As Jeanette Winterson wrote recently for Omnivoracious, the Christmas story is “a story about coming together, not tearing apart. You don’t have to be a believer to believe in the spirit of the story.”

Christmas is a rather literary holiday, after all. The very way in which we celebrate has been influenced by writers; Charles Dickens canonized our Christmas dinners in A Christmas Carol, and our image of Santa himself has emerged from poems and illustrations appearing in magazines.

In the spirit of the season, we’ve gathered up some of our favorite literary takes on Christmas. All of these links are open-access, so click to download the PDF and read at your leisure (preferably by a sparkling Christmas tree, with a glass of egg nog):

•  “Christmas Vacation,” by Truman Capote, 1935: “Christmas was only a few days away, and old Mrs. Busybody stood gazing at the window looking at several young boys and girls smoking cigarettes.”
• “Christmas Stories,” by Kelly Luce, 2008 :”The Christmas of the big tree was also the Christmas that Dot tried to overdose on vitamins.”
• “A Christmas Story,” by Mary Jo Salter, 1997: “All dressed up in the back / of taxi stopped at a traffic / light on Central Park West…”
• “Thalassa-Christmas Story,” by S. Adam, 1948: “It was Christmas Eve, 1939. Carrying his knapsack, and all ready for the transport, Ian opened the barrack door and went out into the yard.”
• “A Christmas Story,” by Charles Stubblefield, 1985: “Charles descended from the streetcar with the heavy suitcase, then turned back to take the shopping bag from Mama and give her a hand down from the high step.”
• “Darling: A Christmas Story,” 1883: “Go along with you, good for nothin’ thing!”
• “Bethlehem: A Christmas Story,” by Edwin JF D’Souza, 2010: “I am a creative writer.”
• “Christmas Story,” by Alexander Rose, 1999: “It was the morning of Christmas Eve.”
• “A Christmas Story from the West,” by Dick Randall, 1957: “The old-time cowboy was for the nester.”
• “The Night Before Christmas,” by Clement Clarke Moore, illustrated by John Dallas, 1859: “T’was the night before Christmas, when, all through the house, / Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”