Since its publication this November, The Common’s Issue 26 portfolio of writing and art from the seasonal, migrant, and immigrant farmworker community has received attention from a variety of news outlets and organizations across the United States. Visit the links below to hear conversations with farmworker portfolio co-editors and contributors, read more about the development of the portfolio, and keep up with ongoing programming involving our fall issue.
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In the Book Pages of the Orange County Register: “How a common goal is uniting farmworkers and writers for a Skylight Books event”
In advance of the celebration of the Issue 26 farmworker portfolio The Common hosted at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, contributors and special guests Aideed Medina, Amanda Mei Kim, and Oswaldo Vargas, as well as managing editor Emily Everett, spoke to reporters from the Book Pages of the Orange County Register about the significance of farmworker writing and the connections they hope the event will build and sustain.
On New England Public Media (NEPM): “‘Bringing forth this abundance for us’: Amherst journal highlights workers behind US food system”
In this interview, The Common’s managing editor Emily Everett and farmworker portfolio co-editor Miguel M. Morales speak with NEPM’s Nirvani Williams about how the failings of the American food system affect farmworkers.
Listen or read the transcript here.
On Texas Public Radio (TPR): “Book Public: Writing and art from the farmworker community in The Common”
This special issue of Texas Public Radio’s Book Public podcast includes readings from several contributors whose work appears in Issue 26 of The Common—Narsiso Martinez, Gabriela Ybarra Lemmons, Miguel M. Morales, Julio Puente García, Jose Antonio Rodriguez, Nora Rodriguez Camagna, and Gabriela Spears-Rico, as well as a conversation with editor in chief Jennifer Acker.
In LitHub: “The Urgent Importance of Making Space for Stories from the Farmworking Community”
In this roundtable conversation published online at LitHub, portfolio co-editor Miguel M. Morales and contributors Oswaldo Vargas, Lizbeth Luevano, and Julio Puente García discuss how issues of immigration, exploitation, generational hurt, queerness, and authenticity arise in their work, and the urgent importance of making space for these stories.
At the Buffalo AKG Art Museum: Narsiso Martinez’s From These Hands/De Estas Manos
Narsiso Martinez’s From These Hands/De Estas Manos, on display at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum until April 22nd, 2024, features a selection of portraits and field scenes drawn and painted on reclaimed produce boxes. Some of the pieces in the exhibit, Martinez’s first solo show on the East Coast, were included in “USA Portraits,” the studio art feature in the Issue 26 farmworker portfolio, and a selection of poems from the portfolio appear in the gallery alongside the exhibit labels. Issue 26 is also available for purchase in the Buffalo AKG Art Museum bookstore.
Read about the exhibit and plan a visit here.
Photos of From These Hands by Brenda Bieger, Buffalo AKG Art Museum.