I feel like the only person still sending postcards, but a pantheon of best-selling authors is taking up the practice for a good cause.”
—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
This holiday season, you could hear from one of your favorite authors—writers like Sandra Cisneros, Rumaan Alam, and Stephen Graham Jones—or have them write a missive to the book nerd on your gift list, all thanks to The Common. Our tenth annual Author Postcard Auction runs from November 11 to December 2. Authors will write and send postcards in time for the holidays, which in the past have featured personal anecdotes, original poems, and even doodles, making them a perfect gift for readers. Bid here!
This one-of-a-kind online auction, as featured by The Washington Post’s Book Club newsletter and BookRiot, gives book lovers around the world the opportunity to bid on handwritten, personalized postcards from their favorite writers (plus a few actors and musicians too!). The postcards make great gifts for the literature-lovers in your life.
The 2024 Postcard Auction authors include recipients of the Pulitzer Prize, the Man Booker Prize, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and Guggenheim Fellowships, as well as multiple New York Times bestsellers.
We’re adding new authors all the time, but the list so far includes:
Alice McDermott
Andre Aciman
Andrew Sean Greer
Ann Patchett
Anne Tyler
Annie Liontas
Ben Shattuck
Catherine Newman
Christopher Moore
Craig Finn (of The Hold Steady)
Edwidge Danticat
Elizabeth Strout
Emma Copley Eisenberg
Francine Prose
Gabrielle Zevin
Gina Chung
Jami Attenberg
Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco)
Jennifer Egan
Joe Sacco
Jonathan Evison
Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Safran Foer
Joy Williams
Julia Alvarez
Julian Barnes
Kelly Link
Natalie Diaz
Nathan Englander
Paul Harding
Rachel Kushner
Rebecca Makkai
Rumaan Alam
Sandra Cisneros
Sarah Smarsh
Sayaka Murata
Stephen Graham Jones
Susan Choi
Tony Kushner
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Winning bids are tax-deductible donations. All proceeds go to The Common Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to publishing and promoting art and literature from global, diverse voices, and will support The Common’s mission to deepen society’s sense of place, nurture the careers of new and international writers, and mentor future voices within the publishing world.
If you’re interested in supporting The Common but don’t want to bid, click here to donate.
