Significant Objects was founded by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker in 2009, as a quasi-anthropological experiment analyzing how inanimate objects become significant via narrative—and it's also turned into a literary journal secretly published on eBay. Most recently, it has become a fundraising outfit for good causes.

Glenn and Walker began recruiting writers to invent stories about doodads they had picked up in thrift stores or at yard sales. Their theory was that even imaginary narratives could add measurable value, and they tested this by selling the objects with their newly invented Significance on eBay. Once the experiment proved their point, they realized we could convert this insight into positive force. Launching a new round of story + object auctions, they raised more than $2,200 for 826 National, a nonprofit that tutors young people in creative and expository writing. Presently, Significant Objects v3 is raising money for Girls Write Now, which mentors at-risk young women in New York City. Along the way, the project has caused a remarkable body of fiction to come into existence, with contributions from William Gibson, Curtis Sittenfeld, Myla Goldberg, Nicholson Baker, Neil LaBute, Bruce Sterling, Meg Cabot, Colson Whitehead, Lydia Millet, Lucinda Rosenfeld, Ben Katchor, and many others.

This week's objects were chosen and donated to the project by Paola Antonelli, senior architecture and design curator for the Museum of Modern Art. They have been given significance by Jim Shepard, Scarlett Thomas, Ron Currie Jr., Helen DeWitt, and Matt Brown.

The series kicks off today— stay tuned for all of our cross-posts.

Find out more about the Significant Objects at their homepage, on ebay, and on twitter. Read about Girls Write Now, the non-profit this series will help support, here.