At Common Ground Review, we seek to publish well crafted poems, short stories and creative nonfiction that surprises and illuminates, amuses, informs, and challenges. CGR comes out twice a year: we accept submissions from September to May. Our annual poetry contest opens to entries in January and closes mid-April.
Common Ground Review is a free access online publication and a member of CLMP.
We are delighted to announce that Rebecca Hart Olander will be judging our 2024 Poetry Contest.
Rebecca Hart Olander’s poetry and collaborative visual and written work has appeared in print, online, and in multiple anthologies. Her books include Dressing the Wounds (dgp, 2019) and Uncertain Acrobats (CavanKerry Press, 2021), named a Must-Read selection by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Rebecca has taught at Amherst and Smith colleges, Westfield State University, and through Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop, and she works with poets in the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing. She is the editor/director of Perugia Press.
Her first post-grad poem publication appeared in Common Ground Review, and she is honored to return to those roots as a judge for this year’s contest.
Poems from our 2023 contest (judged by Oliver de la Paz) are still up in our Spring/Summer 2023 issue:
First Place "Tree Streets" by Josh Jacobs
Second Place "You're from Nowhere" by Abby E. Murray
Third Place "In Case I Ever End Up on a True Crime Podcast" by Kelli Lage
Honorable Mention "Overhearing your native tongue in a foreign land" by Joseph Scalice
Common Ground Review was founded in 1999 by the Common Ground Writers’ Group, in order to create a place open to many styles of poetry and many different poets. In 2006, CGR affiliated with Western New England College (now Western New England University). After 15 issues, the founding editors turned over the magazine to the current editor in 2011.
Common Ground Review was a print magazine until 2020: copies of many of those issues are available. Please contact us if you're interested in purchasing one or more.
Volume 19 Issue 1
Volume 19 Issue 2
Volume 18 Issue 1
Volume 18 Issue 2
Volume 17 Issue 1
Volume 17 Issue 2
Volume 16 Issue 1
Volume 16 Issue 2
Volume 15 Issue 1
Volume 15 Issue 2
Volume 14 Issue 1
Volume 14 Issue 2
Volume 13 Issue 1
Volume 13 Issue 2
Volume 12 Issue 1
Volume 12 Issue 2
Volume 11 Issue 1
Volume 11 Issue 2
Volume 10 Issue 1
Volume 10 Issue 2
Volume 7 Issue 1
Volume 7 Issue 2
Volume 6 Issue 1
Volume 6 Issue 2
Volume 3 Issue 1
Volume 3 Issue 2
Volume 2 Issue 1
Volume 2 Issue 2