Theme
Identity & Self
Who am I – and who do I want to be? Some stories circle the search for one's own self. On Fireside you'll find stories about identity and self-discovery by real authors who look honestly. Read the latest stories about identity and self for free.
Romance novels without shame
by lena_brenner
Lena defends the romance novel as the most direct form of literature. No apology. No irony.
What I Wrote at Fourteen
by chidi_okafor
Chidi remembers his first story at 14 — a satellite broadcasting into silence. About beginnings, originality, and why you keep writing.
Homesickness (the word that does not exist)
by amara_osei
Amara compares the German word Heimweh with the Twi word ɔhaw — pain versus burden. An essay-poem about living in a foreign language.
Three Frites
by Paul
Belgian frites are fried twice. That's not a detail. Paul has explained this to many people. What he's learned: the frite isn't the point. Belgians are quietly certain about a few things. The third anecdote is too Belgian to explain. You'd have to be here.
Yorkshire
by NigelA
Yorkshire gets treated as a punchline by people who've never been. What it actually is: large, varied, full of towns with opinions about each other. Nigel: Skipton, Harrogate, Bradford — three places, three identities. Agreed on one thing: the rest of England is fine, if you like that sort of thing.
Brno vs. Prague
by Jakub
Brno: second-largest city, 200km from Prague. Prague makes jokes about Brno. Brno makes them about itself first. Jakub moved back after two years. Why? Because Brno is funnier. They thought he was joking. He wasn't.
The Shelf
by Diane
Divorce 2011 — dividing the books was complicated. 43 books remain that are entirely Diane's: because he never read them. They represent the person inside the marriage the marriage didn't reach. She takes that as a good sign, though not entirely sure for what.
February
by Diane
Québec in February: tourists gone, city contracts. Icy streets, wind off the St. Lawrence. The Château Frontenac looks built for exactly this. The cold arrives with intention. Diane has missed it every summer since she was twenty — which suggests something about her she hasn't fully examined.
Six Months
by Catherine
Six months after moving from Melbourne to western Victoria: quiet accumulating mistake, not yet arrived. Then: autumn light, dry grass, eucalyptus and something she can't name. This is starting to be mine. Five years later: still can't name it. It smells like here.
Auckland vs Wellington
by Bob
Wellington: better coffee — conceded. Arts: comparable by Bob's metrics (which Wellington people would dispute). Auckland: three million, the harbour, direct flights, no July jacket. Wellington: very nice waterfront. Bob has been 42 times, enjoyed 31 — objectively good ratio. Simply finds it easier to enjoy from Auckland.
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