Short Stories in Second Person Point-Of-View (2nd POV)
I thought of using a catchier title, but honestly, when I went searching for lists with similar keywords, I got a bunch of “how to write” and “what is second person,” and since you obviously know what 2nd POV is (ha, see what I did there?), I’ll go with the simple and straightforward title. [Note: this was originally published on January 24, 2020, on my blog; it has since been updated with many new examples!]
Quick note: The majority of these stories use a second-person point of view wherein the character or narrator is the “you.” Stories marked with an asterisk * denote the mix of second/first person in which an “I” narrator is telling the story about/with a “you” character.
Bonus: Check out this excellent article by Valerie Valdes, “Why Writing Second Person POV Appeals To Marginalized Writers” (SFWA blog, October 2021)
10 Steps to a Whole New You by Tonya Liburd [Fantasy Magazine]
A Box, a Pocket, a Spaceman by E. Catherine Tobler [Lightspeed, reprint in Cast of Wonders]
A Cure For Ghosts by Eden Royce [Fireside Fiction]
A Lumberjack’s Guide to Dryad Spotting by Charles Payseur [Flash Fiction Online]
A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Lighthouse of Quvenle the Seer by Lina Rather [Lightspeed Magazine]
A Spell to Retrieve Your Lover from the Bottom of the Sea by Ada Hoffmann [Strange Horizons]
A Wish and A Hope and a Dream by M. Darusha Wehm [Cast of Wonders]
Adventuring by Jennifer Donahue [Daily Science Fiction]
All the Colors You Thought Were Kings by Arkady Martine [Shimmer]
All the Turns of the Earth by Matthew Claxton [Analog Jan/Feb 2020]
And Yet by A.T. Greenblatt [Uncanny Magazine]
Being an Account of the Sad Demise of the Body Horror Book Club by Nin Harris [The Dark]
Birds Are Trying to Reinvent Your Heart by Jennifer Mace [Baffling Magazine]
Black Box by Jennifer Egan [The New Yorker]
Breath, Weeping Wind, Death by Emily McCosh [Galaxy’s Edge]
Break Free This Ground by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor [Twitter/Strange Horizons fundraiser 2019]
Call Me Menace by wingedcat13 [tumblr/A03]
Chimeras by Jae Steinbacher [Escape Pod]
Choose Wisely by Fran Wilde [Fireside Fiction]
Conversation of Shadows by Yoon Ha Lee [Clarkesworld]
Don’t Pack Hope by Emma Osborne [Nightmare Magazine]
Doors by Jenny Rae Rappaport [Factor Four Magazine]
Earthquake relief. Mexico. 2051 by Malka Older [The New Humanitarian]
Emergency Skin by N. K. Jemisin [Amazon’s Forward Collection]
Every Day Is The Full Moon by Carlie St. George [Lightspeed Magazine]
Every Next Day by Rebecca Burton [Translunar Travelers Lounge]
Everyone You Know is a Raven by Phil Dyer [Diabolical Plots]*
Figure 8 by E. Catherine Tobler [PseudoPod]
Five Functions of Your Bionosaur by Rachael K. Jones [Robot Dinosaur Fiction]
Forward, Victoria by Carlie St. George [The Dark]
Getaway by Nicole Kornher-Stace [Uncanny Magazine]
Graveyard For Phobias by Tiffany Meuret [ellipsiszine]
Heart Stitch by Jose Pablo Irate [Daily Science Fiction]
Heavy Possessions by Seoung Kim [Strange Horizons]*
How to Abandon Your Sourdough Starter: A Recipe for Disaster by Theresa DeLucci [Lightspeed Magazine]
If We Do Not Fly at Sunset by Andi C. Buchanan [Lightspeed Magazine]
Immersion by Aliette de Bodard [Clarkesworld]
In the Belly of the Wolf by Gwendolyn Kiste [Kaleidotrope]
In this Life and the Next by Katherine Inksip [Luna Station Quarterly]
Inhabiting Your Skin by Mari Ness [Apex Magazine]
Lapis by Sara Saab [Clarkesworld]
Little Man by Michael Cunningham [The New Yorker]
Maybe Look Up by Jess Barber [Lightspeed Magazine]
Monster Girls Don’t Cry by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor [Uncanny Magazine]
Necessary as a Rose by Mary E. Lowd [Kaleidotrope]
Of Water and Wood by Emily McCosh [Curious Fictions]
On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog by Adam R. Shannon [Apex Magazine]
Past Tense by James Beamon [Daily Science Fiction]
Pistol Grip by Vina Jie-Min Prasad [Uncanny Magazine]
Salt & Fat & Iron & Sugar by dave ring and Rhiannon Rasmussen [Lamplight Vol. 10]
Sealskin by L Chan [Zooscapes]
Some Kind of Blood-Soaked Future by Carlie St. George [Nightmare Magazine]
Stages of the Witch by Eden Royce [Grimoire]
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang [Story Of Your Life and Others]
Take Pills and Wait for Hips by Anya DeNiro [Catapult]
The Answer You Are Seeking by Jenny Rae Rappaport [Lightspeed Magazine]
The Birth Will Take Place on a Mutually Acceptable Research Vessel by Matthew Bailey[Lightspeed Magazine]
The Button Bin by Mike Allen [reprinted in Apex Magazine]
The Coven of Dead Girls by L’Erin Ogle [Pseudopod]
The Devil Got You On Speed Dial by H.L. Fullerton [Curious Fictions]
The Topography of Memory by Jennifer Hudak [Fusion Fragment #10]
The Girlfriend’s Guide to Gods by Maria Dahvana Headley [Tor.com]
The Grief Portal by Aun-Juli Riddle [Apparition Lit]
The Hero of Your Own Story by Anthony W. Eichenlaub [Daily Science Fiction]
The House At the End of the Lane Is Dreaming by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor [Lightspeed Magazine]
The Law Is the Plan, and the Plan Is Death by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor [Or Else the Light]
The Mathematics of Fairyland by Phoebe Barton [Lightspeed Magazine]
The Moody Rooms of Agatha Tate by Wendy Nikel [Nox Pareidolia]
The Old Woman on the Subway by Jennifer Hudak [Hypertext Magazine]
The Sorcerer’s Unattainable Gardens by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor [Daily Science Fiction]
The Stylized Unicorn Escapes Its Poster in Seattle Teenager’s Bedroom by Thomas K. Carpenter[Galaxy’s Edge]
The Tentacle and You by John Wiswell [Nature Futures]
The Woman Out of the Attic by Gwendolyn Kiste [reprinted in Pseudopod]
The Yoke of the Aspens by Kay Chronister [The Dark]*
This Story Begins With You by Rachael K. Jones [Cast of Wonders]
This Village by Eugenia Triantafyllou [Uncanny Magazine]
This Was Never A Vigil by V. Medina [Capricious issue 12]
Trust In the Law, For the Law Trusts In You by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor [Ignorance Is Strength]
We Are Here to Be Held by Eugenia Triantafyllou [Strange Horizons]
Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience ™ by Rebecca Roanhorse [Apex Magazine]
Whatever Knight Comes by Ryan Row [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
When Are You Wearing? by H.L. Fullerton [Capricious Issue 12]
Where Monsters Dance by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor [reprinted in Curious Fictions]
Where They Keep Their Promises by B. Pladek [Escape Pod]*
Which Super Little Dead Girl™ Are You? Take Our Quiz and Find Out! by Nino Cipri [Nightmare Magazine]
Winter Bride by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor [Kaleidotrope]
You Can Make A Dinosaur, But You Can’t Help Me by K.M. Szpara [Uncanny Magazine]
You, Me, Her, You, Her, I by Isabel J. Kim [Strange Horizons]
You Were Once Wild Here by Carlie St. George [The Dark]
You Will Never Know What Opens by Mari Ness [Lightspeed Magazine]
You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay by Alyssa Wong [Uncanny Magazine]
Your Collar by Elizabeth Bear [Subterranean Press]
Your Heart In My Teeth by V. Medina [Broken Metropolis]
*The use of first-person and second-person POV is included in the story; in this form, the narrator is speaking to the “you” character rather than the “you” narrator being the character. I’ve included some of these examples based on recommendations.
This list is only possible due to the wonderful SFF community — so for everyone who has suggested stories and made recommendations for this list, thank you! I could not have made this by myself.
Have additional suggestions? Please comment or feel free to tweet them at me: Merc_Wolfmoor. Cheers!
