Jennifer Acker's Blog, page 115
May 23, 2019
The Common Magazine Receives $8,000 Amazon Literary Partnership Grant
Amherst, MA— The Common magazine, the award-winning literary journal based at Amherst College, has been selected for a 2019 Amazon Literary Partnership grant. Since 2017, funding from the Amazon Literary Partnership has helped further The Common’s mission of publishing and promoting emerging and diverse authors who deepen our individual and collective sense of place.
Theorizing Delight: An Interview with Ross Gay
ROSS GAY
The thing that I think I’m trying to really attend to are these little moments of care and sharing and togetherness and collaboration. Universities mostly do not—aside from the little internal grants that say “If you collaborate…”—value that stuff. They value the same shit as every other world-destroying thing.
The thing that I think I’m trying to really attend to are these little moments of care and sharing and togetherness and collaboration. Universities mostly do not—aside from the little internal grants that say “If you collaborate…”—value that stuff. They value the same shit as every other world-destroying thing.
May 22, 2019
Elegy to the Farm Where I Grew Up
MARY ALICE HOSTETTER
From the road I can see the wash house between the house and barn. Its chipped and peeling brown shingles matched those on the sprawling farmhouse nearby. In the wash house we boiled lye soap in the big iron kettle, taking turns stirring, careful not to splash. When the soap was finished, my mother grabbed the iron ladle from the hook and dipped the hot liquid into the soap pans to harden. When we butchered, the air in the wash house was filled with smoke and the smell of rendered lard.
From the road I can see the wash house between the house and barn. Its chipped and peeling brown shingles matched those on the sprawling farmhouse nearby. In the wash house we boiled lye soap in the big iron kettle, taking turns stirring, careful not to splash. When the soap was finished, my mother grabbed the iron ladle from the hook and dipped the hot liquid into the soap pans to harden. When we butchered, the air in the wash house was filled with smoke and the smell of rendered lard.
May 21, 2019
Con
STEPHEN O'CONNOR
We decided to start with a con. She was small, with blonde hair and an unidentifiable accent that gave her voice the warped vowels and ee-haw rhythms of a handsaw. She approached him on the footbridge, made a startled noise, and looked down.
We decided to start with a con. She was small, with blonde hair and an unidentifiable accent that gave her voice the warped vowels and ee-haw rhythms of a handsaw. She approached him on the footbridge, made a startled noise, and looked down.
Review of The Souvenir: Is She Really Going Out with Him?
HANNAH GERSEN
The Souvenir, British director Joanna Hogg’s fourth feature film, is the first part of a two-part memory piece that focuses on a love affair that took place in Hogg’s early twenties, when she was in film school in London.
The Souvenir, British director Joanna Hogg’s fourth feature film, is the first part of a two-part memory piece that focuses on a love affair that took place in Hogg’s early twenties, when she was in film school in London.
May 16, 2019
My Life as a Sardine
BENIGNO TRIGO
My grandfather, Luis A. Ferré (1904-2003), was the third governor of Puerto Rico and the founder of the Pro-Statehood Party. When I was little, he used to say it is better to be a big fish in a little pond than a sardine in the big blue sea. It was a reminder of how good we had it on our little island, and a warning against leaving it in pursuit of a bigger and impossible dream.
My grandfather, Luis A. Ferré (1904-2003), was the third governor of Puerto Rico and the founder of the Pro-Statehood Party. When I was little, he used to say it is better to be a big fish in a little pond than a sardine in the big blue sea. It was a reminder of how good we had it on our little island, and a warning against leaving it in pursuit of a bigger and impossible dream.
May 14, 2019
Poetry by Iraqi Women in Translation
NADIA AL-KATIB
"Definitions"
My heart is a pear
your pocket can’t contain—
my heart is poorly
stored. It starts to rot.
My story? I’m a girl
tempted into
a wonderland.
"Definitions"
My heart is a pear
your pocket can’t contain—
my heart is poorly
stored. It starts to rot.
My story? I’m a girl
tempted into
a wonderland.
May 8, 2019
Paradise After the Fire
MELISSA MESKU
I remember, once, learning to draw. I remember it wasn’t a matter of drawing, but of learning how to see. Now that my family’s house, town, and way of life have burned, they will have to start over, to learn again. To draw up another life.
I remember, once, learning to draw. I remember it wasn’t a matter of drawing, but of learning how to see. Now that my family’s house, town, and way of life have burned, they will have to start over, to learn again. To draw up another life.
May 7, 2019
Announcing Our Pushcart Prize Win
Congratulations to contributor Ben Shattuck for winning a Pushcart Prize for his Issue 16 story, The History of Sound! His story will be published in the 2019 Pushcart anthology, coming out this November.
May 6, 2019
Living Under Siege: An Interview with Feroz Rather
FEROZ RATHER
At the age of twenty, I ran away from home in Kashmir and went to Aligarh Muslim University. I wanted to dedicate my life to reading novels. But when I started by reading Austen and Dickens, I felt dislocated. The worlds they depicted were distant and severely regulated. I was dismayed.
At the age of twenty, I ran away from home in Kashmir and went to Aligarh Muslim University. I wanted to dedicate my life to reading novels. But when I started by reading Austen and Dickens, I felt dislocated. The worlds they depicted were distant and severely regulated. I was dismayed.
