My relationship with Joni Mitchell and her music moves through two stages. My early admiration for her—in the seventies—in some ways anticipated the zeitgeist. Then I stopped listening to her for about a quarter of a century. I began to rediscover Mitchell’s work in the new millennium, when, by coincidence, so was the rest of the world.
By MEGAN HARLAN
My first day in Bukit Tinggi, a town in the rain forest-swathed mountains of West Sumatra—a region home to the Minangkabau ethnic group, the world’s largest matrilineal society—I swore I heard a woman calling the Muslim midday prayer broadcasting from a white mosque.
Celebrate the launch of Issue 09 with a night of local literature trivia at the High Horse (upstairs) in Amherst, MA! Bring your friends and win summer-inspired prizes!
Featuring readings by Issue 09 contributor Edie Meidav and Issue 08 contributor Jonathan Gerhardson at 7pm.
MELODY NIXON interviews JAMES HANNAHAM
James Hannaham is a writer of fiction and nonfiction, an MFA teacher, and the author of the novel God Says No, which was a finalist for a Lambda Book Award and a semifinalist for a VCU First Novelist Award. Hannaham’s work interweaves social critique and strong characterization with robust plot, and he was recently praised by The New York Times for the way he makes “the commonplace spring to life with nothing more than astute observation and precise language.” Melody Nixon met with Hannaham in downtown Manhattan the day before his latest novel, Delicious Foods, was released from Little, Brown and Company. They discussed place, politics, and “racism as a curse.”
Amherst College covers The Common‘s recent NEA literature grant, highlighting The Common in the Classroom.
India New England features The Common in the City 2015.
MassLive announces that Amherst College will match the NEA’s $10,000 grant to The Common to increase the magazine’s reach to students in 2015.
NEA Grant 2015: In its first year of eligibility, The Common has been awarded a 2014 Artworks Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. NEA funds will help to bring The Common‘s place-based literature into classrooms around the country, to develop and promote its online presence, and to grow its readership. Starting in 2015, The Common will work vigorously to reach more students, of all ages, across the humanities and interdisciplinary fields such as architecture. The Common will also develop and promote its free, multimedia online content to a wider global readership.
The Amherst Bulletin covers the NEA’s recent $10,000 grant to The Common, highlighting the magazine’s increasing presence in the classroom.
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