diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+Copyright Pascal Hartig (c) 2016
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+
+    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+
+    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+      with the distribution.
+
+    * Neither the name of Pascal Hartig nor the names of other
+      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
+      from this software without specific prior written permission.
+
+THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
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+# optparse-text
+[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/passy/optparse-text.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/passy/optparse-text)
+
+> Helpers for
+> [`optparse-applicative`](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/optparse-applicative)
+> to deal with [`Data.Text`](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/text).
+
+## Example
+
+```haskell
+import qualified Data.Text                 as T
+import qualified Options.Applicative       as Opt
+import qualified Options.Applicative.Text  as OptT
+
+data Options = Options { text    :: T.Text
+                       , textArg :: T.Text
+                       , textOpt :: T.Text }
+  deriving (Eq, Show)
+
+optParser :: Opt.Parser Options
+optParser = Options <$> Opt.argument OptT.text ( Opt.metavar "TEXT" )
+                 <*> OptT.textArgument ( Opt.metavar "TEXT2" )
+                 <*> OptT.textOption ( Opt.long "textopt" )
+```
+
+## Status
+
+About to be published.
+
+## Alternatives
+
+You may want to consider using
+[optparse-generic](https://github.com/Gabriel439/Haskell-Optparse-Generic-Library)
+which has built-in support for Text and provides a very convient generic
+interface to optparse avoiding a lot of boilerplate.
diff --git a/Setup.hs b/Setup.hs
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/Setup.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import Distribution.Simple
+main = defaultMain
diff --git a/optparse-text.cabal b/optparse-text.cabal
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/optparse-text.cabal
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+-- This file has been generated from package.yaml by hpack version 0.14.0.
+--
+-- see: https://github.com/sol/hpack
+
+name:           optparse-text
+version:        0.1.0.0
+synopsis:       Data.Text helpers for optparse-applicative
+category:       Development
+homepage:       https://github.com/passy/optparse-text#readme
+bug-reports:    https://github.com/passy/optparse-text/issues
+maintainer:     Pascal Hartig <i@passy.me>
+license:        BSD3
+license-file:   LICENSE
+tested-with:    GHC == 7.6.3, GHC == 7.8.4, GHC == 7.10.3, GHC == 8.0.1
+build-type:     Simple
+cabal-version:  >= 1.10
+
+extra-source-files:
+    README.md
+    stack.yaml
+
+source-repository head
+  type: git
+  location: https://github.com/passy/optparse-text
+
+library
+  hs-source-dirs:
+      src
+  ghc-options: -Wall -fwarn-tabs -fwarn-incomplete-record-updates -fwarn-monomorphism-restriction -fwarn-unused-do-bind
+  build-depends:
+      base >= 4.6 && < 5
+    , optparse-applicative
+    , text
+  exposed-modules:
+      Options.Applicative.Text
+  other-modules:
+      Paths_optparse_text
+  default-language: Haskell2010
+
+test-suite spec
+  type: exitcode-stdio-1.0
+  main-is: Spec.hs
+  hs-source-dirs:
+      test
+  ghc-options: -Wall -fwarn-tabs -fwarn-incomplete-record-updates -fwarn-monomorphism-restriction -fwarn-unused-do-bind -threaded -rtsopts -with-rtsopts=-N
+  build-depends:
+      base >= 4.6 && < 5
+    , optparse-applicative
+    , text
+    , optparse-text
+    , hspec
+  default-language: Haskell2010
diff --git a/src/Options/Applicative/Text.hs b/src/Options/Applicative/Text.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Options/Applicative/Text.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+-- | This library provides parser builders akin to what optparse-applicative
+-- offers for 'String' out of the Box, but for 'Data.Text'.
+module Options.Applicative.Text
+  ( text
+  , textOption
+  , textArgument ) where
+
+import           Control.Applicative       ((<$>))
+import qualified Data.Text                 as T
+import qualified Options.Applicative       as Opt
+import qualified Options.Applicative.Types as Opt
+
+-- | Text 'Option' reader.
+text :: Opt.ReadM T.Text
+text = T.pack <$> Opt.readerAsk
+
+-- | Builder for an option taking a 'Data.Text' argument.
+textOption :: Opt.Mod Opt.OptionFields T.Text -> Opt.Parser T.Text
+textOption = Opt.option text
+
+-- | Builder for a 'Text' argument.
+textArgument :: Opt.Mod Opt.ArgumentFields T.Text -> Opt.Parser T.Text
+textArgument = Opt.argument text
diff --git a/stack.yaml b/stack.yaml
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/stack.yaml
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+# This file was automatically generated by 'stack init'
+# 
+# Some commonly used options have been documented as comments in this file.
+# For advanced use and comprehensive documentation of the format, please see:
+# http://docs.haskellstack.org/en/stable/yaml_configuration/
+
+# Resolver to choose a 'specific' stackage snapshot or a compiler version.
+# A snapshot resolver dictates the compiler version and the set of packages
+# to be used for project dependencies. For example:
+# 
+# resolver: lts-3.5
+# resolver: nightly-2015-09-21
+# resolver: ghc-7.10.2
+# resolver: ghcjs-0.1.0_ghc-7.10.2
+# resolver:
+#  name: custom-snapshot
+#  location: "./custom-snapshot.yaml"
+# resolver: lts-6.4
+resolver: nightly-2016-06-21
+
+# User packages to be built.
+# Various formats can be used as shown in the example below.
+# 
+# packages:
+# - some-directory
+# - https://example.com/foo/bar/baz-0.0.2.tar.gz
+# - location:
+#    git: https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack.git
+#    commit: e7b331f14bcffb8367cd58fbfc8b40ec7642100a
+# - location: https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/commit/e7b331f14bcffb8367cd58fbfc8b40ec7642100a
+#   extra-dep: true
+#  subdirs:
+#  - auto-update
+#  - wai
+# 
+# A package marked 'extra-dep: true' will only be built if demanded by a
+# non-dependency (i.e. a user package), and its test suites and benchmarks
+# will not be run. This is useful for tweaking upstream packages.
+packages:
+- '.'
+# Dependency packages to be pulled from upstream that are not in the resolver
+# (e.g., acme-missiles-0.3)
+extra-deps: []
+
+# Override default flag values for local packages and extra-deps
+flags: {}
+
+# Extra package databases containing global packages
+extra-package-dbs: []
+
+# Control whether we use the GHC we find on the path
+# system-ghc: true
+# 
+# Require a specific version of stack, using version ranges
+# require-stack-version: -any # Default
+# require-stack-version: ">=1.1"
+# 
+# Override the architecture used by stack, especially useful on Windows
+# arch: i386
+# arch: x86_64
+# 
+# Extra directories used by stack for building
+# extra-include-dirs: [/path/to/dir]
+# extra-lib-dirs: [/path/to/dir]
+# 
+# Allow a newer minor version of GHC than the snapshot specifies
+# compiler-check: newer-minor
diff --git a/test/Spec.hs b/test/Spec.hs
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Spec.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
+
+import           Control.Applicative       ((<$>), (<*>))
+import qualified Data.Text                 as T
+import qualified Options.Applicative       as Opt
+import           Options.Applicative.Extra (execParserPure, getParseResult)
+import qualified Options.Applicative.Text  as OptT
+import           Test.Hspec
+
+data Options = Options { text    :: T.Text
+                       , textArg :: T.Text
+                       , textOpt :: T.Text }
+  deriving (Eq, Show)
+
+optParser :: Opt.Parser Options
+optParser = Options <$> Opt.argument OptT.text ( Opt.metavar "TEXT" )
+                 <*> OptT.textArgument ( Opt.metavar "TEXT2" )
+                 <*> OptT.textOption ( Opt.long "textopt" )
+
+parser :: Opt.ParserInfo Options
+parser = Opt.info (Opt.helper <*> optParser) mempty
+
+main :: IO ()
+main = hspec .
+  describe "optparse-text" $ do
+    let parse args = getParseResult $ execParserPure Opt.defaultPrefs parser args
+
+    it "parses to text arguments" $
+      parse ["arg1", "arg2", "--textopt", "hello world"] `shouldBe`
+        Just Options {text = "arg1", textArg = "arg2", textOpt = "hello world"}
+
+    it "parses unicode" $
+      parse ["🎈", "nø tû brëxit", "--textopt", "Benno Fünfstück"] `shouldBe`
+        Just Options {text = "🎈", textArg = "nø tû brëxit", textOpt = "Benno Fünfstück"}