The New Commons brings together reader cohorts focused on slow-reading a single text, pairing it with a work of art, and engaging in warm, spacious, expert-led dialogue.
EST. 2026
Join Us
“I highly recommend The New Commons to book lovers everywhere. Lauren and the team have created something fresh, exciting and deeply meaningful. I can’t wait to return for more!”
— Elaine G.
Our upcoming cohorts
Starting July 12: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in conversation with Poor Things
Register by Wednesday, July 8th! Cohorts run from July 12 to August 3, 2026. Taught by Lauren Frey.
Readers are invited to join us for a four-week book cohort on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein this July.
Session Dates: Sundays, July 12th, 19th, 26th, and August 2nd, 2026
Session Times: 5:00PM - 6:30PM PT / 8:00PM - 9:30PM ET
Course Details: https://www.thenewcommons.com/frankenstein
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Instructor: Lauren Frey, M.A.
Cohort Seats: Seven students
Readers are invited to join us for a four-week book cohort on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein this July.
Session Dates: Mondays, July 13th, 20th, 27th, and August 3rd, 2026
Session Times: 6:30PM - 8:00PM PT
Course Details: https://www.thenewcommons.com/frankenstein
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Instructor: Lauren Frey, M.A.
Cohort Seats: Seven students
How The New Commons works
Small Seven-Person Cohorts
We’ve designed intimate, in-depth reading experiences, where just seven people gather per cohort to participate in a spacious and generous literary dialogue.
The Topography of the Text
We seek to generously and closely understand the text together (even as we may critique it), helping readers go from “visitor” to “guide” to access it for future use.
Group Agreements and Supported Participation
Through our group agreements ethos, we seek to make each cohort a co-created dialogue space that is both liberating and intellectually inspiring—where ideas are voiced and deepened in a supported and personal way.
Actually Practicing Dialogue
Our pacing and style encourages deep listening, as well as bringing our identities and sense of selves—all as we work through challenges and questions with our peers.
Circle Community for Ongoing Guidance & Discussion
Our Circle platform is built for concurrent connection, resource sharing, and guidance on everything from dialogue tools to how to talk about film adaptations.
Prompts & Challenges—from Research to Poetry
In our Circle space, instructors facilitate discussion and reflection on each dialogue session. We encourage members to share their creative output and keep the conversation going, even after session’s over.
Cohort design & dialogue facilitation by
Lauren Frey, MA (she/her)
Founding Director & Instructor
Marisa Lainson, MFA (she/they)
C0-founding Instructor
Julian Mammano (they/them)
C0-founding Instructor
Kind words from past cohort participants
Vanessa J. 
“I haven't engaged with Shakespeare like this since high school, and I really loved it. This experience showed me how well Shakespeare can conjure up these characters, which are so nuanced and frustrating at times, but also so universal. Hamlet is maddeningly illogical and contradictory, but all people are that way. I felt that I understood, and even loved Hamlet, by the end. And I feel compelled to go out and engage with how it appears in culture.”
Elaine G. “I was reminded that literature belongs to me as much as it belongs to the experts, and that reading, exploring and questioning it intentionally, in community, is not merely educational but joyful and applicable to my life and work. I highly recommend The New Commons to book lovers everywhere. Lauren and the team have created something fresh, exciting and deeply meaningful. I can’t wait to return for more.”