All of us are in front of computers more than we ever imagined we’d be. Though we often talk about longing for time to curl up with a book, we still find ourselves instead in front of a screen. I’ve had to accept reading on the screen in my life as a writer and editor, and having done that, I have found some literary websites that have become favorites. They are quick, easy-to-use and offer access to literature that I enjoy reading. Some of the works I read are short; some of them are treasured essays from anthologies I’ve taught from in the past and no longer have on my shelves; some of the work is in newly packaged forms like drapples, one sentence stories, and “short imagined monologues” and some is poetry and essays on craft.

Below are 25 free sites that I visit. There is always something fortifying on them to help me quickly indulge my need for submersing myself in literature even in the midst of other work. A visit to one of the sites a day will help you restore your sense of what literature does for mental and emotional health as well as for inspiring your own writing.

1. http://www.narrativemagazine.com
If you like celebrated authors’ work, here’s a magazine you’ll enjoy. You can access the issues on the web site and sign up if you’d like to receive email notifications about each new issues and who is published in them. You’ll be reading fine fiction, creative nonfiction and more with very little effort. A nonprofit organization, Narrative is dedicated to advancing the literary arts in the digital age by “supporting the finest writing talent and encouraging readership around the world and across generations.”

 2. http://www.creativenonfiction.org/brevity
If you are writing creative nonfiction, you will enjoy being in the presence of the writers published in Brevity. You’ll also enjoy the many assessable and inspiring craft essays on writing short nonfiction. For over a decade, Brevity has “published well-known and emerging writers working in the extremely brief (750 words or less) essay form.” Though still committed to the mission of publishing new writers, Brevity has published the work of two Pulitzer prize finalists, numerous NEA fellows, Pushcart winners, and authors represented in the Best American authors series, among others.

3. http://www.fraglit.com
Like to read lyric prose? Fraglit Magazine is an international literary magazine of fragmentary writing founded in 2007 by Olivia Dresher of Impassio Press. New issues appear twice a year in spring and fall. They include work by both new and established writers, as well as pieces by regular contributors. Fragmentary forms include excerpts from journals, diaries and notebooks, vignettes, aphorisms, micro essays and notes, excerpts from letters, and other nontraditional short forms.

4. http://Libertary.com
This site’s tag line is “freedom of the book.” Since the publishing business is in transition from the distribution of physical books to the distribution of electronic reading material, Libertary lets you read books easily online.

Okay, you can’t read a whole book in just a few minutes, but you can download any of the books on this site onto your computer and read a little bit each day. There are sixteen books available now with more coming soon, including my book co-authored with Christi Killien, Writing in a New Convertible With the Top Down. Another writing book, Invisible-Ink by Brian McDonald on screen writing is also available.

5. http://www.tiny-lights.com/online.php
Tiny Lights: A Journal of Personal Narrative has long been one of my favorite print journals. Online you can read highlights from back issues and short pieces called “Flash in the Pan: Nuggets of Literary Gold.” These flashes are brilliant stars; they’ll inspire awe and you’ll be back to check out the night skies for more.

6. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/articles.html
The Poetry Foundation’s work is to raise poetry to “a more visible and influential position in American culture.” You can read poems here and articles about poetry in today’s world. If you are a lover of poetry, this is a treasure trove.

If you sign up for “American Life in Poetry” you will receive the articles by contemporary poets by email. If think you don’t like poetry, there is no way you won’t reverse that idea after reading these poems.

7. http://open.salon.com/editors_pick
Open Salon is free but associated with the subscription-based online magazine Salon.com. On Open Salon, people are posting writing that is regularly read by Salon.com editors, and each week there is an editor’s pick. You can see which are the most read pieces. Visit this site to find writers who will become your favorites, ones you’ll keep checking back to read.

8. http://notesandgracenotes.com
I was asked to judge a creative nonfiction contest for this site and learned about the essays, stories and poems posted on it. If you want to read what writing peers are writing, this is a good place to find that work. Look under “winners” and “new finalists.”

The following four websites are where I go to read three particular essays and one short story that I have admired in anthologies for yours but don’t always have with me:

9. “The Plot Against People”
I treasure this essay by Russell Baker that explains what inanimate objects are up to when they vex us by getting lost, breaking down and never working at all. If you click on the link after this sentence, a pdf copy will download onto your computer: When you have the essay, give it a read. You’ll laugh at the way the speaker elucidates something you’ve been thinking for awhile.

10. http://www.eoneill.com/texts/blemie/contents.htm
I also treasure an essay by the playwright Eugene O’Neil, “The Last Will and Testament of Silverdene Emblem O’Neill.” It’s in the voice of a dog who’s died but wants his owners to honor his life and love for them by getting another dog.

11. http://jco.usfca.edu/works/wgoing/text.html
This Joyce Carol Oates short story was made into a film: “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” I always feel lucky to have access to the story online.

12: http://www.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Blackboard/Common/Essays/OnceLake.html
The famous essay by E.B. White, “Once More to the Lake,” will inspire you to write essays about short journeys and what they help us reflect on.

13. http://www.flashfictiononline.com
Want to read some current flash fiction? This journal is for you–short, short stories published regularly.

14. Peter Meinke’s essays on tampacreativeloafing.com
One of my favorite poets, Peter Meinke, is writing essays for this online journal, and I appreciate reading more from him in prose form.

15. http://www.markdoty.org/id10.html
Poet Mark Doty has a generous number of links to his essays on poetry on his site as well. He is very articulate and personal when he talks about poetry.

16. http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/monologues
Dave Eggers started Timothy McSweeney’s press and this site has much to read. I enjoy the short monologues as well as the letters to people who will never read them.

17. http://www.intelligencesquared.com/talks/craig-browns-15-minute-literary-festival
Poet Stan Rubin informed me about this British website where an entertaining Craig Brown presents a literary festival in 15 minutes. He has a good reading voice and is very entertaining. How can you beat that? A literary festival you don’t have to travel to attend and one that fits into a corner of your lunch hour.

18. http://essaydaily.blogspot.com
An interesting and useful conversation about contemporary essays and essay writing with links to where many of them appear. You’ll get the gist of the ongoing conversation about essays of interest, particularly those in literary magazines.

19. http://poems.com
Poetry Daily is an organ of this site, which sends out a poem a day by email. If you go to the site you will find featured books by featured poets and a featured poem. Each email also includes information about the poet and the poem’s source.

20. http://www.dailylit.com
Daily Lit features the ability to send you short book installments by email or RSS feed on the days at the times you choose. You can have them sent to any computer or Blackberry or iPhone. The books are from categories such as biography, classics, nonfiction, short stories, women, horror, humor, and essay, among many more.

21. http://www.parisreview.com/literature.php
The famous Paris Review interviews with authors you’ve studied are all on line now. Read what T.S. Eliot had to say about writing poetry, what William Faulkner said about how his novels started, and what Ernest Hemmingway said about his work. There are so many more: Dorothy Parker, E.M. Forster, Ralph Ellison, Joan Didion. They are archived by decade starting in the 1950’s.

22. http://www.everypoet.com
Want to find classic poems easily by authors you’ve studied (or missed out studying), poems by Kipling, Yeats, Frost, Eliot, Milton, Poe, Oscar Wilde and many others? This site will supply easy access. Another page on the website lists classic books available online: http://www.everyauthor.com/writing/book.

23. http://www.onesentence.org
Really short on time? This sight has an archive of stories in one sentence. No excuse not to read at least one of these a few times a week.

24. http://one-story.com
Finally, have a story emailed to you once every three weeks. One Story is a non-profit literary magazine that features one great short story mailed to subscribers every three weeks. The website seeks nothing less than to save the short story by publishing them in “a friendly format that allows readers to experience each story as a stand-alone work of art and a simple form of entertainment.” If you print the story, it will fit into “a purse or pocket, and into your life.”

25. http://www.tinmanic.com/archives/2007/08/25/best-american-essays-online
Here is a list of links to complete essays from the volume Best American Essays 2007. All of the volumes of this annual series are rich ones. If you haven’t read these books, start here. Maybe you’ll be able to find the time to curl up with one of the more recent volumes, or at least read an essay a week, when you do get time away from your computer.