“Impossible but it happened: a leaf Came to rest, plump and green and fresh as breath, After conducting the breeze in that brief Musical catastrophe called “leaf-death”. As through a camera falling from a cliff, We saw what it saw and felt what it felt, Delightful panic, a delicious whiff [...]

topic: BORDERS medium: TEXT as shared at a PenTales event themed “Royalty” Flying home to Ireland, on Saint Stephen’s day, the 26th of December. The country has been covered with snow, temperatures plunging below zero. It covers the landscape, making all white, all redundant, eerie in disuse, like furniture under [...]

PenTales holds live story-sharing events in 26 cities around the world – in places as diverse as Lahore, New York City, Damascus, Berlin, Paris, Hanoi, San Francisco, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires. (See below for our full list of participating cities). The events are run by friends, friends of friends, [...]

topic: 9/11 medium: TEXT as submitted for the “9/11″ Open Call A 9/11 Piece After, similar words hung in the mouths of talkers. Each one like the others’ testimony; the day was uniquely bright and clear. My life had already turned partially, I had been waking earlier and was freshly [...]

topic: LOVE AND HEARTBREAK medium: ILLUSTRATION

What happens when you leave your husband with no reason or explanation? Reaction 1: You are seeing someone else. No. Reaction 2: You are mentally Ill. No. Reaction 3: You must be a lesbian then, aren’t you? No. The worst part about leaving my husband is not the accusations but [...]

topic: EVENT medium: PHOTO In July 2010, PenTales Storytellers gathered in Paris to share perspectives on “Foreign Affairs.” Stories included “Madam Interpreter” by Olivia Salazar-Winspear, “A Foreign Affair” by Caro, “A Family Affair” by Nadia, and “DAVE” by Josh  

Stephanie Ursula Hodges is fascinated by cities and curious about the people who live in them. She holds a B.A. from Harvard University and is currently studying Urbanism at New York University. The last few years, she spent working in the public sector helping build productive urban spaces in which [...]

PenTales is a pretty awesome group of creative souls, if we may say so ourselves. We started in New York with just two people (Saskia and Stephanie). From there the project grew exponentially. We’ve had countless friends lend a hand or their apartments for salon nights. And, that’s basically the [...]

Verity Oberg grew up with the allied forces in occupied Berlin, shaping her interest in contemporary history and urban development. After studying at New School University (NYC) and Humboldt University (Berlin), Oberg holds private tours of her hometown and recently completed an audio guide to Berlin. She works in the [...]

Royal Young was born and bred on New York’s Lower East Side. He has chats for Interview Magazine and reports on the downtown’s changing arts and culture scene for The Lo Down.