Editor’s Letter, June 2015

Welcome to the Father’s Day issue of Literary Mama! This month we’re devoting as much space as we can to the papas in our lives. It’s been a pleasure to put this issue together for you, so enjoy all the gorgeous writing on these pages.

In her “Stung” column, Beth Malone walks off the feeling that she is her own child’s temporary babysitter, and that she can’t compete with the charms of “Dada.”

Creative Nonfiction brings us “Another Birthday” by Amber Cook, a sad but honest piece about a mother taking her daughter to visit “Pop-Pop”, who has Parkinson’s. “Bruises” by Gretchen Brown Wright, will also tug at your heart, in its stark portrayal of one mother’s reality with her special needs child.

Fiction offers two tragic, yet ultimately, hopeful, fatherhood stories: “Heroes on the Ceiling” by Leslie Muzingo and “Imperfect Place” by Mina Mitchell.

Literary Reflections features Saundra Goldman’s essay “Attachment Parenting, A Writer’s Journey,” which explores how she influenced her daughter through persistence and hard work; as well as a “Father’s Day” Essential Reading list in which we recommend H is for Hawk, The Slap, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.

This month’s poems are subtle and diverse in their interpretation of our theme, with “Agent” by Lee Gulyas; “Blooms” by Cheryl Anne Latuner; and “Needle Through Leather” by Vasiliki Katsarou.

In Profiles, we have “A Conversation with BlogHer’s Deputy Editor Rita Arens” by Lisa Lynne Lewis, in which Arens discusses mommy blogging, writing about her experience with anorexia, and how blogging is similar to performance art.

There are three fantastic reviews: Gabriel Welsch’s “One Father’s Complicated Joy: A Review of Jon Pineda’s Little Anodynes“; Jenn McKee’s “Papas and Their Literary Daughters: A Review of Every Father’s Daughter: Twenty-four Women Writers Remember Their Fathers“; and Mo Duffy Cobb’s “Madwoman in Love with the Universe: A Review of Phenomenal.”

And be sure to visit our Blog throughout the summer for up-to-date information on Calls for Submissions; guest posts for our After Page One, Free Write, and Op-Ed series; a Writerly Roundup of articles related to craft and the writing life; Tips on Submitting Your Work to Us; and Announcements.

We are always grateful for your comments, and hope you can share all this good writing with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

Cheers to all the Literary Mamas and Papas, and see you in September!

Maria