A couple of years ago I started collecting examples of great scent writing — not writing ABOUT scent, per se, but writing that incorporates scent in a way that works well within the context.

Scent writing is like perfume. It needs to not hit you over the head with itself.

I finally decided that I had enough of just having these examples on my own page as a list and figured that organizing them according to genre on their own page meant the most sense. So I acquired www.scentinliterature.com and got this spiffy logo made for the project.

If you go to the site you will see it is in its infancy but now also has  a section where you can “practice” scent writing. I’ve linked to some of my favorite prompts by fellow scent aficionado, Brian Goetzenleuchter, head of the Olfactory Memoir Project.

My request to you:

If you come across some great passages incorporating scent, please send them to me! I will credit you on the site. It can be as simple as snapping a picture of the book you’re reading and sending it to emilygrosvenor [@] gmail.com. Thank you!