diff --git a/saphyr/src/char_traits.rs b/saphyr/src/char_traits.rs
index 4a08da1..5965cc4 100644
--- a/saphyr/src/char_traits.rs
+++ b/saphyr/src/char_traits.rs
@@ -109,3 +109,16 @@ pub(crate) fn is_uri_char(c: char) -> bool {
 pub(crate) fn is_tag_char(c: char) -> bool {
     is_uri_char(c) && !is_flow(c) && c != '!'
 }
+
+/// Check if the string can be expressed a valid literal block scalar.
+/// The YAML spec supports all of the following in block literals except #xFEFF:
+/// ```ignore
+///      #x9 | #xA | [#x20-#x7E]          /* 8 bit */
+///   | #x85 | [#xA0-#xD7FF] | [#xE000-#xFFFD] /* 16 bit */
+///   | [#x10000-#x10FFFF]                     /* 32 bit */
+/// ```
+#[inline]
+pub(crate) fn is_valid_literal_block_scalar(string: &str) -> bool {
+    string.chars().all(|character: char|
+        matches!(character, '\t' | '\n' | '\x20'..='\x7e' | '\u{0085}' | '\u{00a0}'..='\u{d7fff}'))
+}
diff --git a/saphyr/src/emitter.rs b/saphyr/src/emitter.rs
index 081654a..213da01 100644
--- a/saphyr/src/emitter.rs
+++ b/saphyr/src/emitter.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use crate::char_traits;
 use crate::yaml::{Hash, Yaml};
 use std::convert::From;
 use std::error::Error;
@@ -35,8 +36,8 @@ pub struct YamlEmitter<'a> {
     writer: &'a mut dyn fmt::Write,
     best_indent: usize,
     compact: bool,
-
     level: isize,
+    multiline_strings: bool,
 }
 
 pub type EmitResult = Result<(), EmitError>;
@@ -111,6 +112,7 @@ impl<'a> YamlEmitter<'a> {
             best_indent: 2,
             compact: true,
             level: -1,
+            multiline_strings: false,
         }
     }
 
@@ -132,6 +134,40 @@ impl<'a> YamlEmitter<'a> {
         self.compact
     }
 
+    /// Render strings containing multiple lines in [literal style].
+    ///
+    /// # Examples
+    ///
+    /// ```rust
+    /// use yaml_rust2::{Yaml, YamlEmitter, YamlLoader};
+    ///
+    /// let input = r#"{foo: "bar!\nbar!", baz: 42}"#;
+    /// let parsed = YamlLoader::load_from_str(input).unwrap();
+    /// eprintln!("{:?}", parsed);
+    ///
+    /// let mut output = String::new();
+    /// let mut emitter = YamlEmitter::new(&mut output);
+    /// emitter.multiline_strings(true);
+    /// emitter.dump(&parsed[0]).unwrap();
+    /// assert_eq!(output.as_str(), "\
+    /// ---
+    /// foo: |
+    ///   bar!
+    ///   bar!
+    /// baz: 42");
+    /// ```
+    ///
+    /// [literal style]: https://yaml.org/spec/1.2/spec.html#id2795688
+    pub fn multiline_strings(&mut self, multiline_strings: bool) {
+        self.multiline_strings = multiline_strings;
+    }
+
+    /// Determine if this emitter will emit multiline strings when appropriate.
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn is_multiline_strings(&self) -> bool {
+        self.multiline_strings
+    }
+
     pub fn dump(&mut self, doc: &Yaml) -> EmitResult {
         // write DocumentStart
         writeln!(self.writer, "---")?;
@@ -156,7 +192,20 @@ impl<'a> YamlEmitter<'a> {
             Yaml::Array(ref v) => self.emit_array(v),
             Yaml::Hash(ref h) => self.emit_hash(h),
             Yaml::String(ref v) => {
-                if need_quotes(v) {
+                if self.multiline_strings
+                    && v.contains('\n')
+                    && char_traits::is_valid_literal_block_scalar(v)
+                {
+                    write!(self.writer, "|")?;
+                    self.level += 1;
+                    for line in v.lines() {
+                        writeln!(self.writer)?;
+                        self.write_indent()?;
+                        // It's literal text, so don't escape special chars.
+                        write!(self.writer, "{line}")?;
+                    }
+                    self.level -= 1;
+                } else if need_quotes(v) {
                     escape_str(self.writer, v)?;
                 } else {
                     write!(self.writer, "{v}")?;
@@ -334,3 +383,19 @@ fn need_quotes(string: &str) -> bool {
         || string.parse::<i64>().is_ok()
         || string.parse::<f64>().is_ok()
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use super::YamlEmitter;
+    use crate::YamlLoader;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_multiline_string() {
+        let input = r#"{foo: "bar!\nbar!", baz: 42}"#;
+        let parsed = YamlLoader::load_from_str(input).unwrap();
+        let mut output = String::new();
+        let mut emitter = YamlEmitter::new(&mut output);
+        emitter.multiline_strings(true);
+        emitter.dump(&parsed[0]).unwrap();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/saphyr/tests/test_round_trip.rs b/saphyr/tests/test_round_trip.rs
index d051281..5f0a7a1 100644
--- a/saphyr/tests/test_round_trip.rs
+++ b/saphyr/tests/test_round_trip.rs
@@ -68,3 +68,15 @@ fn test_issue133() {
     let doc2 = YamlLoader::load_from_str(&out_str).unwrap().pop().unwrap();
     assert_eq!(doc, doc2); // This failed because the type has changed to a number now
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn test_newline() {
+    let y = Yaml::Array(vec![Yaml::String("\n".to_owned())]);
+    roundtrip(&y);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_crlf() {
+    let y = Yaml::Array(vec![Yaml::String("\r\n".to_owned())]);
+    roundtrip(&y);
+}