@Literary Mama
Read the most recent pieces @Literary Mama….
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COLUMNS
Tennis Balls in Tube Socks: The Gravitas of Motherhood by Marjorie Osterhout from Dear Marjo
Dear Marjo, I have a simple question that I’m hoping you can answer: Where the fuck did my body go?
Independence Day by B.L. Pike from Senior Mama
As the mother of nine grown children, only two of whom are still at home, I’m experienced at navigating the uncertainty of the Empty Nest Syndrome. It’s not just about loneliness, as anyone might expect. It’s about second-guessing.
Home or Away? by Avery Fischer Udagawa from Four Worlds
Is a house that every occupant has left still a home?
How to Talk to your Kids about Genetic Modification by Katherine J. Barrett from Of This Fantastic Peach
A few months ago, I read a newspaper article to my third and fourth grade sons about cloning a woolly mammoth. They were enthralled. Who wouldn’t be?
The Myth of Bonding by Marjorie Osterhout from Dear Marjo
It’s been a huge emotional rollercoaster. But even with all of the fear and excitement, I still don’t feel connected to him.
CREATIVE NONFICTION
My Father’s Arithmetic by Irena Smith
My father had not been able to work as an engineer, even though he held a master’s degree in engineering, because his Soviet passport read “Jew” in the space marked “nationality.” Instead, he had to work makeshift jobs as a technician and a mechanic; no one would hire a Jewish engineer.
Seven by Emily Brisse
When we veered off those trails, it was because you urged us to, or you’d taught us to, because you wanted to see the valley from a higher place, and soon enough we wanted to know what was down by that stream.
LITERARY REFLECTIONS
Essential Reading: Father’s Day by Libby Maxey
Now Reading: June 2014 by Libby Maxey
POETRY
Hippocampus by Dayna Patterson
Becoming and The Game by Susan Gerardi Bello
Carpe Diem by Martin H. Levinson
Fatherly Fear: For Allen Qing Yuan and My Photo: For Yuan Hongqi by Changming Yuan
Halfway by Sidney Thompson
Now and & Co. by Sidney Thompson
PROFILES
Andrea O’Reilly: Motherhood is NOT a Liability by Rachel Epp Buller
As we close the month that includes a celebration of Mother’s Day, we offer a profile of Andrea O’Reilly, advocate extraordinaire of mother-writers everywhere.
A Conversation with Suzanne Kamata by Melissa Uchiyama
Suzanne Kamata, Literary Mama’s Fiction Co-Editor, resides and writes in Japan. She is the author of a new novel, Gadget Girl, among many other notable works, including Losing Kei, the forthcoming Screaming Divas, and anthologies focused on raising multicultural children and children with special needs.
REVIEWS
Demeter Press: Publishing Groundbreaking Motherhood Studies for Eight Years—and Counting by Katherine J. Barrett
In 2006, Andrea O’Reilly founded Demeter Press, the first press devoted to scholarly and literary works on mothering and motherhood. Since that time, Demeter has published an extraordinary diversity of titles…
Adrift in Fog: A Review of Leaving Tinkertown by Dan Pinkerton
Tanya Ward Goodman, in her wonderful memoir Leaving Tinkertown, gives readers a well-crafted, compelling, and, above all, urgent narrative about losing a parent to Alzheimer’s.