Jennifer Acker's Blog, page 109
October 24, 2019
Ask a Local: Alda Sigmundsdóttir, Reykjavík, Iceland
ALDA SIGMUNDSDÓTTIR
No doubt there are several stereotypes of the Icelanders, but one is that they are endearingly kooky and believe in elves. Like with most stereotypes there is a kernel of truth in this, in that many Icelandic folk legends center around hidden people, also called elves, that lived inside hillocks and boulders in a parallel universe to the human population.
No doubt there are several stereotypes of the Icelanders, but one is that they are endearingly kooky and believe in elves. Like with most stereotypes there is a kernel of truth in this, in that many Icelandic folk legends center around hidden people, also called elves, that lived inside hillocks and boulders in a parallel universe to the human population.
October 23, 2019
The Streets of Tbilisi
A. MAURICIO RUIZ
Each day I went back to the Sololaki district and wandered into the quiet chambers of the past. Day or night I returned to amble on the sidewalks of Ivane Machabeli, my favorite street in old-town Tbilisi, a long shaded alleyway where lines of tall elm trees seem to extend their arms to caress the flight of a passing breeze.
Each day I went back to the Sololaki district and wandered into the quiet chambers of the past. Day or night I returned to amble on the sidewalks of Ivane Machabeli, my favorite street in old-town Tbilisi, a long shaded alleyway where lines of tall elm trees seem to extend their arms to caress the flight of a passing breeze.
October 18, 2019
Issue 18 Launch and Reading
We'd love for you to join us in Amherst to celebrate the launch of Issue 18. The Common's student interns will be reading briefly from their favorite pieces in the new issue, and there will be wine, cheese, and great conversation.
Friday Reads: October 2019
Curated by: SARAH WHELAN Issue 18 is almost here! Pre-order your copy today to enjoy brand-new fiction, poetry, essays, and artwork arriving on October 28th. If waiting by the mailbox isn’t your thing, countdown to the magazine’s arrival with book recommendations from some of our Issue 18 contributors. Recommendations: Evolution of Desire: A Life of
October 16, 2019
Mario Santiago Papasquiaro: Two Poems in Translation
MARIO SANTIAGO PAPASQUIARO
The sea touches our bodies / to feel its body / The same in rocky Manzanillo / as in Neviot
The sea touches our bodies / to feel its body / The same in rocky Manzanillo / as in Neviot
October 15, 2019
Cadenza
ISABEL MEYERS
In his thirty years of work in publishing, my grandfather never once revealed to his colleagues he was gay. Doing so could have cost him his job as a children's book editor at a prestigious house. It took me only ten minutes, in a phone interview with the same publishing house, to accidentally out him.
In his thirty years of work in publishing, my grandfather never once revealed to his colleagues he was gay. Doing so could have cost him his job as a children's book editor at a prestigious house. It took me only ten minutes, in a phone interview with the same publishing house, to accidentally out him.
The Drop
CLARE BEAMS
The church ladies were having coffee in the living room of the Baker house when Martin Williams delivered his parachute to Lily Baker, his bride. Only some of the church ladies could really have been there, but in retellings they all claimed seats... A natural desire, to be part of the story.
The church ladies were having coffee in the living room of the Baker house when Martin Williams delivered his parachute to Lily Baker, his bride. Only some of the church ladies could really have been there, but in retellings they all claimed seats... A natural desire, to be part of the story.
October 14, 2019
A conversation with Joseph O’Neill, hosted by Jennifer Acker
Join The Common and the Amherst College Creative Writing Center for a reading and Q&A with author Joseph O’Neill, hosted by TC Editor in Chief Jennifer Acker. This event is part of the Amherst College Creative Writing Fall Reading Series, which includes several readings around the town of Amherst.
October 9, 2019
Four Minutes At Rodney’s
GRACE SEGRAN
From my new vantage point by Dying, Aging and Vegan, now at the same table opposite the man, he looked somewhat shorter than what I remembered Raja to be. About two inches shorter. That made him the same height as me. Did that mean we would now see eye to eye on everything? What would it be like to live with a man who agreed with me all the time?
From my new vantage point by Dying, Aging and Vegan, now at the same table opposite the man, he looked somewhat shorter than what I remembered Raja to be. About two inches shorter. That made him the same height as me. Did that mean we would now see eye to eye on everything? What would it be like to live with a man who agreed with me all the time?
October 3, 2019
From Husband Number Four
RYŪNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA
The first husband is a peddler; the second a corporal in the infantry; the third a master of Buddhist painting in the Lamaist tradition; and the fourth is myself. Though nowadays I am not without occupation—somehow or other I have ended up as a local barber of some reputation.
The first husband is a peddler; the second a corporal in the infantry; the third a master of Buddhist painting in the Lamaist tradition; and the fourth is myself. Though nowadays I am not without occupation—somehow or other I have ended up as a local barber of some reputation.
