Essays

My son was barely nine when I was assigned to write what my features editor described as “a slice of life” column for our local daily newspaper. “Write about things…

One December morning, two of my lifelong dreams intersected in my bathroom. I had just taken a pregnancy test and was still gulping at the affirming blue line when the…

1. A confession: I was one of those people I shake my head at now, a woman who thought having a baby would not change my life. 2. I was…

Written prior to their deaths, between 1603 and 1712, and left to instruct their children, the nine published mother’s legacy books, by Elizabeth Grymeston, Dorothy Leigh, Elizabeth Joscelin, M. R.,…

I’m seated at a long table in a classroom on the seventh floor of the Tokushima Youth Center. From the window I can see cherry blossoms and department stores. My…

The developing muse: I have a great story idea one night as I try to go to sleep. But there is no paper of any kind in the room, no…

Some women autobiographers are also mothers who write and establish their identities through their writing. A relatively small number of women’s autobiographical texts contain a speaking subject who speaks from…

Introduction Traditionally, motherhood has been considered an impediment to artistic creation, the two roles thought to be incompatible. Indeed, the artist hero, in 19th and 20th century European and American…

I learned to read and write when I was two. My mother didn’t really know any better when she taught me; she figured reading and writing were two things she…