Teach Issue 11

Issue 11 coverWhy Teach The Common?

Teach The Common in your classroom and receive discounted subscriptions, a free desk copy, and lesson plans.

A classroom subscription includes two issues for every student, and an in-person or Skype visit from Editor in Chief Jennifer Acker or a participating author.

Learn more about teaching The Common or contact us for more options.

Supplementary materials for teaching Issue 11 are listed below.


Interviews, etc.

Listen to Editor in Chief Jennifer Acker discuss The Common, the role of place in literature, and the editorial process.

In his essay, “‘New’ Arabic Writing: Cataclysm in Fast-Forward,” author and co-editor of Issue 11, Hisham Bustani, discusses the fall of romanticism and the rise of experimentalism in contemporary Arabic writing.

A discussion with a panel of internationally known writers, editors, and translators about the themes, styles, and innovative collaborations emerging in Middle Eastern fiction, and the linguistic, political, and cultural opportunities and challenges Arabic writers and their editors face in translating and publishing new works.

At ArabLit, Hisham Bustani and translator Thoraya El-Rayyes discuss how they have worked together to translate Bustani’s stories.

ArabLit’s M. Lynx Qualey chats with Tajdeed’s co-editors, Jennifer Acker and Hisham Bustani, about translation, editing, Arabic Fiction, and the first work of Arabic literature in translation that The Common published: Bustani’s “Freefall in the Shattered Mirror,” which appeared in Issue 6.

Explore these collected resources on literary translation, and focused readings and lesson plans to accompany our portfolios of Arabic literature in translation.

Sample Lesson Plans

Explore three sample lesson plans for Issue 11 adapted from Wellesley College professor and The Common contributor Marilyn Sides.


See all of Issue 11.


Don’t miss: Genre-based Anthologies | Participating Authors | Lesson Plans | FREE Sample Issue | What Teachers Are Saying

Teach Issue 11