When I started SMITH in January 2006, I did so with a core belief that I was going to start something that would add to and create conversation rather than make more noise in a world that surely needed no more. When I realized that the way SMITH would be supported would not be [...]

Thanksgiving: a holiday spent engaging in awkward interactions with extended family members, tolerating in-laws, preparing delicacies that are sweet, mashed, canned and candied and the stuffing of turkeys and ourselves. Throughout all of that, we somehow manage to keep things in perspective and celebrate a multitude of things—big and small and unsizable—that we are thankful [...]

Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota has caught Six-Word Memoir fever. Although the six-word bug began with Professor Joan Kopperud’s English 421 class of 11 students, it quickly spread campus-wide.
Kopperud asked the students in her course (called “Traditions in Literary Genre—the Memoir”) to read a few six-worders as examples of a sub-genre of memoir. They were [...]

This week, Regis retired from ‘Live!’, 84-year-old Dorli became an Occupy icon and Bradley wins Sexiest Man. Never a group to be left out of the action, SMITH members shared their own moments, large and small, and began to get into the Thanksgiving spirit along the way. Below are the best Six-Word Memoirs of the [...]

It’s that time of year already. With Thanksgiving and Christmas fast approaching it’s easy to get so overwhelmed by a frenzy of familial obligations, elaborate turkeys, and gifts galore that we often lose sight of what it is we are celebrating in the first place.
Although it sounds simple, it’s important to remember to breathe; to [...]

One of my favorite days of the year is the day I hang out with Lauren Redniss’ Senior Illustration Class at Parsons School of Design in NYC. It’s a special day, in part, because it’s such a thrill to see Lauren inspiring her students in her classroom; she’s a brilliant artist and author in her [...]

The best thing about a smart and playful community of storytellers? You never know where they’re going to take things next. One of the most enthusiastic trends in six-word wordplay of late involves adding four more words to these two: “More… than…”
Some of the memoirs in the “More…” challenge are self-deprecating (“More pussy whipped [...]

This week, Joe the Plumber launched his campaign for Congress, Anya Ayoung-Chee won Project Runway and future British princesses gained equal rights to the throne. Universes full of possibilities for them all, and those writing Six-Word Memoirs at SMITH were contemplating their own, from babies to jobs to a certain spooky holiday. Below are the [...]

I was at a wedding this past weekend. The happy couple kissed. The dancing began. And soon enough it was toast time. One by one friends and family took the microphone to pay tribute to the bride and groom. And one by one those loving tributes turned into beautiful disasters. Still, everyone was in a [...]

We’re in the final days of “The Best Test Drive Ever. Period.” contest, which ends on October 23, 11:59pm ET. The challenge is simple and the outcome could be awesome: Can describe your ultimate test drive of a MINI Cooper in just six words? One creative dreamer will get the chance to live out [...]