Three minutes, 20+ six-word memoirs. A torrent of self-expression from writers famous and obscure at The Rumpus & Tin House benefit at NYC’s glorious Highline Ballroom on November 17, 2009.

Six-Word Memoirists: Highline Ballroom, Nov. 17 2009 from SMITHmag on Vimeo.

Last week we made our biggest appearance for I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous and Obscure at the –ZOMG!– New York Public Library! And, yes, it’s the one with the famous lions (named Patience and Fortitude) guarding the front steps. We’ve been in awe of the beautiful main branch library [...]

SMITH’s community of storytellers rose to our latest challenge in the style and spirit we’ve come to expect, submitting more than 430 entries from as close as across the hall to as far as at least India
for “Six Words on a Significant Object”. The contest was a collaboration with Significant Objects, the brainchild of Joshua [...]

We know that everyone has a story, but the online project Significant Objects believes every thing has a story, too. Started by Joshua Glenn and NYT “Consumed” columnist Rob Walker, the pair have recruited writers like William Gibson, Nicholson Baker, and Curtis Sittenfeld to craft significance for flotsam purchased on the cheap at thrift stores. [...]

How do you boil down the essence of your digital life in just six words? More than 850 ways. Hundreds of you sent 850+ entries to SMITH Magazine and FRONTLINE/Digital Nation’s “Six Words on the Digital Life” challenge. Your digital life runs from the highly personal (”Hand on iPhone. Baby on breast”) to the practical [...]

Our partner in the Six-Words on the Digital Life challenge, FRONTLINE/Digital Nation, has put some faces to your half-dozen words. They’re streamed in some of the images you’re posted, as well as added a few Creative Commons-licensed shots, to create a whole new way of looking at some of the responses from our [...]

Nearly 500 of you took the plunge and entered our “Six Words on Water” challenge, inspired by our pals over at Treehugger. It wasn’t easy picking the winners, but TH editor Meaghan O’Neil has emerged with her top three choices. Each writer will receive a Spreadshirt tee adorned by their six wet words.
The Winners:
“Raise [...]

Our friends over at TreeHugger and Planet Green have been devoting lots of virtual space lately to exploring our oceans and waterways in their month-long feature, Blue August. That got SMITH thinking about a Six-Word Challenge about one of summer’s treats and earth’s increasingly rare resources: water. Whether your half-dozen well-chosen words are about water [...]

If a life is a sum of one’s stories, than with each year our own story becomes a little richer. It’s no surprise then that some of SMITH’s most passionate members have been around a while. The above image is a scan of a card I received from Joan Marren of Dunellen, NJ. I don’t [...]

From the mail:
Dear SMITH,
Have to tell you the six story of the day.
My wife and I attended Yankee Stadium last Wednesday to see the Yankees beat the Orioles 6-4. We entered through Gate 6—as you see. The Yankees center fielder (Swisher—jersey reads 33) made a spectacular catch in the sixth inning—saving two runs that [...]