The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 05/10/2026We are thrilled to announce that “The Hare,” written by Ismael Ramos and translated by Jacob Rogers, and “Inês” by João Pedro Vala have been selected for the O. Henry Prize for 2026 Short Fiction! Both works were originally published in The Common Online in 2025. Learn more: buff.ly/VfRaz9r 061
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Lakeer, a literary journal promoting creative voices from Pakistan and its diaspora, is hosting Voices Across Borders: Who Gets Represented on September 20, from 9-11 am EST! The event is a virtual panel discussion/reading by exciting voices in South Asian writing. Tickets below! buff.ly/V4G6tQW 001
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 31/08/2026"That's very human, we panic and act. Only afterward do we realize that maybe it wasn't the best decision. For most of us, that doesn't turn us into an international fugitive." Read Yu-Mei Balasingamchow's interview with Kanchi Sharma about her new novel, Names Have Been Changed! buff.ly/uVgP5RO 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 31/08/2026For our most recent podcast, Lauren Delapenha cracks open her writing process with Emily Everett. Listen to this amazing Issue 31 contributor read and reveal her astounding poems below! buff.ly/KdbPR3A 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Poet Lauren Delapenha reads “Supermarketing” from Issue 31. Hear her read two more poems from The Common and discuss her process on the TC podcast - link in bio or wherever you get podcasts! 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 06/08/2026"Authentic, not authentic, for children, messy meal: / It’s a necessity for me, like iced coffee, // like southern California sunshine, / like fog and rain come winter." Jose Hernandez Diaz's "Ode to Chicken Quesadillas" shines in July's Poetry Feature! Read it below: buff.ly/url8bJJ 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Spice up your summer with some awesome swag from The Common! Our merch store has hats, hoodies, beanies, and more! buff.ly/xg3GkP9 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 27/07/2026The Common's merch store has everything you need to show off your love for your favorite lit mag! From hand-designed sweatshirts to handbags and beanies, we have a selection guaranteed to catch your eye. Visit our store below! buff.ly/xg3GkP9 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 24/07/2026The Common's online merch store is OPEN! We have caps, sweatshirts, and more, all hand-designed so you can show off your favorite lit mag with pride! Check out our awesome swag: buff.ly/xg3GkP9 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Marvin Garbeh Davis, Sr., a recent contributor to The Common, has released his debut novel, Man, Rubber and the Devil. Learn more or order the book below! buff.ly/lP8ljMA 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 20/07/2026The Common has MERCH! Represent your favorite lit mag with mugs, caps, tees, and more. Designs are handmade and guaranteed to impress your literary friends! Visit our store below: buff.ly/xg3GkP9 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Marvin Garbeh Davis, Sr. has launched his debut novel, Man, Rubber and the Devil. Set on Liberia's rubber plantations, the novel explores labor, faith, family, exploitation, and resilience through the lives of ordinary workers whose stories are rarely told. Learn more below! buff.ly/lP8ljMA 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 10/07/2026"How was a talent as special as Oliver’s nurtured? How did it grow? ... There’s no feeling that her fame was inevitable, given her gifts." Hannah Gersen reviews "Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World," a documentary by Sasha Waters Freyer. buff.ly/uuueJfo 140
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 09/07/2026"I no longer have legs, / now they are the frontiers / of two different tropics. / In the hallways / people recognize me / as the sister of another lost war." Magdalena Arias Vásquez translates "Self-Portrait in The Caribbean" by Paola Assad Barbarino. Check it out below! buff.ly/GtbR3iV 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Looking for a book that will keep you hooked until the very last page? Editorial Assistant Luchik Belau-Lorberg recommends "Paradais" by Fernanda Melchor! 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Ro Skelton talks about a pivotal moment in her relationship with an old friend from Senegal, one of many threads in her Issue 31 essay “Naow’s Boutique.” Click the link below for the full audio, or search "The Common Magazine" wherever you get podcasts! buff.ly/MMQrUfU 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 29/06/2026Good morning! Need a book recommendation to go with your coffee? Editorial Assistant Mila Massaki Gomes recommends “A Pale View of Hills” by Kazuo Ishiguro ⛰️ 020
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Book recommendation alert! The Common’s Editorial Assistant, Ben Tamburri, recommends John Steinbeck’s “Cannery Row.” 🐟 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 25/06/2026Need a book to kickstart your summer reading? The Common’s David Applefield Fellow, Aidan Cooper, recommends Clarice Lispector’s “The Passion According to G.H.” 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Fancy a book recommendation? We have just the one. Editorial Assistant Cigan Valentine recommends “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny” by Kiran Desai 🌙 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Looking for your next great read? The Common’s Editor-in-chief, Jennifer Acker, enthusiastically recommends Jamaica Kincaid’s “Annie John.” Tell us your favorite Jamaica Kincaid pieces in the comments! 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 05/05/2026"When the fever got worse, he took me to a doctor, who, assuming Naow was my husband, asked him to stay when he pulled down my underpants to give me a shot in the behind." Ro Skelton's essay, "Naow's Boutique" appears in Issue 31. Read it below! buff.ly/Cnf5nV2 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 28/04/2026"For the displaced, dispossessed, or plain bored, this modest boutique, with its rows of canned foods, cellophane slips of hair weave, and single cigarettes, became a place for all of us to call home." Ro Skelton meditates on finding an unlikely home in Senegal in Issue 31! buff.ly/Cnf5nV2 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 15/04/2026We’re thrilled to announce that “Inês” and “The Hare,” two stories published online in The Common last year, have been selected as winners of the 2026 O. Henry Short Story Prize. Congratulations to João Pedro Vala, Ismael Ramos, and Jacob Rogers on this honor! Find the full stories online now. 030
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Join us this Friday, March 27, at 7 p.m. at Amherst Books, where you will be able to hear John Hennessy, poetry editor of The Common, and Philip Metres read some of their new work! 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 18/03/2026The time has come to apply for this summer’s Young Writers Program! If you know or are a high school student (rising 9-12 this fall) excited about creative writing, note that The Common is offering a two-week, fully virtual intensive on the craft of fiction. Learn more here: buff.ly/kyKj9xx 121
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 26/02/2026"I could not isolate parts of things then (though I can and do now), but whenever I saw this bowl of trembling yellow substance before me I would grow still and silent, I did not cry, that did not make me cry." Read LitFest 2026 author Jamaica Kincaid's "Biography of a Dress"! buff.ly/00r3drZ 020
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 25/02/2026Congratulations are in order for Cory Beizer and his short story “Smith,” winner of the 2026 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize! Beizer’s debut story was originally published in Issue 30 of The Common, and is available online now for you all to enjoy. Read the full piece: buff.ly/0LylReD 060
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 23/02/2026"that was the first time that I separated myself from myself, and I became two people (two small children then, I was two years old), one having the experience, the other observing the one having the experience." Read LitFest 2026 author Jamaica Kincaid's "Biography of a Dress": buff.ly/00r3drZ 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 20/02/2026Amherst College will host the 11th annual LitFest celebrating the College’s extraordinary literary life from Feb 26 to March 1! Guest speakers include Pete Buttigieg, U.S. secretary of transportation (2021-2025), and award-winning author Jamaica Kincaid among others. Learn more: buff.ly/FbdXVsW 052
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 22/01/2026Ready to write more in 2026? You can still sign up for Weekly Writes! Each week, you get: - 3 writing prompts from the editorial staff at The Common - behind-the-scenes advice about writing, revising, and submitting your work - an accountability incentive *Sign ups close 1/26* buff.ly/TzkYEUY 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 20/01/2026Keep your New Year's writing resolutions with Weekly Writes, a ten-week program designed to help you create original place-based writing in the new year with custom prompts and accountability benchmarks! **Sign up before Monday, January 26!** Learn more: buff.ly/TzkYEUY 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 13/01/2026“Body Stories: On Miscarriage and Cancer,” is a testament to the tragedy of motherhood and the resilience of women. Rebecca Worby reads her Issue 30 essay in a brand new recording now available on our website. buff.ly/Uq0jUPA 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 09/01/2026Weekly Writes Vol. 10 kicks off on January 26, just in time to help you stay accountable on your New Year’s resolutions and 2026 goals! Sign up below! buff.ly/dJXKM5T 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 04/01/2026In the kitchen, I cry to the sound of my mother’s sobs. / Count the injections I have left before the vials run out Gray Davidson Carroll's "Anti-Aubade" captures the strange hereafter of sunrise on November 6th, 2024. Read the full Issue 30 piece online. buff.ly/L7E4VTJ 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 16/12/2025Last minute holiday gift hunting? A subscription to The Common makes a great gift! We'll notify the recipient and include your gift message. Starts at just $16. thecommon.app.neoncrm.com/forms/gift-s... 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 14/12/2025If I was nearby, he’d tell me to go inside. / Then, he’d resign, curtly quit, from God, // flick a Lucky at the old man’s feet, and / walk away. Matt W. Miller's Issue 30 poem, "Oblation," makes peace with paternity. Read the full piece online at the link below. buff.ly/tXm6Ksv 020
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 08/12/2025“That fucking guy? He couldn’t spell God / if you spotted him the G and the D” Matt W. Miller's Issue 30 poem, "Oblation," makes peace with paternity. Read the full piece online at the link below. buff.ly/tXm6Ksv 011
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Our Postcard Auction closes today! Now is your last chance to win a personalized, handwritten note from award-winning writers and artists, like singer-songwriter Craig Finn, frontman of The Hold Steady! Place your final bids at buff.ly/jDYIFec 020
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Bidding for our Author Postcard Auction closes today! Sneak in a last minute bid for a chance to win a personalized note from award-winning writers like Monica Wood, author of How to Read a Book, The One-in-a-Million Boy, and When We Were the Kennedys. Find more information at buff.ly/DQD6qXw 020
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Today is your last chance to win personalized notes from acclaimed authors through our Postcard Auction! Place your bids on writers like Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow, Yiyun Li (@appletwigli.bsky.social), before the auction closes! Find more information at buff.ly/bvQAKSw 020
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Personalized postcards make great gifts. A personalized postcard from Chris Pavone, best-selling thriller author of Two Nights in Lisbon and The Doorman, is the best gift. Today (by 12PM) is the last day to bid on a handwritten postcard from Chris! buff.ly/Z4WLfn4 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Vendela Vida is the award-winning author of six books, including The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty and national bestseller, We Run the Tides. Today (by 12PM) is the last day to place your bid in our Postcard Auction to win a handwritten postcard from the author! buff.ly/PWwu1ah 020
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 01/12/2025You could be the lucky recipient of a personalized postcard from New-York Times Best selling author Christopher Moore, writer of Lamb, Razzmatazz and most recently, Anima Rising. Today (by 12PM) is your last chance to bid in our Postcard Auction! buff.ly/LRRckyJ 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 30/11/2025Win a handwritten, personalized postcard from Ben Shattuck, author of Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau, the New Yorker magazine Best Book of 2022, Wall Street Journal Best Book of Spring, and New York Times Best Book of Summer. Bid now before Dec. 1! buff.ly/UJLE0gq 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 30/11/2025Jayne Anne Phillips is one of the best authors working today. If you are a fan of her sweeping stories on family, identity, and memory, you can win a handwritten, personalized postcard in this year's Postcard Auction. Learn more at the link below! buff.ly/QkIfnwR 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 30/11/2025If you loved In the Time of Butterflies or How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, then you'd love a handwritten postcard from their author, Julia Alvarez (@writerjalvarez.bsky.social). You can still place bids in our Author Postcard Auction, which closes tomorrow! Find more info at buff.ly/9ULqmOz 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 30/11/2025If you love John Irving as much as we do, we know you'll be interested in our Author Postcard Auction! Enter now for a chance to win a handwritten note from the prolific voice behind A Prayer for Owen Meany and, most recently, Queen Esther. Bidding closes soon, so enter now at buff.ly/UmwS6po 010
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 30/11/2025Sayaka Murata's dreamlike novels from have ensnared the hearts and imaginations of readers everywhere. Until December 1st, you can win a personalized note from the author herself, just in time for the holiday season! Click below to participate before time runs out! buff.ly/VdUJVLf 000
The Common @commonmag.bsky.social · 29/11/2025Anne Tyler, author of "Redhead by the Side of the Road," is one of the many authors participating in our postcard auction, and time's running out to win a personalized note from any one of them! Click the link below to participate! Don't forget: the auctions close December 1st. buff.ly/O0DsMoR 000