Speakers: Lail Arad, Shalom Auslander, David Mills, Francesca Beard, Larry Smith, Jamie Glassman

Hemingway’s legendary challenge to write a novel in six words—”For sale: baby shoes, never worn”— has unintentionally created one of the hottest modern literary trends. In 2006, SMITH Magazine gave the six-word story a personal twist, calling it the Six-Word Memoir. Now, more than half a million Six-Word Memoirs on SMITHmag.net and a bestselling book series later, SMITH Magazine comes to celebrate the release of its “Oy! Only Six? Why Not More?” — Six Words on the Jewish Life.

During a Six-Word Memoir story show, writers and performers including Lail Arad, Shalom Auslander and David Mills started with a Six-Word Memoir, and then revealed the backstory in six minutes. At the show’s end everyone was invited to share a Six-Word Memoir during a participatory Six-Word Slam.