From the Editor, January 2016
I want the world to stay like this,
fragile and new in the early morning:
first snow on the silhouette of every tree,
stars fading into the sun’s first light.
—from “First Snow” by Julie Stotz-Ghosh
Welcome to the January issue of Literary Mama! There’s so much to explore on the pages of our magazine this month. Enjoy!
We have two thoughtful columns: In “Full Table, Not-So-Empty Nest,” Ona Gritz discovers how hosting dinners for her son and his friends helped her heal from the past; and Beth Malone hopes her daughter’s fascination with all things glittery is fleeting with “The Princess and the Snake.”
Creative Nonfiction features Joanne De Simone’s “A Glimpse,” a clear-eyed look at a difficult night in the life of a mother of a teen with special needs; and Bridgett Jensen’s “What We Made” reveals the heartbreak of no longer being the “winning pitcher’s mom.”
From Fiction, there’s “Standstill” by Lisa Piazza, an evocative story of a mother-to-be and her attempt to bring light to winter during a solstice walk.
In Literary Reflections “My Daughter-Who-Doesn’t-Like-To-Read” by Kathryn Streeter reveals how this same daughter loves literature and writing, nonetheless; and “You Say You Want a Revolution?” by Barbara Buckner Suarez charts one woman’s journey towards acknowledging her identity as a writer. We also have Libby Maxey’s compilation of staff picks related to “New Beginnings,” an apt way to consider the year ahead.
January’s poems are all about the stages of raising boys with: “First Snow” by Julie Stotz-Ghosh; “Pantoum of Divided Attention” by Rebekah Denison Hewitt; “The Velocity of Moving Objects” by Libby Swope Wiersema; “To My Son on the Morning of His Scholastic Aptitude Test” by Rebecca Lanning; and “Bottlecaps” by Eileen Cleary.
In Profiles, we have “A Conversation with Jennifer Robson,” in which Robson and I discuss her writing influences and mentors, the Downton Abbey effect, connecting with readers via social media while still getting work done, and how she escapes to a room of her own.
“Honoring Your Core Self: A Review of Wild Mama“ by Berly Fields, looks at accomplished travel essayist Carrie Visintainer’s memoir of her first six years as a mother; and “Like a Compass into the Far Night: A Review of Broom“ by Lois Marie Harrod examines Joelle Biele’s exuberant and lyrical collection of poetry.
And keep an eye on our Blog for up-to-date information on Calls for Submissions; guest posts for our After Page One, Free Write, and Photo writing prompts; a Writerly Roundup of articles related to craft and the writing life; as well as 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.
Wishing you a hopeful and productive start to the new year!
Maria