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ZIP-Code Stories

We want your ZIP-Code Story! The deadline for our current round is October 31 at 10pm EST. Your story can come from any zip code, but must include three things: an apple, a pickup truck, and the word mask (either the verb or noun). Your fiction or non-fiction piece must be 500 words or less. For full rules, see our submission FAQ.

We're kicking off a new literary series we're calling ZIP-Code Stories. It’s a collaboration between WBUR’s Radio Boston and The Drum, Boston’s audio literary magazine. It’s our effort to gather your stories about your neighborhoods.

Each month, we’ll pick four ZIP codes and ask you to write a short story — 500 words — that takes place in one of them. Together, Radio Boston and The Drum will pick the best story from each ZIP code. We’ll then ask one of the authors to come into our studios to read an excerpt and tell us the story behind the story.

Learn more about how to submit your stories at our ZIP-Code Stories FAQ page.

Check out the ZIP-Code Stories we've featured below, and mapped on the state above.


ZIP Code 02563 — 'Sandwich'

Though Cape Cod town Sandwich isn't actually named in the story, it's home to a couple whose relationship bears the burden of the main character's hypochondria.


ZIP Code 02482 — 'Off The Map'

Wellesley ZIP code 02482 inspired Lisa Rogers' "Off The Map," a meditation on the majestic beauty of Morses Pond in the winter, where "it really feels like a place apart from the world."


ZIP Code 01702 — 'The Start of Something'

Framingham ZIP code 01702 provided the backdrop for Liz Moore's "The Start of Something," a coming of age tale, which was named the winner of round two of the Zip Code Stories series.


(Creative Commons)ZIP Code 02151 — 'Revere Beach Incident'

Revere ZIP code 02151 provided the backdrop for Daniel Gewertz's "Revere Beach Incident," which was named the winner of round one of the Zip Code Stories series.


The dunes outside Provincetown (ptowndave/Flickr)ZIP Code 02657 — ‘Bent’

What is it about those summer spots we hold so dear? The smells of old cottages rented year after year? The never-changing boardwalk shops that sell the same overly sweetened taffy? Provincetown’s 02657 provides the backdrop for Jennifer Haigh’s short story “Bent.”


Seagulls fly above Revere Beach. (Dr. RawheaD/Flickr)

ZIP Code 02151 — ‘In Revere, In Those Days’

When most people think of Revere, lots of cliches come to mind. Novelist Roland Merullo takes readers past those stereotypes of his native Revere in “In Revere in Those Days.”


Patrons wait for the T in Cambridge's Central Square. (b a r t/Flickr)
ZIP Code 02139 — ‘Smedley’s Secret Guide To World Literature’

Cambridge ZIP code 02139 is the setting for author Askold Melnyczuk's fourth novel, "Smedley’s Secret Guide To World Literature."


(Thomas Hawk/Flickr)ZIP Code 02446 — 'Sunshine Cleaners'

Brookline ZIP code 02446 provided the backdrop for Daphne Kalotay's "Sunshine Cleaners."

This program aired on August 5, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

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