When you’re a kid, playing with toys is just one of those things that you inherently understand. Regardless of the era you grew up in or your economic status, it goes without saying that before you even knew how to talk, you had a collection of objects that you regularly used to create imaginary worlds. [...]

What is democracy? This is the relatively simple question asked by the Democracy Video Challenge. Now while you might expect the resulting answers to that question to be about as interesting as a fourth grade essay on “What America Means to Me,” keep in mind that the contest is open to filmmakers worldwide, each of [...]

It’s publishing day for our new book of six-word memoirs! This one is by teens, and It. Is. Amazing.
Just over a year since we launched SMITHTeens, and more than 70,000 six-word memoirs later from a very passionate community of writers aged 13-19, we’re thrilled to announce today’s official release of I Can’t Keep My [...]

A year ago we launched SMITHTeens, as Rachel blogged about last August. We launched the site as a simple way to collect six-word memoirs for a book of six-worders by teens. Then we got out of the way. What happened next? The teens blew us away. From the heart (”I am in a love pentagon”) [...]

Attention fiction writers, memoirists, memoirists-in-progress, and memoirists-to-be: Stephen Elliott is teaching the class you want to take, “Writing From Experience.” The three-hour class takes place in NYC on Monday, August 3, 6pm. For more details and to RSVP, check out the Facebook page. Not on Facebook? Reserve your spot here.
Elliott, a longtime friend of SMITH, [...]

I woke up on the West Coast to a triple shot of great coverage and kind words from three different sources. For those among our crowd who track such meta-SMITH things, here’s the highlight reel.
SMITH Magazine is FlavorWire’s (the daily blog of the cultural curatoring mavens Flavorpill), Daily Dose Pick for July 16. Eli Dvorkin [...]

Every item you’ve ever come across has a story. These objects clutter our shelves, closets, garages and lives; they sit and collect dust until one day we drop them on the 2-for-1 table at a yard sale, or for the more ambitious among us, to that great virtual flee market called eBay. Weathered, chipped and [...]

This week’s Member of the Week is something of a famous one in a storytelling world that plays with the line between the professional and amateur, the celebrity and unknown. Robin Templeton is the author of the first six-word memoir that appears in the first book: “After Harvard, had baby with crackhead.” Her short, short [...]

It takes an interesting type of young woman to spend her free time beating people up while wearing roller skates. I discovered this recently when I met up with the girls of Gotham Girls Roller Derby, New York City’s only all female roller derby league, to collect six-word memoirs on the derby life. While these [...]

Our favorite neurotic illustrated memoirist is back, and she’s worshiping Monet, eating at diners, and painting nude self-portraits on commission from her parents. No, really. Read it here in the latest session of Graphic Therapy.