Inside Surrender: Love, Loss, and Life on a Goat Farm

Jennifer Acker, author, founder and editor-in-chief of The Common and director of the Amherst College LitFest, joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to explore how place, storytelling, and personal transformation shape both literature and life. Raised in rural Maine, Acker reflects on how her early experiences—family reading traditions, small-town culture, and global travel—deeply informed her commitment to place-based writing. She shares the origin story of The Common, a literary magazine dedicated to capturing the nuances of place across the world, and discusses her upcoming novel Surrender, inspired in part by her family farm and the emotional complexities of midlife change.

From goats and farming to identity, aging, and unexpected love, Acker offers a thoughtful perspective on how stories help us understand ourselves and others.

Join our conversation with Jennifer Acker today on Radio Maine—and be sure to subscribe to the channel.