Lauren Frey, MA

Founding Director & Instructor

Hi, I’m Lauren, and I’m a writer, editor, and the Founding Director of The New Commons.

I created this community because I wanted a space where readers could participate in deep reading and collective dialogue together over literary texts, and then put that reading into conversation with a contemporary work of art. I wanted a welcoming home for anyone to read full books with plenty of time to flip backwards and forwards to analyze the text on their own, and then, to show up expecting not a lecture, but a rich, rigorous, well-held conversation where every voice matters. It sounds simple—yet it feels so rare to come by this more spacious, discussion-based form of learning.

I’ve been joined by Marisa Lainson and Julian Mammano—both brilliant teachers and long-time friends—as co-founders. Between the three of us, we bring years of teaching experience, literary expertise, and dialogue practice. Our goal is that, by the end of your cohort, you feel like you deeply know the book you’ve read, and that you can speak about it with confidence and expertise. While book cohorts are one-time commitments, once you are a part of the online community, you will have access to all of our dialogue-based learning resources and continual membership benefits.

A little bit more about me: Before founding TNC, I had a five-year career in public health communications! And before that, I earned an MA in English at Georgetown, where I was a Lannan Poetry Fellow. I was also the project manager of a Mellon Foundation grant that aimed to help humanities graduate students find meaningful careers outside of academia (shoutout to all the alt-ac friends out there), as well as a research assistant, English tutor, and guest teacher in undergraduate English courses.

If you are a book lover and life-long learner looking for a welcoming and intellectually inspiring community of readers, I hope you will join a book cohort. You won’t just be a face on a Zoom call—we actually can’t wait to meet you, talk with you, and partner with you as a reader and learner.

Kind words from Lauren’s cohort members

  • “Lauren's facilitation style was warm and informative, and I loved the way she presented roles for us to try out in discussions. She struck a great balance between gently guiding us when we needed it and stepping back when we had a lot to say and were very engaged with a topic. I felt that I understood and even loved Hamlet by the end.”

    —Vanessa J.

  • “Lauren’s careful instruction and excellent leadership inspired me to think more deeply about literature, language and the ways in which Shakespeare’s Hamlet, specifically, is as relevant today as it was four hundred years ago.”

    — Elaine G.

  • “I appreciate how Lauren facilitates this space to have us feel comfortable with sharing our thoughts about the book in both the serious/insightful ways and also the silly/fun ways! At the end of each session, I love the incredible feeling I have that comes with getting to appreciate the book a little more and see a different angle that I hadn't considered before.”

    —Jessica Z.

  • “Lauren is so good and thoughtful at how she’s created the space. I especially loved the group agreements upfront — it was so helpful to know that we're probably going to have some moments of quiet as we look for answers in the text, and those moments of silence are okay, and also what makes this kind of learning space feel inclusive and inspiring.”

    — Syndee F.

  • “With Lauren's gentle, expert guidance, I engaged with Frankenstein so much more deeply than I could have on my own. Lauren was so good at keeping the conversation flowing in interesting directions, lifting up our responses, and encouraging us to stretch out of our comfort zones to build our skills as readers.”

    —Luca W.