Literary Mama has paused publications [Reopening Sept. 1]

Welcome to Literary Mama! We’re glad you’re here and hope you’ll check out our issues, blog, and newsletter, as well as our recent staff anthology, Labor of Love. We’re also excited to share our evolving project with you: our podcast, This Mama Is Lit! Check out our current and future episodes. 

Literary Mama has temporarily paused issue publication, so we are not currently taking submissions for the journal.

The nature of Literary Mama and the work of mother writers has evolved since the magazine’s inception 21 years ago, and we are taking 2024 to address the labor of the volunteer mothers who work for this organization.

Some context: in 2019, we became a nonprofit. As we fundraised, worked on strategic planning, recruited board members, and added more Literary Mama initiatives, it became clear we didn’t have enough time or energy to do the good work we had wanted to do as a nonprofit. It was a great experiment, and we learned a lot. We simply did not have the expertise or commitment from enough people to sustain this vision, and these issues underscored labor and equity issues we had been noting for quite some time across the journal at large.

For now, then, we are going back to what we have always done best: supporting mamas, and figuring out how to support mamas better: not only the mamas who submit work to the journal, but the volunteer staff who work with mama writers. Serving as a staff volunteer at Literary Mama has not always been sustainable, so we are committed to intentionally addressing labor and equity issues.

Writers: thank you for your patience as we take this pause. We look forward to receiving your lovely work when we re-open for submissions. We can’t wait to work with you again!

Donors: Literary Mama is no longer receiving donations. Please know that we have used any remaining funds to maintain our website, facilitate the publication of our second anthology, and support parent writers at two New York State residencies: Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts and SPACE on Ryder Farm. We are grateful for your support.

Thank you for your support and faith in the work of Literary Mama as well as your patience at this time. We look forward to working with you again, soon, and we’ll keep you up to date on when we will take submissions again for the journal. If you would like to stay informed with updates or any special content we produce during this time, please subscribe to the Literary Mama newsletter.

We’re also happy to keep in touch or answer questions at literarymamainfo@gmail.com.

In gratitude for your support, contributions, and readership,

Amanda Fields

Editor-in-Chief