Literary Mama
@literarymama.bsky.social
celebrating, promoting, & nurturing mama writing & writers at https://literarymama.com/ since 2003 Podcast, This Mama Is Lit! at: https://literarymama.substack.com/s/this-mama-is-lit Subscribe for our newsletter at: https://literarymama.substack.com
"These days, every little thing is a terror even though I go nowhere and that is a problem because I think the fury must be me." - from Tiffany Baker's poem, "Bundle of Joy," in our September/October issue:
Bundle of Joy
These days, every little thing is a terroreven though I go nowhereand that is a problem because I thinkthe fury must be me.Somewhere, I imaginea woman is giving birthand I once did, tooand it was hard...
literarymama.com
What is the role of the artist? @marcusrediker.bsky.social, David Lester, and Paul give voices to people of the past (and future!) with their graphic novel THE BLACK SCHOONER buff.ly/FSei3kR
Making Us Conscious of the Things We Don’t See
In his 1962 essay titled “The Creative Dilemma,” James Baldwin wrote, "The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you,
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"I live in my certainties with no evidence, while, just days ago, astronomers released our first picture of planetary birth:" - from Celisa Steele's poem, "Witness, a Lullaby for the Mother" in our September/October issue:
Witness, a Lullaby for the Mother
My mom, when I was small, would cover her face,thumbs on cheeks, then swing little fingers out:Peek-a-boo, I see you. I’m sure she did thisthough I have no memory ...
literarymama.com
"Mom brought up the topic more explicitly: 'I’m not afraid of dying; I’m only afraid of growing old.' I couldn’t wrap my mind around that refrain. Old age and death felt far removed from us both." - from Audrey Markowitz's essay, "My Mother's Voice Lost and Found," in our September/October issue:
My Mother’s Voice Lost and Found
In my earliest memories, my mother is bustling about our house, crossing each completed task from her to-do list. Her slippers swish across the floor as she tidies the kitchen, arranges the shoes in t...
literarymama.com
So pleased to have a chance to share this seriously good book by Sarah Sentilles with LM readers. It stays with you long after you finish reading it!
Literary Mama@literarymama.bsky.social · 4d ago@sheshellwrites.bsky.social reviews Sarah Sentilles's Stranger Care: A Memoir of Loving What Isn’t Ours in our September/October issue:
@sheshellwrites.bsky.social reviews Sarah Sentilles's Stranger Care: A Memoir of Loving What Isn’t Ours in our September/October issue:
Fostering, Mothering, Caring: A Review of Stranger Care
The preface of Sarah Sentilles’s wrenching memoir, Stranger Care: A Memoir of Loving What Isn’t Ours, addresses her foster daughter: “You have so many mothers. The one who birthed you. The one who bro...
literarymama.com
After years of amazing editing, our audio editor, @joannagarbutt.bsky.social, is stepping away from This Mama Is Lit!, and we're looking for a new team member:
Opportunities
Literary Mama is an all-volunteer organization that brings mamas and mama supporters together through literature. Over the years, our staff has included mamas of all sorts, reaching across identities ...
literarymama.com
Many thanks to the folks at @literarymama.bsky.social for nominating “It’s Not Called a Miscarriage if It‘s a Horse” which is part of the Horsegirl set, and you can read it here: literarymama.com/articles/dep...
It’s Not Called a Miscarriage if You’re a Horse
The girl I love says oh no, please wake up and flips the light on and for the third time in a year there’s a gush of blood soaking into the mattress, but this time she’s miscarried a tiny foal, legs l...
literarymama.com
Literary Mama@literarymama.bsky.social · last wk.Our 2027 Best Small Fictions nominations:
@oliviabrochuwrites.bsky.social profiles Julie Swendsen Young, author of Rules for Mothers, in our September/October issue:
Being a Stay-At-Home Mom Isn’t for Everyone: Profile of Julie Swendsen Young
Julie Swendsen Young describes herself as a short story writer at heart. That is, until she wrote her debut novel: Rules for Mothers. Her journey on the page—from short-form to full-length project—too...
literarymama.com
***NEW EPISODE!!!*** Sam Field and Tiffanie Drayton talk with @mcrane12.bsky.social, author of Perverts, about challenging the concept of perversion, finding connection, and exploring parenthood & the creative process. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts:
Mac Crane: Embracing the Chaos of Perversion We All Have
Sam Field and Tiffanie Drayton chat with Mac Crane, author of Perverts, about challenging the definition of perversion, finding connection, and exploring how parenthood affects the creative process.
literarymama.substack.com
"Sometimes I swear I can hear flowers drinking. Their root hairs absorb a precious portion." - from Angela Sucich's poem, "No Word for a Mother Who’s Lost an Unborn Child," in our September/October issue:
No Word for a Mother Who’s Lost an Unborn Child
Like a widow, I walk around off-kilter,a ship tilting in the narrow.On the banks, people discuss how I am listing.The leaning is greater than they understand. My ship tilts in the narrow.Sometimes I c...
literarymama.com
Our 2027 Best Small Fictions nominations:
Nominations for 2027 Best Small Fictions Anthology
In addition to providing an opportunity for mama writers to publish with us, Literary Mama also periodically contributes nominations for other prizes and publications. The staff is delighted to share ...
literarymama.com
Check out the Contributors' Curio: buff.ly/KmtaSIr! Our curio houses info on our contributors' creative projects. Our #spotlight is on Amanda Fields @literarymama.bsky.social!
After years of amazing editing, our audio editor, @joannagarbutt.bsky.social, is stepping away from This Mama Is Lit!, and we're looking for a new team member:
Opportunities
Literary Mama is an all-volunteer organization that brings mamas and mama supporters together through literature. Over the years, our staff has included mamas of all sorts, reaching across identities ...
literarymama.com
"But no mother moved through the space as if my recovery belonged to her, too." Abiola Oyeniran reflects on postpartum life in Nigeria and the U.S. in our September/October issue:
When A Mother Needs Mothering
The hospital room in Nigeria had white walls and fluorescent lights that never softened, even at night. The sharp smell of antiseptic clung to everything: the coarse sheets, the humid air, my sweat-da...
literarymama.com
"You’re one of the kids who live in two houses. After the rupture your parents become great storytellers, but they only want to talk about each other." @janstinchcomb.bsky.social's "Something That Happened When You Were a Child" www.trampset.org/post/somethi...
Something that Happened When You Were a Child
by Jan Stinchcomb...After the rupture your parents become great storytellers, but they only want to talk about each other. As you get older, the stories mutate into tall tales.
trampset.org
"Critically inspecting the impact of mommy influencers allows us to consider how twenty-first-century motherhood can be reduced to snapshots designed to appease the algorithm." @katherinemurray.bsky.social reviews Caro Claire Burke's Yesteryear in our Sept/Oct issue:
“Motherhood is Its Own Kind of Curation”: A Review of Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear
Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel, Yesteryear, scrutinizes and satirizes the phenomenon of the tradwife influencer—a married woman who shares her chosen traditional wife lifestyle online. The novel’s po...
literarymama.com
"...as a mother, I have had moments where I’ve felt like I’ve lost parts of myself and that’s a bummer" Alison Damast Dolinger interviews Lindsey Goldstein, author of Gap Year: A Novel, in our September/October issue:
Moms Can Have Gap Years Too: A Conversation with Lindsey Goldstein
Ecuador had a magnetic pull on author Lindsey Goldstein since her first gap year abroad as a high school graduate. The small country in northwestern South America, with its legendary volcanoes, lush r...
literarymama.com
"If you pin them on their backs, I learn, bunnies will go limp, feigning death. / Perhaps if I do the same, this blessing will pass my lintel by? / Or will I be called upon to rise to the task of unconditional love one more time?" -from Julia Smuts Louw's poem, "Rabbit Test," in our Sept/Oct issue:
Rabbit Test
My period is latethe week I acquire a pair of spring rabbits for my children.Sisters, I am assured. There will not be more. Not from their quarter, at least.For me, it is one of those worried-not-worr...
literarymama.com
@triohousepress.org is so pleased to be sponsoring a new publication contest, The Scott King Award in Eco-Poetry, to celebrate our acquisition of Red Dragonfly Press and honor its legacy. Submissions are open from today until November 7! 💛💜💛💜 triohousepress.org/submissions
I wrote about why environmentalists don't vote and what actually works: jrehmeyer.substack.com/p/you-should... Sign up for a phone bank before the Nov. 3 midterms: environmentalvoter.org Maybe afterward we can take each other to lunch.
You should take yourself to lunch
How I’m easing my anxiety during the polycrisis — and making a difference
jrehmeyer.substack.com
"I was aware enough of the traumas that I had been carrying not just generationally, but also very personally as I was a child of war for years." Leila Farjami, author of Daughter of Salt @triohousepress.org, on This Mama Is Lit!
Leila Farjami: Healing the Mother Wound
Amanda Fields and Holly Rizzuto Palker chat with Leila Farjami, author of Daughter of Salt, about breaking the chain of familial obligations and healing from being a child of war.
literarymama.substack.com
In 2024, nearly 2,400 women were killed by men, according to the Violence Policy Center. Of these, 86.9 percent knew their killer—nearly nine out of 10.
A Restraining Order Is Not Enough When an Abuser Has a Gun
Nearly 2,400 women were killed by men in 2024, according to a recent Violence Policy Center report. Nearly nine out of 10 knew their killer, and firearms were used in 63.4 percent of these homicides. ...
msmagazine.com
Amy True negotiated the contracts for her first two books (and explains why she wouldn’t recommend it!). 😂 We discuss her pivot from YA historical (under the name Amy Trueblood) to adult romance. Listen at the link below, or wherever you get podcasts. shows.acast.com/the-long-roa...
"'Danny boy,' I say, which is what I’ve been calling him since the first day he came into the apartment, calling out from the doorway like he was afraid I might come out shooting." - from Kristina Jipson's saucy story, "Pony Ride," in our Sept/Oct issue:
Pony Ride
Every time my nurse Danny opens the door to my so-called apartment, stepping in whisper-quiet on those foamy shoes he wears, it’s like a little widening of the world. And today, with Junie holding ont...
literarymama.com
Bilal Urick considers Fady Joudah’s Exhibit G, a “poetic meditation on language and time, the basic structural forces of life, stripped of stability under genocide.” buff.ly/CZkdAx7
Fady Joudah’s Meditation on Language and Time Under Genocide
Fady Joudah’s Exhibit G is among the first of its kind. The multimedia poetry collection—assembled in the diaspora, and yet, across form, content, and voice, never anywhere but Gaza—charts Palestin…
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