Introducing Dispatches

Today we are proud to launch Dispatches, a weekly column that will feature news, notes, and impressions from around the world. Some of our dispatches will be posted with great speed, to reflect recent experience. Others, like today’s installment from Jock Doubleday, might be a postcard of a season gone by.

We’ll post something new every Wednesday, so check back next week for our second dispatch, “Ethiopian Notes.” Although our first two pieces are from a traveler’s point of view, we will also publish vignettes from local perspectives.

The Common is all about exchanging ideas and impressions, especially those regarding place. No locale is too small or too big; no observation too prosaic or too abstract. So, go on—send your 250-500 word stories through our online submissions system here.

We look forward to hearing from you. Your voices will shape this column.