The Common
@commonmag.bsky.social
The Common is a print and online literary magazine publishing stories, essays, poetry, and art with a modern sense of place. Based at Amherst College, we highlight writers and work from around the world.
Ready 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
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
January 22, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Ready 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
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
Keep 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
**Sign up before Monday, January 26!**
Learn more: buff.ly/TzkYEUY
January 20, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Keep 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
**Sign up before Monday, January 26!**
Learn more: buff.ly/TzkYEUY
“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
Rebecca Worby reads her Issue 30 essay in a brand new recording now available on our website.
buff.ly/Uq0jUPA
January 13, 2026 at 7:02 PM
“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
Rebecca Worby reads her Issue 30 essay in a brand new recording now available on our website.
buff.ly/Uq0jUPA
Weekly 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
buff.ly/dJXKM5T
January 9, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Weekly 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
buff.ly/dJXKM5T
In 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
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
January 4, 2026 at 2:01 PM
In 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
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
Last 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...
December 16, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Last 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...
If 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
Matt W. Miller's Issue 30 poem, "Oblation," makes peace with paternity. Read the full piece online at the link below.
buff.ly/tXm6Ksv
December 14, 2025 at 7:01 PM
If 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
Matt W. Miller's Issue 30 poem, "Oblation," makes peace with paternity. Read the full piece online at the link below.
buff.ly/tXm6Ksv
“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
Matt W. Miller's Issue 30 poem, "Oblation," makes peace with paternity. Read the full piece online at the link below.
buff.ly/tXm6Ksv
December 8, 2025 at 3:30 AM
“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
Matt W. Miller's Issue 30 poem, "Oblation," makes peace with paternity. Read the full piece online at the link below.
buff.ly/tXm6Ksv
Our 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
December 1, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Our 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
Bidding 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
December 1, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Bidding 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
Today 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
December 1, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Today 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
Personalized 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
December 1, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Personalized 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
Vendela 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!
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buff.ly/PWwu1ah
December 1, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Vendela 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
buff.ly/PWwu1ah
You 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
December 1, 2025 at 1:03 PM
You 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
Win 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
November 30, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Win 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
Jayne 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
November 30, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Jayne 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
If 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
November 30, 2025 at 7:01 PM
If 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
If 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
November 30, 2025 at 3:02 PM
If 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
Sayaka 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
Click below to participate before time runs out!
buff.ly/VdUJVLf
November 30, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Sayaka 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
Click below to participate before time runs out!
buff.ly/VdUJVLf
Anne 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
Don't forget: the auctions close December 1st.
buff.ly/O0DsMoR
November 29, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Anne 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
Don't forget: the auctions close December 1st.
buff.ly/O0DsMoR
This year’s Postcard Auction is a special one, with a brilliant slate of participating authors. You can win a handwritten personalized postcard from Allegra Goodman, author of Sam, The Family Markowitz, and most recently, Isola. Place your bid today! buff.ly/fg6LyZt
November 29, 2025 at 7:01 PM
This year’s Postcard Auction is a special one, with a brilliant slate of participating authors. You can win a handwritten personalized postcard from Allegra Goodman, author of Sam, The Family Markowitz, and most recently, Isola. Place your bid today! buff.ly/fg6LyZt
The Postcard Auction is up and running! Bid now for a chance to receive a handwritten postcard from Whiting Writer’s Award-winner, Manuel Muñoz!
buff.ly/YcTTczg
buff.ly/YcTTczg
November 29, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The Postcard Auction is up and running! Bid now for a chance to receive a handwritten postcard from Whiting Writer’s Award-winner, Manuel Muñoz!
buff.ly/YcTTczg
buff.ly/YcTTczg
Our postcard auction closes December 1st! Hanif Abdurraqib's poetry and essays show how attention, gratitude, and grace bring us closer to the world, and you can win a personalized note from him, just in time for the holidays! Click the link below to bid!
buff.ly/EH8eIPx
buff.ly/EH8eIPx
November 29, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Our postcard auction closes December 1st! Hanif Abdurraqib's poetry and essays show how attention, gratitude, and grace bring us closer to the world, and you can win a personalized note from him, just in time for the holidays! Click the link below to bid!
buff.ly/EH8eIPx
buff.ly/EH8eIPx
The window to bid in our Author Postcard Auction is closing soon! Don't miss out on your chance to win a personalized postcard from award-winning writers like Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich and Wreck! Place your bid by December 1st at the link: buff.ly/0p2uML3
November 29, 2025 at 6:01 PM
The window to bid in our Author Postcard Auction is closing soon! Don't miss out on your chance to win a personalized postcard from award-winning writers like Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich and Wreck! Place your bid by December 1st at the link: buff.ly/0p2uML3
Don't miss the chance to secure the perfect gift for your book-loving friend! Place a bid in our Author Postcard Auction to win a handwritten note from award-winning writers like Clare Leslie Hall (@clareleslieh.bsky.social), author of Broken Country! Find more info at buff.ly/bhTO8Pw
November 29, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Don't miss the chance to secure the perfect gift for your book-loving friend! Place a bid in our Author Postcard Auction to win a handwritten note from award-winning writers like Clare Leslie Hall (@clareleslieh.bsky.social), author of Broken Country! Find more info at buff.ly/bhTO8Pw