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—with some powerful opening lines. 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 eggnog).

•  “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 and E, primarily, though the doctor who pumped her stomach told Ma he’d found a few calcium supplements in there as well as a multivitamin.”
• “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. The sun was setting.”
• “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! The cruel words were accompanied by a savage push, and the cellar-door of a dilapidated tenement closed with a crash.”
• “Bethlehem—A Christmas Story,” by Edwin JF D’Souza, 2010: “I am a creative writer. My quill is free. I write what I think is the best; my sentiments are soft and imagination, fertile. This is what they say.”
• “Christmas Story,” by Alexander Rose, 1999: “It was the morning of Christmas Eve. ‘Jeffrey, I couldn’t find what you wanted,’ said Mother, ‘is there something you would like instead?’”
• “A Christmas Story from the West,” by Dick Randall, 1957: “The old-time cowboy was for the nester. It was probably his family that touched the soft spot of the cowboy.”
• “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.”

Editor’s Note: This list was last updated on June 25, 2025.