Get Posted/Get Published: June 2026

As a community connected by our love of literature and motherhood experiences, we know how significant it is to feel accepted. Literature is the label we often attribute to writing that has been published or posted to a wider audience. We even say that literature needs that superior quality or to be recognized as having lasting artistic merit for it to be truly accepted. If you’ve studied the creative arts, you’ll know of canonical works, those that have been judged for their worth for future readers. I don’t know the statistics, but I wager that the number of mothers, let alone women, amongst those canonised writers is small. 

“In A Room of One’s Own (1929), Virginia Woolf argued that historically, successful women writers have not been mothers. Of Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, and George Eliot, she noted, “not one of them had a child.” What an argument! Women writers have vehemently proved this false, as noted by Karen Bourrier and John Brosz in the Slate’s “Women Writers Have Had Plenty of Babies. Here’s the Data.” Having babies can make writers more productive than ever. 

We parents who write know how hard it is to gain recognition, which is why I hope this blog post offers you opportunities to move forward in your literary journey, as a literary mama who reads and writes.    

Here are places where you can submit your writing for publication or to gain merit with a wider audience. Seek where you can get posted or get published this coming July.  

• The Orange & Bee focuses on publishing “short stories, poems, essays, and reviews that explore, expand on, and subvert the rich traditions of international folklore, including fairy tales, fables, myths, and legends.” They “also publish traditional tales accompanied by annotations, discussion questions, and writing prompts.” Learn more.

• The North Street Book Prize 2026 is organised by Winning Writers, a US nonprofit that runs international writing contests and supports authors. They recognise excellence in book-length works across multiple categories, including fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and genre fiction. Deadline is 1 July 2026 and entry fee is $95. Learn more.

• The Frontier Poetry Open is an annual writing competition, accepting poetry with no thematic, aesthetic, or formal restrictions. Open internationally to any poet writing primarily in English. Nine finalists will also each receive $100 and publication alongside the winner. Learn more.

• MER will be open from May 1, 2026 to July 15, 2026 for literary submissions to their annual print issue (25th Anniversary!) and to MER Online Quarterly. They publish poetry (up to 3 poems, no more than 5 pages), and fiction, creative prose/nonfiction, and hybrid works (up to 1000 words) on mothering or motherhood. They also seek mother-themed art. They publish literary work on mothers, mothering, and motherhood. 

Don’t forget to look at the Literary Mama openings too. Your work is always welcome for consideration in future issues.