Profiles

“They say that writing is rewriting, and the one thing I’ve learned most after six novels is to trust the editing process. The book changed dramatically from the first draft…

“It’s a real grown-up move to understand the complexity of making art and raising a family. Writing is hard and lonely and if you take it seriously, you must invest…

“If there were a risk to me, it would be in not telling this story. And what harm we do to each other when we fail to describe the lived…

“Motherhood So White is the book I wish I’d had at the beginning of my motherhood journey, and it’s the book that so many Black parents need in order to…

Nicole Stellon O’Donnell is the mother of two teenagers, a former Literary Mama columnist, and an educator who now lives in Fairbanks, Alaska. Her latest collection of poems explores the…

I love poetry outreach! I want people to think of poetry as part of their daily life, as a way to honor it, to remember it, etc. I tell folks,…

I do tend to mythologize childhood, as a terrain to visit in search of understanding. I think this comes from my obsession with time. I want to arrest time, to…

Andrea J. Buchanan’s 2018 memoir, The Beginning of Everything, explores Buchanan’s battle with an incapacitating cerebrospinal fluid leak. It tells of the painful period where she searched for answers in…

While recently reading some of Emily Dickinson’s poems and letters, I uncovered some beautiful and ambivalent reflections on her family life. As a mother and new grandmother, I found that…

Cati Porter is a poet, editor, essayist, and arts administrator who hails from Southern California. She is the author of five chapbooks and three full-length collections of poetry.

One thing I’ve learned in writing memoir is that no matter what, someone will take issue with you. That’s just something you have to accept. For me, it’s been imperative…