SSDG / Archive
100+ stories · 2022–present
100+ stories
60+ authors
5 all-picks
ALL STORIES BY SESSION
Story Author Picker Session
"Plants, Stones, Dirt, and Sky"
All-Pick: Time
Yan LiankeJCDec 2025
"Wing's Chips"
All-Pick: Time
Mavis GallantHannahDec 2025
"Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman"
All-Pick: Time
Harlan EllisonRubenDec 2025
"The Egg"
All-Pick: Time
Andy WeirJohnDec 2025
"Unreasonable"
Devastating final paragraph
Rivka GalchenJCNov 2025
"Hunter's Moon"
Granta 98
Thomas LynchJCNov 2025
"The Lesson"
Third Kelly Link for group
Kelly LinkJohnOct 2025
Kelly Link story #2
Kelly LinkJohnOct 2025
"Point of View"
All-Pick: Weather
Lucia BerlinRubenAug 2025
"The Fête"
All-Pick: Weather. Paris Review.
Tom CreweJCAug 2025
"The Old Woman Who Was Skinned"
Skinning incident #2
TraditionalHannahJul 2025
"The Lottery"
7th grade curriculum. 6 pages.
Shirley JacksonJohnMay 2025
"Procession of the Black Sloth"
"Absurdly bad" writing
Laird BarronJohnMay 2025
"Cinnamon Shops"
Schulz killed by Gestapo 1942
Bruno SchulzRubenApr 2025
"Speaking of Bashies"
A. Kendra GreeneRubenApr 2025
"The Yellow Wallpaper"
Perception shifts
Charlotte Perkins GilmanHannahMar 2025
"Axolotl"
Julio CortázarHannahMar 2025
"Up in the Gallery"
Bonus story
Franz KafkaHannahMar 2025
"The Particles of Order"
Characters in richly literary worlds
Yiyun LiJCFeb 2025
"The Piano Tuner's Wife"
William TrevorJCFeb 2025
"The Little Flashes"
Greg ShutzJohnJan 2025
"The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear"
Kelly LinkJohnJan 2025
"Revision"
Bonus story
Daisy HildyardJohnJan 2025
"The Great Silence"
All-Pick: Time. Marciano museum.
Ted ChiangJCDec 2024
"Wait a Minute"
All-Pick: Time
Lucia BerlinHannahDec 2024
"The Story of an Hour"
All-Pick: Time. "Brutal and amazing."
Kate ChopinRubenDec 2024
"The Letter"
All-Pick: Time
JohnDec 2024
"I Like All Colors"
Freeman's Conclusions anthology
Semezdin MehmedinovicRubenNov 2024
"Pillory"
Freeman's Conclusions anthology
Omar El AkkadRubenNov 2024
"The Creek, the Wind, the Holly"
Freeman's Conclusions anthology
Lacy JohnsonRubenNov 2024
"Little Rabbit"
Surreal/spooky
Maria RevaHannahOct 2024
"Slumberland"
Laura van den BergHannahOct 2024
"Gimpel the Fool"
Trans. Saul Bellow
Isaac Bashevis SingerJCSep 2024
"Invented Jewish Tales"
LA Review of Books
Sam SaxJCSep 2024
"Job History"
All-Pick: Summer Reads
Annie ProulxJCAug 2024
"The Crossing"
All-Pick: Summer Reads
Mark SloukaJohnAug 2024
"A Quarreling Couple"
All-Pick: Summer Reads
Jane BowlesHannahAug 2024
"Forever Overhead"
All-Pick: Summer Reads
David Foster WallaceRubenAug 2024
"A Small Good Thing"
Raymond CarverJohnJul 2024
"The Overcoat"
Nikolai GogolJohnJul 2024
"The Company of Others"
Sara FreemanRubenJun 2024
"Annunciation"
Lauren GroffRubenJun 2024
"The Devourings"
Read this one first
Aimee BenderHannahMay 2024
"The Floating Bridge"
Alice MunroHannahMay 2024
"Kansas"
Excerpt from Gilead
Marilynne RobinsonJCApr 2024
"A Conversation with My Father"
Grace PaleyJCApr 2024
"Whoever is There, Come on Through"
Things unsaid
Colin BarrettJohnMar 2024
"Bullet in the Brain"
Things said are dangerous
Tobias WolffJohnMar 2024
"Raymond's Run"
Toni Cade BambaraRubenFeb 2024
"Crown Heights North"
Rivka GalchenRubenFeb 2024
"The Semplica Girl Diaries"
Diaristic frame, dark and funny
George SaundersHannahJan 2024
"Christina the Astonishing"
Kirstin Valdez QuadeHannahJan 2024
"Rip Van Winkle"
All-Pick: Time
Washington IrvingRubenDec 2023
"Cortes the Killer"
All-Pick: Time
Samantha HuntHannahDec 2023
"The Perfume Thief"
All-Pick: Time. LA Review of Books.
Susan FinleyJCDec 2023
"If it keeps on raining"
BBC 2010 shortlist
Jon McGregorJCNov 2023
"Gogol"
Became The Namesake
Jhumpa LahiriJCNov 2023
"Heart"
Shuang XuetaoJCNov 2023
"Bruto"
Hannah's first session
Helen DeWittJCJun 2023
"The Fall of Edward Barnard"
Somerset MaughamJCJun 2023
"Foster"
Early group formation
Claire KeeganJan 2023
ALL-PICK SESSIONS
December 2025
Theme: Time
JC: "Plants, Stones, Dirt, and Sky" – Yan Lianke
Hannah: "Wing's Chips" – Mavis Gallant
Ruben: "Repent, Harlequin!" – Harlan Ellison
John: "The Egg" – Andy Weir
August 2025
Theme: Weather/Whether
Ruben: "Point of View" – Lucia Berlin
JC: "The Fête" – Tom Crewe
December 2024
Theme: Time
JC: "The Great Silence" – Ted Chiang
Hannah: "Wait a Minute" – Lucia Berlin
Ruben: "The Story of an Hour" – Kate Chopin
John: "The Letter"
August 2024
Theme: Summer Reads / Under 10 pages
JC: "Job History" – Annie Proulx
John: "The Crossing" – Mark Slouka
Hannah: "A Quarreling Couple" – Jane Bowles
Ruben: "Forever Overhead" – David Foster Wallace
December 2023
Theme: Time
Ruben: "Rip Van Winkle" – Washington Irving
Hannah: "Cortes the Killer" – Samantha Hunt
JC: "The Perfume Thief" – Susan Finley
THINGS WE'VE SAID
"It's hard to pick stories for this group. I find myself wanting to share, wanting to show off, trying to be clever... And then I realized that you all just like good stories."
— JC, Nov 2025
"Two stories, two different authors, hopefully two different time periods/generations. I feel like we're reading good stuff and have good conversations. That's all I wanted out of the group."
— JC, Jan 2023
"Another catnip is an open-ended story. The clean-cut ones we don't talk about as much."
— Dec 2025
"This idea I feel in my life: if you could just hold on to one thing. If just one thing could be enough."
— Hannah on "Wing's Chips"
CATNIPS

Things we love:

Things to avoid: Skinning of human beings (<1% target), stories too long to read twice