Atlantic Slave Route” by Saidiya Hartman
“Sparrow” by Maria Hummel
“Dear America” by Hugo Anaya de Jesus
“When You Can No Longer Talk about It, You Have to Sing” by Irene Keliher
“The Lost Sister: An Elegy” by Joyce Carol Oates
“At Lee” by Jack Schiff
“Mysteries of Love and Grief” by Sandra Scofield
Fiction
“The Woman in the Rose-Colored Dress” by Gina Berriault
“Devil’s Child” by Farnaz Fassihi
“Vieques” by Kevin A. González
“The Crossing Guard” by Sara Houghteling
“Araby” by James Joyce
“The Treatment of Bibi Halder” by Jhumpa Lahiri
“Butterfly” by Vivian Ludford
“Red Dress–1946” by Alice Munro
“Friday Night Fish Fry” by Austin Smith
“The Black Hole” by Patience Wallace
“Übermensch” by Tobias Wolff
Poetry
“Los Angeles” by Chris Abani
“Across the Sea: A Sequence” by Gbenga Adesina
“How to Be a Real Indian” by Kenzie Allen
“The Tradition” by Jericho Brown
“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
The Narrative in the Schools program is supported in part by:
Additional Information:
Welcome | For Teachers | For Students | “Tell Me a Story”
High School Contest | Video Tutorials with Carol Edgarian
