Narrative Non-Fiction

By Kennedy Burke This is an extract from a narrative non-fiction piece, 'Unforgiving Uglies, Tending To.' Jesse likes it when I call him daddy. I had tried it in a text and he reacted positively. “You can call me that anytime you want, just so you know.” He knows to reassure me. He knows that the texture of the word rubbed against my tongue creates friction, like a sickle probe on a tooth, scrape, scrape, scraping away plaque. The sight of it on the phone screen feels less f

By Rachel Kesselman The following is an excerpt from a longer work of narrative nonfiction.   The Montparnasse Tower is an eyesore. A lone, black rectangle rising from the limestone masterpieces of Haussmann, it looms over Paris like the awkward chaperone of a party. At its base is a nearly abandoned shopping center, its tinted windows unsuccessfully concealing piles of ripped cardboard boxes and old filing folders. A faded cobalt sign at the entrance reads 80 Boutiques in s