“STORIES ARE AS NECESSARY TO US AS BREAD.” So said our late friend Robert Stone, and we heartily agree. At Narrative Night 2015, a packed house of friends broke bread and shared stories in celebration of a dozen years of publishing Narrative.
Photography by Nicole Paulson.
The magazine’s cofounders Carol Edgarian and Tom Jenks started the night with a toast to great friends and great literature. 2014 Narrative Prize winner Austin Smith read from his novel-in-progress and reflected on the vital role of mentors in a young writer’s career. Sherman Alexie, the first Narrative Storyteller Award honoree, told an uproarious shaggy-dog tale, full of late-night taxi mishaps and unlikely poignant moments that drove home the importance of artful narrative. He closed the night with a passionate case for supporting Narrative’s effort to pay writers fairly—especially as such support is increasingly rare. And the quick-draw celebrated cartoonist Liza Donnelly captured the entire party in sketches on her iPad, which she shared live on Narrative’s Twitter. Topped with a transcendent meal provided by Traci Des Jardins and her staff at Jardinière, it couldn’t have been a finer night to laugh and toast the power of stories.
