About Us

Mission Statement
Literary Mama, an online literary magazine, features writing by mother writers about the complexities and many faces of motherhood. We publish book reviews, columns, creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and profiles of mother writers.

Literary Mama features mama-centric writing with fresh voices, superior craft, and vivid imagery. We are a home for beautiful poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction that may be too long, too complex, too ambiguous, too deep, too raw, too irreverent, too ironic, and too body conscious for other publications. While plenty of other online literary magazines and journals publish writing like this, none devote themselves exclusively to writing about motherhood. And while there are other motherhood-centered sites that publish some fantastic writing, they tend to stick to shorter, non-fiction pieces. At Literary Mama, writers explore ideas and emotions that may be outside the usual scope of commercial writing.

We are a site for writers, not just mothers. At Literary Mama, craft is just as important as theme or message. Writers may need and want to write for the commercial market, but they also may need and want to write for themselves.

We know that becoming a mother takes more than the physical act of giving birth or completing an adoption; it takes birthing yourself as a mother through psychological, intellectual, and spiritual work that continues throughout your life. However, women’s stories of personal growth as we become mothers tend to remain invisible, untold. Literary Mama honors the difficult and rewarding work women do as they move into motherhood by making these stories visible.