Sparrow, a pundit poet from Phoenicia, New York, graciously contributed the following column.

People who love gourmet food are called "foodies" (perhaps derived from "hippies," referring to people who love hipness.) What about people who love books?

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"Stories are how we connect with each other on the most fundamental human level," write the team behind Mile High Stories. They gather stories from Denver, Colorado, residents and share these rich narrative voices on the Internet. Ready for a story? Click here.

Knitter, English teacher and Johnstown, Pennsylvania's self-appointed ambassador to Brooklyn, Shannon Reed is also an accomplished playwright whose plays have appeared in prestigious regional festivals. "Currently at work on a play about fairies, vicars and princesses," as she tells us, Shannon graciously laid down her quill for a moment to share these terrific thoughts on playwriting and related books:

Writing plays is a tricky business because you're writing text that will need to be brought to life. Thus, it's worth any beginning playwright's time to read the text of a play they have seen and enjoyed. You might start by watching the movie of The Crucible. The 1996 version has a powerful screenplay by Arthur Miller that skews remarkably closely to his searing playscript. Then read the play itself, an American classic.

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Sometimes you read a journalist's account of a place, person or situation that draws you in so deep you forget you're reading "news." They're more than just stories: The real-life scenes immerse you in a way that not only sticks, sometimes forever, but gives you meaning. To your humble editor, the absolute lion of this kind of journalism -- literary journalism -- was a legendary Polish reporter named Ryszard Kapuscinski, who sadly passed away last month. He was a hero, too, to a Canadian journalist named Deborah Campbell. Besides writing about the Middle East, Cuba and Russia and other places for leading publications, Deborah teaches literary journalism at the University of British Columbia. We had a fascinating conversation with her about this genre:

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Jon Franklin is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning writer and distinguished journalism professor at the University of Maryland, and the author of the classic writing book Writing for Story. He's a pioneer in applying the literary techniques of fiction to nonfiction stories. We had a fascinating conversation with Jon about writing creative nonfiction.

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In anticipation of the annual Neiman Conference, a gathering of narrative journalists that took place this past weekend at Harvard University, the newspaper reporter's blog Gangrey ran a month of entries they called "Days to Neiman." In these posts, the authors highlighted writers and books that exemplified the narrative craft. Here are a few of the books:

American Stories by Calvin Trillin

The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup by Susan Orleans (see introduction)

The New New Journalism by Robert Boynton

Off Ramp by Hank Steuver (see preface)

Sports Guy by Charlie Pierce (see preface)

The Gay Talese Reader by Gay Talese (see "Origins of a Nonfiction Writer")