Here's How To Get A Personalized Postcard From Zadie Smith, Jennifer Egan, Or Lauren Groff

From Zadie Smith to Jennifer Egan to Lauren Groff, I can think of tons of authors I would love to be so well acquainted with that a holiday postcard in my mailbox from any one of them would be considered a regular occurrence. Although that's just not the case for most of us, The Common Foundation's Annual Author Postcard Auction will let you pretend that you're part of the literati's inner circle for a little bit...while also putting money toward literary programs that any avid reader will be happy to support.

For those unaware, The Common is a print and digital literary journal published biannually that includes short stories, essays, poems, and images, while The Common Online publishes original content four times per week—including book reviews, interviews, personal essays, poetry, contributor podcasts and recordings. Based in Amherst, Massachusetts, the magazine is supported in part by Amherst College and non-profit The Common Foundation. The foundation runs literary programs including publishing emerging writers, mentoring students in the Literary Publishing Internship Program at Amherst College, which mentoring students in all aspects of literary publishing, and hosts public programming regularly. All of the proceeds from the Author Postcard Auction will go toward funding these various programs.

If all of the above sounds incredible to you (and really, why wouldn't it?) you can bid for a chance to win a postcard from your favorite author, handwritten for you or a person of your choice. From the aforementioned Junot Diaz to Jaqueline Woodson, Salman Rushdie and Lauren Groff, The Common has assembled a list of 42 stellar authors whose postcards you can bid on. Not only is this a wonderful keepsake for your or a friend, just in the time for the holidays, it is a great way to celebrate just how much books and their authors have meant to readers this year.

From championing more diverse and Own Voices books than ever before, to fighting back against white supremacy at every turn, the bookish community has truly come together to resist the social and political upheaval that is seemingly taking over the world at every turn. We need more arts and literary programs (not to mention media) like The Common's to continue leading the way in 2018 and beyond. And getting a one-of-a-kind message from one of your all-time favorite authors while you're helping out? Well, if that doesn't say Happy Holidays, I don't know what does. Head to The Common's Bidding for Good page to bid on your postcard now through December 10.