Here’s a preview of one of the illustrated six-word memoirs from the sequel to Not Quite What I Was Planning, coming out this January. It comes from the incredible mind and hand of Rick Parker, best known as the artist of MTV’s Beavis and Butt-Head Comic Book, and veteran of Marvel Comics. Rick also illustrated [...]

Summer has a smell, feel, and taste which are all too delicious for an eight-year-old to savor in silence. Ms. Buttiglieri and Ms. Wenning’s third-grade class at Bradford Elementary in Montclair, NJ was bursting at the seams, half-crazed—they needed an outlet that didn’t involve screaming. Paige Kennedy-Piehl stepped in a la Mary Poppins style and [...]

It’s been said by many, including the editors of SMITH, that a six-word memoir can be a lot like an epitaph, the ultimate summation of one’s life. We’ve always been fascinated by obits of the famous and obscure alike. Now, by popular demand, we’re starting a new reader challenge category: Six-Word Obits. There’s only [...]

SMITH community member miandering continues her global trek, detailing her path (”Senmonorom. Sanctuary for elephants. And me”), impressions (”Phnom Penh. Caution: No traffic laws”), experiences (”Teaching teenage girls challenging, exhausting, rewarding”), and travails (”Visa expired again. Another Vietnam border-run”), in a series of six-word memoirs, many with accompanying images. Then there’s my personal favorite: “No [...]

Memoir: Engaged in Jerusalem. Thank you, God.
Epilogue: In truth, had always been rabbi-curious.

During a recent conference for l33t hackers and information security industry hotshots, the snapshot method of personal documentation that is the Six-Word Memoir helped the subversively tech-savvy bond. We’ve always believed that six words contains a keen transcendental quality that could reach out to spark the left brain of anyone and everyone. These folks were [...]

Last Mother’s Day, moms around the world shared six-word memoirs like “Mommy’s boobies no longer Daddy’s boobies,” “Suffered miscarriage. Daughter offered her doll,” and “Can I pee in private, please?”
This year, SMITH Mag is teaming up with truuconfessions and Postcard from Yo Momma for a new six-word challenge about all things Mom. Truuconfessions, which just [...]

Today’s Six-Word Memoir of the Day, “Wheelchair, walker, crutches, cane, second grade,” comes from a SMITH contributor who goes by the named “MarchthisQ.” Via email, I learned she’s 24, works in publishing, lives in Manhattan, and first heard about the Six-Word Memoir project through Facebook. “I’m considering writing a full memoir,” she told [...]

“Too young. Too unaware. Quiet acceptance,” is one six-word memoir from one of Jill Keenan’s students at P.S. 128 high school in Westfield, MA. “My students are awesome,” boasts Keenan, who is clearly doing something right to have such a lovely writer in her classroom. In that spirit, she created a SMITH profile for the [...]

We’ve recently added a “backstory” feature to the Six-Word Memoir project (like a backstory that just came in about turning 50. At Falmouth High School in Falmouth, MA, Christopher Lippa’s students have had the backstory bug for months. “I had about 70 kids write six-word memoirs for this assignment,” the English teacher wrote in to [...]