Narratively

3 weeks ago | narratively.com | Jesse Sposato

You’d be hard-pressed to find a story more inspiring than Najib’s. By the time he turned just 11, he had been through truly unimaginable hardships — but he persevered and kept going, not just surviving, but living life on his own terms and thriving. At a time when LGBTQ+ rights are under attack and some of our most basic freedoms are being threatened, it feels especially important to read a story about this kind of defiance — and success.

3 weeks ago | narratively.com | Brendan Spiegel

Every writer fantasizes about saying sayonara to that day job, at least for a bit, and finding the time (and funding) to focus on your own writing. That’s why Abeer Hoque’s class, The Insider’s Guide to Writing Personal Statements and Applying for Grants & Residencies, has been one of our most popular Narratively Academy classes.

4 weeks ago | narratively.com | Jesse Sposato

We are so pleased to get to share with you this moving story, “One of My Babies,” from 2024 Narratively Memoir Prize finalist Matt W. Miller, an acclaimed poet who has recently taken up essay writing. Here’s what Matt said about working onthis piece: “I’ve been thinking about and trying to write about, in poetry and prose, this experience for over 20 years now. I never quite arrived at what I was trying to say.

4 weeks ago | narratively.com | Matt Miller

What I recall about the prison is the smell. Not some dirty or rotting smell or even the fleshy old cheese odor of people who worked too hard and lacked proper access to deodorant. It was not that at all, even if that was what I expected when I was first buzzed into New Hampshire State Prison for Men to teach a class in literature and creative writing. No, the smell was clean. Too clean. Even beyond the antiseptic clean of a hospital. This was a scrubbed-too-hard-with-rendered-animal-fat-soap clean.

4 weeks ago | narratively.com | Brendan Spiegel

Summer is sooooo close but school’s not out of session just yet! Our last three spring writing classes start next week, so if you’re hoping to give your writing a boost before your summer vacay, now’s the time to get moving. By the way: Just here to read stories? If you’d rather not get emails about our classes, go to your settings and unselect “Academy” in the notifications section.