MELODY NIXON | But head to the heart of Siberia, an easy enough thing to do as this recent New York Times article describes, and you won’t be able to feed all your Soviet-porn fetishes.

MELODY NIXON | Cornfields really are the primary element of the landscape in Nebraska; the primary color (yellow), the primary crop (grain), the recently threatened, but still primary income.

Why 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 a virtual class visit from Editor in Chief Jennifer Acker or a participating author. Learn more about teaching The Common or contact us for

HELEN BENEDICT
War has always been seen as a man’s story, dating back to the earliest oral battle ballads from cultures around the world. Yet today, more women and children die in the world’s wars than men.

CRYSTAL HANA KIM
This sense of removal spurs me to write more about my history. I write to understand and investigate.

IRIS MARTIN COHEN
Honestly, they all sound so boring. I’m kind of glad to be able to say that it isn’t a parody of Lerner or Murakami or Foster-Wallace because I haven’t read any of them. It’s more just a constant churn. It’s hard not to notice what appeals to the prestige literary marketplace.

Why 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

Why 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

My writing doesn’t look too different, though––it springs from the same source. I still write about family, love, heartbreak. Maybe the landscapes that show up in the writing are a bit different.

Politics and history crackle through the plotlines of our recommended books this month, as we travel the world experiencing struggle and mourning in a many-layered collage of contexts.