The essays below are currently being submitted to literary journals and magazines and are therefore unavailable to read online. Together they explore memory, place, grief, family, and belonging through creative nonfiction and memoir.
Drive-By Town
A layered portrait of a town revisited in passing, where memory stacks on itself through specific places, moments, and relationships that no longer exist in the same way.
The Stairs Beneath the Bridge
A coming-of-age piece set in a small river town, where hidden spaces beneath a bridge hold early friendships, independence, and the quiet realization that not everything is as safe as it once felt.
Overnight Air
A quiet morning suspended between past and present, where memory, routine, and the feeling of being fifteen again drift in before disappearing with the day.
Banana Peppers
A meditation on grief and memory, where a small detail becomes a lasting connection to someone lost and the weight of a moment that can’t be undone.
Other Essays
Hands Check
Which One Was Home?
They Don’t Make Grandpas Like They Used To
Punxsutawney, Summer 2002
A Small Town Reading Life
No More Eggshells Under My Feet
Dixie Chicks on Cassette
Gutters
Canoes
I’ll Never Have Stars in My Eyes
New work is added regularly as essays move through the publication process.
Stephanie Jarbeck Godinez | Spoken Mementos 