The following is part of an interview series:
PRINT LITERARY JOURNALS in conversation with BENNINGTON REVIEW

via email in Spring 2019

MAKENNA SUTTER-ROBINSON

What does it mean to be a magazine focused specifically on encountering and embodying place? Do you understand place as something rooted in the plot or the setting?

JENNIFER ACKER

To us, “a sense of place” means that the setting has to matter in some way to the essay, the poem, or the story. That is, that the surrounding environment, whether natural or man-made, imaginary or real, must influence the language, the mood, the characterizations, the events, the dialogue, the tone, etc. Another way of saying this is that if the piece took place somewhere else, it would be a different story.

MAKENNA SUTTER-ROBINSON

How important is the language of a story? Is it as important as the plot and characters?

JENNIFER ACKER

Language is extremely important! Certainly as important as plot or characters or any other element. The reason that we read instead of just watching TV all the time is that we care about language—about the rhythm, about the sounds, about the way that words and sentences build on each other to create a world and a distinct personal experience.

MAKENNA SUTTER-ROBINSON

Do you think thematically when assembling an issue?

JENNIFER ACKER

Sometimes we have themed portfolios, such as our special portfolio featuring Puerto Rican writers from the island in diaspora one year after Hurricane Maria (Issue 16), or a suite of Arabic short stories translated into English from Syria (Issue 17), but beyond these, we do not put our issues together with any particular theme in mind. “Place” is our blanket theme for everything we do.

MAKENNA SUTTER-ROBINSON

What are the characteristics you look for in a story? How important is it for you to publish work that evokes empathy for its characters?

JENNIFER ACKER

We look for superb use of language—careful and intentional and distinctive—as well as a story that is told in a new way, or in a fresh environment. I’m not sure I would say that it’s necessary for stories to evoke empathy for their characters, but I would say that it’s important that we as readers understand why the characters behave the way they do. Understanding motivation is crucial; creating empathetic characters, less so.

MAKENNA SUTTER-ROBINSON

In reading The Common, I’ve encountered work that engages with political discourse and the culture at large. Do you see the magazine as intentionally working towards something larger than itself?

JENNIFER ACKER

Our hope is certainly to publish work that will initiate and contribute to conversations beyond the pages of any given issue. We don’t look for work that is necessarily “timely”—we see our pieces as essentially timeless, enduring—but we do seek work from authors who have something to say. But that “something” does not have to be political in nature; it could be aesthetic or provocative in some other way.

MAKENNA SUTTER-ROBINSON studied creative writing at Bennington College from 2017-2019.

JENNIFER ACKER is the editor-in-chief of The Common.