The magazine to be awarded $8,000 via Amazon Literary Partnership grant
Amherst, MA, May 28, 2020 – The Common, the award-winning literary journal based at Amherst College, is one of 13 2020 Literary Magazine Fund Grant Recipients, awarded in alliance with the Amazon Literary Partnership. Since 2017, funding from the Amazon Literary Partnership has helped further The Common’s mission of publishing and promoting emerging and diverse authors who deepen our individual and collective sense of place.
“It’s an honor to receive these funds, which are crucial to our ability to publish important writing from around the world,” said The Common editor in chief Jennifer Acker. “The grant allows us to find new writers, translate their work, and bring them to an international audience.”
“The Amazon Literary Partnership’s goal has been to support organizations that are vital to sustaining the literary culture of their communities,” said Alexandra Woodworth, Manager of the Amazon Literary Partnership. “By funding organizations working to uplift the voices of underrepresented writers, we hope to champion the writers of the world we live in now. We are thrilled to be working again with the Community of Literary Magazine and Presses to recognize vital literary magazines.”
The Common plans to use this $8,000 grant to continue its series of portfolios highlighting vibrant literature and literary communities from around the world. Forthcoming issues will feature a survey of new writing from the Lusosphere (Portugal and its colonial and linguistic diaspora) and a collection of Arabic stories from Morocco—part of The Common’s growing collection of Arabic fiction features, all co-edited by acclaimed Jordanian author, and The Common’s Arabic Fiction Editor, Hisham Bustani.
These portfolios will join The Common’s recently released Issue 19 feature of Arabic stories from Sudan, and its fall 2018 portfolio of Puerto Rican writers and artists responding a year after Hurricane Maria—both developed with Amazon Literary Partnership support.
About The Common
The Common is an award-winning print and digital literary journal published biannually. The nonprofit magazine is based at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Since its debut in 2011, The Common has published nearly 1400 authors from 50 countries. Pieces from The Common have been awarded the O. Henry Prize, the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Award, The Pushcart Prize, and have been selections and notable mentions in multiple genres in the Best American series. The journal’s editorial vision and design have been praised in The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, Slate, The Millions, Orion Magazine, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Visit www.thecommononline.org.
About The Amazon Literary Partnership
Since 2009, the Amazon Literary Partnership has provided more than $13 million in grant funding to more than 175 literary organizations, assisting many thousands of writers. Among the organizations Amazon has supported over the years include the National Book Foundation, Cave Canem, PEN America, Poets & Writers, Girls Write Now, Hugo House, Lamda Literary Foundation, Loft Literary Center, National Novel Writing Month, Words Without Borders, Yaddo and many more. Through Amazon’s annual grants, Amazon supports literary centers, writing workshops, residencies, fellowships, literary magazines, independent publishers, and poetry and translation programs. Writers supported by some of these organizations have gone on to become best-selling and award-winning authors. To learn more about the Amazon Literary Partnership, please visit www.amazonliterarypartnership.com
About CLMP
CLMP ensures a vibrant, diverse literary landscape by helping mission-driven independent literary magazines and presses thrive. We provide publishers with funding and technical assistance; facilitate peer-to-peer learning and group action; serve as a dependable, essential hub for best practices, resources, and nurturing community support; and build bridges to connect publishers with other groups of literary stakeholders, including readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, educators, presenting organizations, and funders. To learn more about CLMP, visit www.clmp.org.
