An empty hospital hallway

Paper Summer

YUNHAN FANG
These days, he always closed his eyes when he listened, letting my voice fill the silent room. I wondered whether he still cared about whatever was happening outside of this room and whether he could still understand the words and sentences. But I’d still read to him.

Memories of the Rise and Fall of VICE China, 2015-2022

RUONAN ZHENG
Amidst glittering disco balls, fast drum beats, and fake US dollars tossed around by a random rapper, I am introduced to a guy who used to work for Vice China, making short documentaries. His exact greeting was: "Send my best regards to the bosses; I too graduated from there."

Chinese Palace

Portfolio from China: Poetry Feature I

LI ZHUANG
In your fantasy, the gilded eaves of Tang poked at the sun. / In their shadow, a phoenix rose. / Amid the smoke of burned pepper and orchids, / the emperor’s favorite consort twirled her long sleeves. / Once, in Luo Yang, the moon and the sun shone together.

Book cover for Unreliable Narrator.

Am I a Fraud? Are We All? An Interview with Aparna Nancherla

APARNA NANCHERLA
Frequently, imposter syndrome showed up when I was given an opportunity or neared a goal. I would think, “Do I really deserve this? Why was I given this? Am I like everyone else here?” Some people get opportunities and their first thought is, “Finally, you guys took long enough.” For me, I thought, “Why?”

Forbes and Martha

SARAH CARSON
What’s to be scared of in a world without ending? It’s those of us who don’t get to stay, that is, who want answers. As if fear is a kind of desire, the most desperate kind of want.

cover of "Last Acts": a desert street corner with a cactus, convenience store, streetlight, and blazing blue sky.

What We’re Reading: September 2024

HILDEGARD HANSEN
For me, to read is often to go in search of something extremely specific but inarticulable, and to be dissatisfied if it is not there. In G. H., Lispector articulates it for me: "a kind of quaking happiness all over my body, a horrible happy unease in which my legs seemed to vanish, as always when the roots of my unknown identity were touched."

Using The Common in my first-year seminars has been fun, fruitful, and helpfully startling for these classes.”

—Martha Cooley, Associate Professor of English, Adelphi University Receive classroom subscription discounts, lesson plans, and more when you TEACH THE COMMON »

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