Jennifer Acker's Blog, page 62
April 1, 2022
Friday Reads: April 2022
ELLY HONG
Here at The Common, our incisive volunteer readers are the first to review fiction and nonfiction submissions to the magazine. In this month’s round of Friday Reads, they recommend three exciting new works of speculative fiction.
Here at The Common, our incisive volunteer readers are the first to review fiction and nonfiction submissions to the magazine. In this month’s round of Friday Reads, they recommend three exciting new works of speculative fiction.
March 31, 2022
March 2022 Poetry Feature
BENJAMIN PALOFF
When what you have endured is no one’s care, and no one gives a shit about your tribe—though on the plus side time is less to bear than choices—you dispel or else describe your mother drunk, your broken sister broke, their lives now several decades past your range.
When what you have endured is no one’s care, and no one gives a shit about your tribe—though on the plus side time is less to bear than choices—you dispel or else describe your mother drunk, your broken sister broke, their lives now several decades past your range.
March 28, 2022
A Memorandum of My Several Senses: Chloe Honum’s The Lantern Room
REBECCA GAYLE HOWELL
On a Sabbath day in 1855, Emily Dickinson wrote a letter to her dear one, Mrs. Holland. Mrs. Holland was the poet’s chosen sister, a mentor and friend in gardening and recipes, householding and womanhood. They were correspondents for more than 30 years, sharing their litanies of living a life.
On a Sabbath day in 1855, Emily Dickinson wrote a letter to her dear one, Mrs. Holland. Mrs. Holland was the poet’s chosen sister, a mentor and friend in gardening and recipes, householding and womanhood. They were correspondents for more than 30 years, sharing their litanies of living a life.
March 25, 2022
Podcast: Shubha Sunder on “A Very Full Day”
SHUBHA SUNDER
Shubha Sunder speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her story “A Very Full Day,” which appears in The Common’s fall issue. In this conversation, Shubha talks about writing stories set in India, and how she built out the insular world of Indian retirees that “A Very Full Day” centers on.
Shubha Sunder speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her story “A Very Full Day,” which appears in The Common’s fall issue. In this conversation, Shubha talks about writing stories set in India, and how she built out the insular world of Indian retirees that “A Very Full Day” centers on.
March 23, 2022
From Lviv In March
NICK MAIONE
A low-voltage day / didn’t know we had those / the tea won’t boil / thoughts like thieves / take the coins in the hem / leave our coat
A low-voltage day / didn’t know we had those / the tea won’t boil / thoughts like thieves / take the coins in the hem / leave our coat
March 22, 2022
Before: An Excerpt from Here Lies
OLIVIA CLARE FRIEDMAN
From before I began, I loved her. This was what I knew. Before the beginning, before I was born from her, before bones and blood and body, before egg. My mother Naomi was dead and not buried. Dead in fact for half a year. Her body burned to ashes by the state.
From before I began, I loved her. This was what I knew. Before the beginning, before I was born from her, before bones and blood and body, before egg. My mother Naomi was dead and not buried. Dead in fact for half a year. Her body burned to ashes by the state.
March 14, 2022
We Insist on a Godliness, a Mystery, a Laughter: An Interview with Patrick Rosal
PATRICK ROSAL
We might call these visits memory and imagination. But memory and imagination in the Western world are often strictly cerebral. For me, it’s more. I’m still learning how visits manifest in sound and in language. The spirits don’t simply show up when you summon them. I refuse to oversimplify the dead. Ancestors or not, they might not like me when they find me. Shit, I might not like them either. We meet so we can find out about one another.
We might call these visits memory and imagination. But memory and imagination in the Western world are often strictly cerebral. For me, it’s more. I’m still learning how visits manifest in sound and in language. The spirits don’t simply show up when you summon them. I refuse to oversimplify the dead. Ancestors or not, they might not like me when they find me. Shit, I might not like them either. We meet so we can find out about one another.
March 11, 2022
Podcast: Tom Sleigh on “Last Cigarette” and “Apology to My Daughter”
TOM SLEIGH
Tom Sleigh speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his poems “Last Cigarette” and “Apology to My Daughter,” which appear in The Common’s fall issue. In this conversation, Tom talks about his time as a journalist in Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Kenya, Iraq, and Libya.
Tom Sleigh speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his poems “Last Cigarette” and “Apology to My Daughter,” which appear in The Common’s fall issue. In this conversation, Tom talks about his time as a journalist in Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Kenya, Iraq, and Libya.
March 9, 2022
Is Poetry Possible at the Moment History Stirs: Poets of Ukraine
With the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, we at The Common have been reflecting on the powerful words of many Ukrainian poets who have appeared in our pages. In recent years their work has been rooted in conflict...
They Say You Are Everywhere
KRISTA J.H. LEAHY
Through mantle, earth, gender, air / through false stories and true
Through mantle, earth, gender, air / through false stories and true
