Welcome to thecommononline.org

The Common makes its digital debut! We’re a new literary magazine based at Amherst College. Our mission is to publish literature and art that embody a modern sense of place.

We’re hip and old school, local and foreign, sensible and experimental. Everything you want in a lit mag. Did I mention we publish pictures? In addition to a hand-picked group of stories, essays, and poems by emerging and established writers, each issue will have a suite of four-color images—oddities from archives and new, swank stuff from galleries.

Prepare to be amazed at the quality and variety headed your way.

Sign up to receive our e-updates and we’ll make sure you’re kept in the loop, including how and when to subscribe and submit.

In the meantime, check out our sample issue. If you like what you see, become a charter subscriber and get the early-bird special on subscriptions for 2011.

Please note that our website is a work in progress. We’ll be making changes to the design and adding features in the coming months. Thanks for visiting and come back often!

Welcome to thecommononline.org

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Students with issues of The Common

The Common Young Writers Program Opens Applications for Summer 2023

Applications are now open for The Common Young Writers Program, which offers two two-week, fully virtual summer classes for high school students (rising 9-12). Students will be introduced to the building blocks of fiction and learn to read with a writer’s gaze. Taught by the editors and editorial assistants of Amherst College’s literary magazine, the summer courses (Level I and Level II) run Monday-Friday and are open to all high school students (rising 9-12). The program runs July 17-28.

Yellow graphic with "The Common," "2023 Festival of Debut Authors," and the authors' headshots.

2023 Festival of Debut Authors

Join The Common's team on March 22nd at 7:00pm for our 2023 Festival of Debut Authors, an evening devoted to emerging talents! This virtual celebration will highlight poets and prose writers Carey Baraka, Farah Ali, Stella Wong, Jordan Honeyblue, Jennifer Shyue and Cheryl Collins Isaac. 

Purple square with the words "Amherst College LitFest 2023: illuminating great writing and Amherst's literary life" in white

Announcing LitFest 2023

We hope you’ll join us for the eighth annual LitFest, hosted in conjunction with Amherst College. This year’s lineup includes Pulitzer Prize winner Hilton Als, MacArthur Fellowship winner Valeria Luiselli, and 2022 National Book Award finalists Meghan O’Rourke and Ingrid Rojas Contreras, among others.