Common Notions Press
LightNews LightNews
banner
commonnotions.bsky.social
Common Notions Press
@commonnotions.bsky.social
720 followers 520 following 160 posts
Nonprofit, movement-based, and worker-run publisher of books that provide timely reflections, clear critiques, and inspiring strategies that amplify movements for social justice.

📍Philadelphia
📍NYC

www.commonnotions.org
Posts Replies Media Videos
commonnotions.bsky.social
Philly, join us, @justmaybechris.bsky.social, and karim at the Blackwell Regional Library to celebrate MY CITY NEED SOMETHING: PORTRAITS AND PROSE FOR BLACK EXISTENCE!

Saturday 2/14 12-2pm

We'll be selling copies of the book at a discounted price. See you there

Event details: tinyurl.com/2m9at7dh
promotion for my city need something event. cohosted by hakim's bookstore and the w.e.b du bois movement school
February 5, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
commonnotions.bsky.social
"...workers know their workplaces best, and can participate in the study of their own struggles, and learn from similar studies by workers in other struggles."

Read an excerpt of STRIKE WHILE THE NEEDLE IS HOT! on @thewiremagazine.bsky.social: www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/b...
Read an extract from Strike While the Needle Is Hot: A Discography of Workers' Revolt - The Wire
In an extract from his new book, co-authored with Kennedy Block, Josh MacPhee outlines the role of workers' songs and the making of records in supporting labour movements in the US
www.thewire.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
joannemerriam.bsky.social
5/11 - #DSPBposts #SmallPress #books from @jenteposthuma.bsky.social @sarahtimmerharvey.bsky.social @commonnotions.bsky.social @blacklawrence.bsky.social @lfpbooks.bsky.social 💙📚 #DSPBposts #BookSky #bookstagram #booktok
Book cover for Notes Toward a Digital Workers’ Inquiry by The Capacitor Collective (Common Notions): Nonfiction. A theory-driven account of the stakes and knowledge-building practices of the resurgent labor movement from organizers across the gig economy and tech industry. https://www.commonnotions.org/notes-toward-a-digital-workers-inquiry Book cover for People with No Charisma by Jente Posthuma, trans. by Sarah Timmer Harvey (Scribe Publications): From the International Booker Prize-shortlisted author of What I'd Rather Not Think About comes a darkly humorous novel about multigenerational family dynamics and individuality in Dutch suburbia. https://scribepublications.com/books/people-with-no-charisma Book cover for Habitat by Case Q. Kerns (Black Lawrence Press): https://ecolitbooks.com/2025/09/02/habitat-by-case-q-kerns/ Reviewed by Joeann Hart ("In this delectably creepy novel-in-stories, set slightly in the future, late-stage capitalism plays itself out in the worst possible ways. Education requires a corporate sponsorship (read: indenture), and those who aren’t sponsored have only their bodies to sell, for sex or parts.") for 100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025 (https://lithub.com/100-notable-small-press-books-of-2025/). https://blacklawrencepress.com/books/habitat/ Book cover for The Barefoot Followers of Sweet Potato Grace by Megan Okonsky (Lanternfish Press): Fiction featured in 100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025 (https://lithub.com/100-notable-small-press-books-of-2025/): "This is gay Bridget Jones meets Chocolat…in Texas. Add a dash of dead-cat-grief and some communal post-pandemic scarring to the mix, and you’ve got a funny, voicey, vulnerable romp that manages to stay light and bubbly, championing queer joy even as it confronts some all too familiar societal conflicts." https://lanternfishpress.com/shop/barefoot-followers-of-sweet-potato-grace
February 1, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
joannemerriam.bsky.social
8/11 - #DSPBposts #SmallPress #books from @commonnotions.bsky.social @twodollarradio.bsky.social @apollopublishers.bsky.social @hajarpress.bsky.social 💙📚 #DSPBposts #BookSky #bookstagram #booktok
Book cover for Coop: A Novelette by Nida Sajid (Hajar Press): Fiction. Lena is a part-time bookseller in a bougie design studio in Oxford Circus. In between minimum-wage work under a politically hostile boss and strained communications with her parents, her days are shaped by a fraught relationship with food, ambiguous experiments in creative writing, and mounting pressure to find a ‘proper’ postgraduate job. https://www.hajarpress.com/books/coop Book cover for The Weather Report by Andrew Ross (Common Notions): Nonfiction. From acclaimed public scholar Andrew Ross, groundbreaking reporting on climate change and the horizons of a just future from Palestine, UAE, Arizona, and China. https://www.commonnotions.org/buy/the-weather-report Book cover for Absence by Issa Quincy (Two Dollar Radio): Fiction reviewed (https://necessaryfiction.com/reviews/absence/) by D.W. White ("Much of the book centers on the ways in which the slippery workings of memory might be wrestled down into the linguistic real. It is, probably, impossible—but that shouldn’t stop us.") for 100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025 (https://lithub.com/100-notable-small-press-books-of-2025/). https://twodollarradio.com/products/absence Book cover for Forget the Camel: The Madcap World of Animal Festivals and What They Say about Being Human by Elizabeth MeLampy (Apollo Publishers): Creative nonfiction featured in 100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025 (https://lithub.com/100-notable-small-press-books-of-2025/): "'Have humans no shame?' asks lawyer and animal advocate MeLampy… In lucid and haunted prose, she sharply questions our animal narratives, making us feel what we’re too embarrassed to admit." https://apollopublishers.com/index.php/forget-the-camel/
February 1, 2026 at 8:20 PM
commonnotions.bsky.social
"...workers know their workplaces best, and can participate in the study of their own struggles, and learn from similar studies by workers in other struggles."

Read an excerpt of STRIKE WHILE THE NEEDLE IS HOT! on @thewiremagazine.bsky.social: www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/b...
Read an extract from Strike While the Needle Is Hot: A Discography of Workers' Revolt - The Wire
In an extract from his new book, co-authored with Kennedy Block, Josh MacPhee outlines the role of workers' songs and the making of records in supporting labour movements in the US
www.thewire.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
theintercept.com
We built a guide to patches worn by ICE and CBP to help the public determine which federal agents are in their communities. interc.pt/3NJ3GI6
January 28, 2026 at 7:05 PM
commonnotions.bsky.social
Join Capacitor Collective as they celebrate the release of NOTES TOWARD A DIGITAL WORKERS' INQUIRY, "an exemplary demonstration of how inquiry can function simultaneously as a mode of collective action and a form of critical theory."

2/12/26 in Toronto and 2/13/26 Montreal. Save the dates!
January 28, 2026 at 12:17 AM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
bookshop.org
Fun fact: Your local bookstore is doing more to protect you and your neighbors than Amazon is.
January 26, 2026 at 4:02 PM
commonnotions.bsky.social
What Goes Around Comes Around: On Reading the World and Hearing the Word by @justmaybechris.bsky.social

agatheringtogether.squarespace.com/blog/what-go...
January 23, 2026 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
datasociety.bsky.social
“Unregulated digital technologies, mass surveillance, and weak privacy laws have created a health privacy crisis.” A new report from @epic.org finds that health data is routinely repurposed for surveillance and enforcement, deterring patients from seeking care. www.wired.com/story/survei...
Surveillance and ICE Are Driving Patients Away From Medical Care, Report Warns
A new EPIC report says data brokers, ad-tech surveillance, and ICE enforcement are among the factors leading to a “health privacy crisis” that is eroding trust and deterring people from seeking care.
www.wired.com
January 23, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
joannemerriam.bsky.social
Daily(ish) #SmallPress #books: Absence by Issa Quincy (@twodollarradio.bsky.social) & The Weather Report by Andrew Ross (@commonnotions.bsky.social). See alt-text.

#DSPBposts 💙📚 #BookSky #BooksWorthReading #bookish #readingchallenge #readingcommunity #booktok #booklovers
Book cover for The Weather Report by Andrew Ross (Common Notions): Nonfiction. From acclaimed public scholar Andrew Ross, groundbreaking reporting on climate change and the horizons of a just future from Palestine, UAE, Arizona, and China. https://www.commonnotions.org/buy/the-weather-report Book cover for Absence by Issa Quincy (Two Dollar Radio): Fiction reviewed (https://necessaryfiction.com/reviews/absence/) by D.W. White ("Much of the book centers on the ways in which the slippery workings of memory might be wrestled down into the linguistic real. It is, probably, impossible—but that shouldn’t stop us.") for 100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025 (https://lithub.com/100-notable-small-press-books-of-2025/). https://twodollarradio.com/products/absence
January 21, 2026 at 10:51 AM
commonnotions.bsky.social
“A historiography of a Black Existence that blooms with the care & criticism of its poetry and photography.” —@ill-iterate.com

MY CITY NEED SOMETHING: PORTRAITS & PROSE FOR BLACK EXISTENCE by @justmaybechris.bsky.social & Karim Brown hits the shelves next month!

Preorder now: buff.ly/l8tXv0M
photo from christpher r. rogers and karim brown's book my city need something. it's a black and white picture of three people sitting on the steps of a philadelphia home.
January 16, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
joannemerriam.bsky.social
Daily(ish) #SmallPress #books: Notes Toward a Digital Workers’ Inquiry by Capacitor Collective (@commonnotions.bsky.social) & People with No Charisma by @jenteposthuma.bsky.social (trans @sarahtimmerharvey.bsky.social, Scribe). See alt-text.

#DSPBposts 💙📚 #BookSky #bookish #readingcommunity
Book cover for Notes Toward a Digital Workers’ Inquiry by The Capacitor Collective (Common Notions): Nonfiction. A theory-driven account of the stakes and knowledge-building practices of the resurgent labor movement from organizers across the gig economy and tech industry. https://www.commonnotions.org/notes-toward-a-digital-workers-inquiry Book cover for People with No Charisma by Jente Posthuma, trans. by Sarah Timmer Harvey (Scribe Publications): From the International Booker Prize-shortlisted author of What I'd Rather Not Think About comes a darkly humorous novel about multigenerational family dynamics and individuality in Dutch suburbia. https://scribepublications.com/books/people-with-no-charisma
January 15, 2026 at 3:06 PM
commonnotions.bsky.social
👀 😍 Spotted at @greenlightbklyn.bsky.social: BORDERTOWN CLASHES, RESOURCE WARS, CONTESTED TERRITORIES by John Redhouse!

A one-of-a-kind lyrical and fast-paced memoir of the frontlines and trenches of Native liberation in the Four Corners and Southwest in the 1970s.

buff.ly/2feKGAl
photo of bordertown clashes, resource wars, contested territories: the four corners in the turbulent 1970s by John Redhouse on a shelf at Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, NY. The book is next to Zinn's a people's history of the united states.
January 14, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
yaffasutopia.bsky.social
Yes, I have a second podcast.
Yes, you should follow and listen to both.
Yes, you should join both training programs.
Yes, I am tired.
You’re welcome.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Trans Muslim Liberation Podcast
Islam Podcast · Updated Weekly · A podcast about using Islam as a methodology for building a liberated world. This podcast works hand in hand with a more in depth training program starting Jan 9th 2...
podcasts.apple.com
January 14, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
thewiremagazine.bsky.social
"If producing a record is a tactic, and winning a strike is the goal, then what is the strategy?"

Read an extract from Strike While the Needle Is Hot: A Discography of Workers' Revolt

www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/b...
Read an extract from Strike While the Needle Is Hot: A Discography of Workers' Revolt - The Wire
In an extract from his new book, co-authored with Kennedy Block, Josh MacPhee outlines the role of workers' songs and the making of records in supporting labour movements in the US
www.thewire.co.uk
January 9, 2026 at 11:35 AM
commonnotions.bsky.social
As we look forward to what's in store for 2026, we want to celebrate & uplift some of the love that our books and authors received in 2025.

Thank you to everyone who bought, reviewed, or recommended a Common Notions book; also to those who hosted our authors or joined them in conversation 🖤

. . .
2025 press highlights
January 10, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
julesboykoff.bsky.social
Hello, world! 7 thought-provoking books I read in 2025 that I highly recommend: "Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune 2052-2072." A bracing futuristic look that somehow ripples w/ hope. By @genderhorizon.com & @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social via @commonnotions.bsky.social 1/1
Photograph of a Book with a blue, black, white, and red cover sitting on a wooden table. The title of the book is "everything for everyone: an oral history of the New York commune 2052 to 2072." By ME O'Brien & Eman Abdelhadi.
December 31, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
americanwork47.bsky.social
So pleased to see that @thewiremagazine.bsky.social has reprinted an excerpt from Kennedy Block and Josh MacPhee's increadible @commonnotions.bsky.social book Strike When the Needle is Hot. Take a read!
January 9, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
abolisheconomics.bsky.social
Sasha Warren's book Storming Bedlam with @commonnotions.bsky.social has been crucial for helping me think critically about care and care work. check our their keynote "Demolition Psychiatry: Political Economy and the Fight for Social Recovery" www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsE4...
Sasha Warren - Demolition Psychiatry: Political Economy and the Fight for Social Recovery
YouTube video by ISPS-US
www.youtube.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:10 PM
commonnotions.bsky.social
"It’s not just the sphere of representation, certainly not the sphere of high art, but everyday life, everyday relationships, everyday meaning making."

Jack Bratich on culture for @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social with @johnarmenta.bsky.social.

Listen to the full interview: buff.ly/ES9litI
Jack Z. Bratich, "On Microfascism: Gender, War, and Death" (Common Notions, 2022) - New Books Network
Support Kritika | Support H-Net | Buy Books Here | Join the NBN and NBN en Español on Patreon | Visit New Books Network en Español!
buff.ly
January 8, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
enda-b.bsky.social
Some lovely words from Nick Dyer-Witheford for Notes Toward a Digital Workers' Inquiry, co-authored w/ Julie Chen, Alessandro Delfanti, Brian Dolber, @gleemie.bsky.social & @tamigraph.bsky.social, & published by @commonnotions.bsky.social.

Get it at: buff.ly/9Li5A3U (DIGI-WORKERS-HOMIE for 25% off)
December 12, 2025 at 9:59 PM
commonnotions.bsky.social
We're delighted that Kurdish literature is gaining traction in the West, so much so that we now have @henarpress.bsky.social!

Here's a great @arablit.bsky.social interview with their publisher, Aryan: arablit.org/2025/09/11/a...
A New Look at Kurdish Literature, Beyond the ‘Selfless, Helpless’ Trope
Next year, Henar Press will bring out its first two titles, translated from Kurdish to English. But already, their website — with its Kurdish Literary Database — is contributing to a wi…
arablit.org
December 11, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Common Notions Press
rachelhands.com
some neat stuff here, including one of my faves from this year, Diversity of Aesthetics
commonnotions.bsky.social Common Notions Press @commonnotions.bsky.social · Dec 10
✨ All of our ebooks are $5 through the end of the month!

And for those who prefer physical books—all orders over $50 get free shipping with FREESHIPPING2025 🙌

👉 buff.ly/aeH7aMH
graphic with a grid of book covers
December 10, 2025 at 6:18 PM
commonnotions.bsky.social
✨ All of our ebooks are $5 through the end of the month!

And for those who prefer physical books—all orders over $50 get free shipping with FREESHIPPING2025 🙌

👉 buff.ly/aeH7aMH
graphic with a grid of book covers
December 10, 2025 at 5:40 PM