New Essay in The Common!
The Common is a literary journal that I’ve long admired. Its mission is to “to deepen our individual and collective sense of place.” I’ve always loved writing that powerfully evokes landscapes, cities, particular parts of the world, capturing the sounds and smells of those places.
So, I was of course ecstatic when The Common accepted one of my lyric essays for publication. “The Red Picture and the Blue” is part of my manuscript-in-progress, Exhibitions, and explores the work of the renowned Bosniak painter, Mersad Berber.
It was a really challenging piece to write, because it balances the personal and the historical; the essay also explores genocide and sexual assault, which posed a different set of ethical and aesthetic challenges. Once I submitted the essay to The Common, I continued to work on it, even receiving terrific suggestions for revision from the Editor in Chief of the journal, Jennifer Acker. It’s always very exciting when a journal’s editorial staff has the time and inclination to offer feedback on a piece of writing; in my experience, these kinds of recommendations for revision tend to make the work better. So, if you’re interested, you can read the essay here.